Research

Overview

$8.2 million in partnered research funding

$1.5 million research funding (Karitane-led or -partnered)  awarded in 2024–25

12 peer-reviewed journal articles published

26 national and international conference presentations

 At Karitane, research is integral to our clinical leadership. Our work is shaping best practice, informing policy and influencing care at national and international levels.

With over $8.2 million in partnered research funding and 12 peer-reviewed journal articles published this year alone, we are advancing the science of early parenting, perinatal mental health and child development.

Our flagship programs – from PCIT-Toddler to ForWhen – are underpinned by rigorous trials and evaluations in collaboration with UNSW, UTS and global institutions. We are also proud to host a Paul Ramsay Foundation Fellowship exploring the national scale-up of early parenting programs in rural and remote communities.

Karitane-led studies are defining new metrics in parent–infant bonding, cultural safety and digital care outcomes. Our researchers present across global platforms and conferences, ensuring that innovation developed in Australia informs parenting care worldwide.

Our research is bold, translational and deeply grounded in the lived experiences of families. It ensures that every Karitane service delivers care that is evidence-informed, ethically strong and future-ready.

Karitane’s research team, led by A/Prof Jane Kohlhoff, includes research officers, PhD and undergraduate students, and volunteers working alongside Karitane clinicians. Their efforts ensure our services are grounded in robust evidence and continually respond to the evolving needs of families.

Toddler Research

Toddler development remains a key area of focus. In 2024–25, multiple studies examined the effectiveness of early parenting interventions, including:

• A Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) comparing PCIT-Toddler and Circle of Security – Parenting (COS-P)
• Pilot and RCT evaluations of ‘My Toddler and Me’ group programs at Carramar, Wolli Creek, Randwick, and in the Village Family Connect program, funded by UNSW and Paul Ramsay Foundation
• The development and evaluation of the innovative ‘My Toddler and Me’ video series for parents of toddlers, available in multiple languages.

Results were published in BMC Psychology and shared at several major conferences. They are now contributing to national conversations around toddler mental health and parenting support.

ForWhen Evaluation

Throughout 2024-25, the UNSW-Karitane research team continued leading the evalution of ForWhen- a national perinatal mental health navigation program. This research is providing valuable insights into program outomes, economic impacts and service accessibility. Findings have been published and presented at high-profile conferences, with further evaluations underway.

Scaling Early Parenting Programs In Regional, Rural And Remote Australia

In 2024–25, Karitane was proud to be the host organisation for a Paul Ramsay Foundation Fellowship awarded to A/Prof Jane Kohlhoff. Jane’s project explores how evidence-based early parenting programs can be best scaled across regional, rural and remote Australia. The project aims to identify barriers, enablers and best practices to inform local practice and national strategies for delivering equitable service.

Research Partnerships

Karitane leads the way in contributing to large-scale statewide and national projects, including:

• NHMRC STARS for Kids Centre of Research Excellence, led by Scientia Professor Valsamma Eapen (UNSW)
• Integrated Kids Hubs (ARC Linkage Project) in partnership with UNSW and the Australian Research Council for Children & Youth, led by Professor Sue Woolfenden (University of Sydney)
• Integrated Kids Connect program project (NHMRC Partnership project), led by Scientia Professor Valsamma Eapen (UNSW)
• Kids Connect Integrated Hybrid program (NSW Health Translational Research Grant Scheme project, led by Scientia Professor Valsamma Eapen (UNSW))

We also collaborate with institutions such as the University of Sydney, Western Sydney University, UTS,  MCRi, Griffith University, West Virginia University and the Parenting Research Centre on translational research initiatives.

Training our Child and Family Health Workforce of the Future

Karitane has been collaborating with Western Sydney University to develop 2 key initiatives to address the ageing workforce in child and family health. This includes an undergraduate rotation at Karitane whilst in the second year of nursing and the development of a comprehensive program for new graduates in the speciality of CFH. This is the first time in NSW a new graduate program has been offered in this speciality. During this 12-month rotation, new graduates are supported and mentored by certified CFH nurses to gain skills in supporting vulnerable parents and their children as well as completing 2 units from the WSU Graduate Certificate of Child and Family Health.

Conferences And Publications 2024-25

PUBLICATIONS  

Cibralic, S., Xu, M., Wallace, N., Morgan, S., Roth, A., Chau, H., & Kohlhoff, J. (2025). The role of child language ability and parental mentalization in early child dysregulation. Infant Mental Health Journal. 

Johns, A. D., McMahon, C., & Kohlhoff, J. (2025). Associations among caregiving helplessness, parenting stress and child callous-unemotional traits in a clinic-referred sample  . Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 1–11.

Harris, S. A., Arnall, J., Walls, P., Leuenberger, M., Hughes, M., Cook, A., ... & Kohlhoff, J. (2025). Using care navigation to connect Australian families with perinatal and infant mental health support. Perspectives in Infant Mental Health, 33, 1. 

Harris, S. A., Eapen, V., & Kohlhoff, J. (2025). Differences between men and women accessing an Australian perinatal and infant mental health care navigation service – why do fathers seek help? Infant Mental Health Journal.  

Cibralic, S., Wu, W. T., Ahinkorah, B. O., Lam-Cassettari, C., Woolfenden, S., Kohlhoff, J., ... & Eapen, V. (2025). Systematic review and meta-analysis of home visiting interventions aimed at enhancing child mental health, psychosocial, and developmental outcomes in vulnerable families. BMC Pediatrics, 25, 314.

Hodgins, M., Ostojic, K., Rimes, T., Edwards, K., Lawson, K., Fonseka, M., Crespo, C., Lyle, K., Dadich, A., Eapen, V., Grace, R., Green, M., Henry, A., Hopwood, N., Kaplun, C., Kohlhoff, J., Raman, S., Szanto, T., & Woolfenden, S. (2025). The building blocks for successful hub implementation for migrant and refugee families and their children in the first 2000 days of life. Health Expectations, 28(1), e70082.

Kohlhoff, J., Wallace, N., Cibralic, S., Morgan, S., Briggs, N. E., McMahon, C., ... & McNeil, C. B. (2024). Optimizing parenting and child outcomes following parent–child interaction therapy –toddler: a randomized controlled trial. BMC psychology, 12(1), 1–25.

Chau, V., Eapen, V., Hawkins, E., & Kohlhoff, J. (2025  ). Early childhood temperament factors and callous-unemotional traits in preschool and school-aged children: A systematic narrative review. Child & Youth Care Forum, 54 (2), 353–373.

Cibralic, S., Kohlhoff, J., Morgan, S., Wallace, N., Lieneman, C., McMahon, C., & Eapen, V. (2025). A preliminary investigation of parent-child attachment relationship in toddlers with autism traits. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 23(1), 78–92.

Barr, K. R., Hawker, P., Winata, T., Wang, S., Smead, M., Ignatius, H., Kohlhoff, J ... & the Watch Me Grow-Electronic (WMG-E) study group (2024). Family member and service provider experiences and perspectives of a digital surveillance and service navigation approach in multicultural context  : a qualitative study in identifying the barriers and enablers to Watch Me Grow-Electronic (WMG-E) program  with a culturally diverse community. BMC Health Services Research, 24(1), 978.

Elliott, E., Bogard, S., & Kohlhoff, J. (2024). “Sustaining NSW Families” as a hybrid face‐to‐face/virtual program: Experiences of clients and clinicians. Public Health Nursing, 41(6), 1418–1424. 

Kohlhoff, J., Karlov, L., Dadds, M., Barnett, B., Silove, D., & Eapen, V. (2024). Maternal antenatal depression, oxytocin, and infant temperament: The roles of ethnicity and adult attachment avoidance. Infant Mental Health Journal, 45(5), 516-528.

CONFERENCES

Maxwell, A. M., Hawkins, E., Byron, B., Kohlhoff, J., &  Dwyer, A. Measuring outcomes of relationship-focused parenting programs: An introduction to the Composite Caregiving Questionnaire. Symposium presented to the International Congress on Evidence-based Parenting Support (I-CEPS) online conference, June 2025.

Kohlhoff, J., Lam-Cassettari, C., Woolfenden, S., Ostojic, K., Harris, S., Eapen, V., Winata, T., Hodgins, M., Paget, M., Berg, A., Scott, T., & Burnett, H. Using care navigation to support access to child and family services: New opportunities and challenges. Symposium presented to the International Congress on Evidence-based Parenting Support (I-CEPS) online conference, June 2025.

Kohlhoff, J., Bratel, L., Brandtman, E., & Morgan. S. 'My Toddler and Me': A psycho-educational video series to promote toddler mental health and wellbeing. Paper presented to the International Congress on Evidence-based Parenting Support (I-CEPS) online conference, June 2025.

Kohlhoff, J., & Cibralic, S. Scaling world-class, evidence-based early parenting programs: A scoping review. Paper presented to the International Congress on Evidence-based Parenting Support (I-CEPS) online conference, June 2025.

Harrison, M., Leuenberger, M., Cook, A., & Kohlhoff, J. The successful formula to support a national perinatal and infant mental health navigation service. Symposium presented to the International Congress on Evidence-based Parenting Support (I-CEPS) online conference, June 2025.

Kuan, J., Camberis, A. L., Johns, A., & Kohlhoff, J. Circle of Security Parenting: Investigating education, ethnicity and gender-based parent outcomes. Oral presentation at the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) National Conference, Sydney, November    2024.

Leuenberger, M., Harris, S., & Kohlhoff, J. ForWhen: a national perinatal and infant mental health care navigation service. Oral presentation at the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) National Conference, Sydney, November 2024.

Maxwell, A. M., Dwyer, A., Hawkins, E., & Kohlhoff, J. Measuring attachment supportive parenting in clinical practice: An introduction to the Composite Caregiving Questionnaire. Workshop presented at the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) National Conference, Sydney, November 2024.

Rajeswaran, P., Lee, C., Eapen, V., & Kohlhoff, J. Looking Back, Moving Forward: A pilot trial for parents experiencing early parenting challenges using EMDR. Oral presentation at the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) National Conference, Sydney, November 2024.

Roth, A., Morgan, S., Richardson, R., & Kohlhoff, J. ‘My Toddler and Me’: A pilot study evaluating an attachment-based group program for toddlers. Oral presentation at the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) National Conference, Sydney, November 2024.

Micallef, J., Blades, J., Mathew, N., & Kohlhoff, J. Developing a client-reported outcome framework for Jade House, Karitane. Oral presentation at the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) National Conference, Sydney, November 2024.

Chau, V., Hawkins, E., Eapen, V., & Kohlhoff, J. Paternal caregiving representations, mentalization, and child temperament: Associations with callous-unemotional traits in toddlers. Oral presentation at the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) National Conference, November 2024.

Kohlhoff, J., Wallace, N., Cibralic, S., Morgan, S., Briggs, N. E., McMahon, C., Hawkins, E., Druskin, L., Owen, C., Lieneman, C., Han, R., Eapen, V., Huber, A., & McNeil, C. Optimizing parenting and child outcomes following Parent Child Interaction Therapy – Toddler: A randomized controlled trial. Oral presentation at the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) National Conference, Sydney, November 2024.

Rajeswaran. P., Eapen, V., Lee, C., & Kohlhoff, J. Parents’ information processing of emotion-related material in infants and toddlers: A systematic review. Poster presentation at the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) National Conference, Sydney, November 2024.

Byron, B., Zimmer-Gembeck, M., Kohlhoff, J., Maxwell, A., Buchanan, B., & Hawkins, E. Construct validity of the Composite Caregiving Questionnaire (CCQ): an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Poster presentation at the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) National Conference, Sydney, November 2024.

Lennie, L., Rabbetts, L., Morgan, S., & Kohlhoff, J. Getting in early to optimize child outcomes: PCIT-Toddler as a preventative program for at-risk toddlers. PCIT International conference, Knoxville, Tennessee, September 2024.

Morgan, S., Kohlhoff, J., Bratel, L., Brandtman, E., Roth, A., & Richardson, R. ‘My Toddler and Me’: Delivering PCIT-Toddler through video-education and community group-based programs, PCIT International conference, Knoxville, Tennessee, September 2024.

Phillips, S. T., Druskin, L. R., Lilly, C., Chavez, F., Morgan, S., Wallace, N., Cibralic, S., Kimonis, E., Hawes, D. J., Eapen, V., McNeil, C. B., & Kohlhoff, J. Content validity of a toddler factor of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory. Poster presented at the PCIT International conference, Knoxville, Tennessee, September 2024.

Phillips, S. T., Druskin, L. R., Lilly, C., Chavez, F., Morgan, S., Wallace, N., Cibralic, S., Kimonis, E., Hawes, D. J., Eapen, V., McNeil, C. B., & Kohlhoff, J. The development of a toddler factor on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory. In Phillips, S. T. & McNeil, C. B. (co-chairs). PCIT-Toddlers: Working overtime on dissemination, assessment and group formats. Symposium presented at the PCIT International conference, Knoxville, Tennessee, September 2024.

Kohlhoff, J., & Leuenberger, M. A mixed-methods evaluation of the ‘ForWhen’ national navigation program for perinatal and infant mental health. Australian College of Midwives (ACM) Conference, Melbourne, September 2024.

Chau, V., Hawkins, E., Eapen, V., & Kohlhoff, J. Parenting characteristics and callous-unemotional traits in children aged 0–6 Years: A systematic narrative review. Maternal Child and Family Health Nurses Australia (MCFHNA) Conference, Brisbane, August 2024.

Kohlhoff, J., Bratel, L., Brandtman, E., & Morgan. S. ‘My Toddler and Me’: A new parent education video series to promote toddler social-emotional wellbeing. Maternal Child and Family Health Nurses Australia (MCFHNA) Conference, Brisbane, August 2024.

Kohlhoff, J., & Traynor, N. Parent and child outcomes following admission to a ‘virtual’ early parenting residential programme: a mixed-methods study. Maternal Child and Family Health Nurses Australia (MCFHNA) Conference, Brisbane, August 2024.

Harris, S.A., Kohlhoff, J., Traynor, N., Lawson, K. D., & Eapen, V. E . A mixed-methods evaluation of the ForWhen national navigation program for perinatal and infant mental health. Maternal Child and Family Health Nurses Australia (MCFHNA) Conference, Brisbane, August 2024.

Hughes, M. & Kohlhoff, J. Making a Difference? Karitane’s innovative digitised clinical outcomes data collection. Maternal Child and Family Health Nurses Australia (MCFHNA) Conference, Brisbane, August 2024.

Roth, A., Richardson, R., Morgan, S., Kanaan, A. M., Johns, A., & Kohlhoff, J. ‘My Toddler and Me’: A pilot study evaluating outcomes of an attachment-based group program for parents and toddlers. International Attachment Conference (IAC), France, July 2024.