Associate Professor Benjamin Edwards
Areas of expertise
- Developmental Psychology And Ageing 170102
- Psychological Methodology, Design And Analysis 170110
- Family And Household Studies 160301
- Early Childhood Education (Excl. Maori) 130102
- Social Policy 160512
Research interests
Children and adolescent development: understanding the impact of social and family environments and institutions (e.g. family structure, parental employment, ECEC and school, housing, neighbourhoods);
Advancing longitudinal studies of human development through:
- combining large-scale surveys and linked administrative data to maximal effect;
- biosocial assessments in cohort studies;
- computerised assessment of cognitive and social and emotional functioning, event history and time use diary methods.
Evaluation of government programs for disadvantaged children: particularly area based initiatives;
Carers: caring for a family member with a disability;
The impact of drought and climate change on populations; and
The intergenerational impacts of traumatic experiences in refugee families or offspring of war veterans.
Biography
Associate Professor Ben Edwards is a Senior Fellow at the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods where he is focused on policy relevant research on child and youth development and advising and supporting longitudinal studies (Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Youth, Ten to Men, and a new longitudinal of children in the Philippines). Internationally, he advised the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the measurement of non-cognitive skills in longitudinal studies. Ben is Co-Editor of the Australian Journal of Social Issues.
He is an expert in longitudinal studies of child and youth development, linkage of administrative data to surveys and longitudinal studies of disadvantaged groups such as refugees.
Associate Professor Edwards has undertaken consultancies for the OECD, the Australian Government Departments of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Social Services, Education, the New South Wales Departments of Premier and Cabinet, Families and Community Services as well as the Benevolent Society and the Smith Family.
For a link to my publications see
https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?hl=en&user=C9tS6r8AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate
Researcher's projects
Contexts of development: Family, ECEC, school and neighbourhood influences
Refugee families and child and youth development
LSAC Child Health Checkpoint
Young carers
Developmental criminology
The intergenerational impact of the Vietnam war
Experimental studies of data linkage consent
Conditional cash transfers as a protective factor for child development in the Philippines
Available student projects
I am interested in developing the next generation of social scientists who have strong quantitative skills and an interest in child and youth development research influencing social policy. I am available to supervise PhD projects in the following areas:
- Child and youth development using cohort studies
- Refugee families and child development
- Evaluations of government programs addressing child disadvantage, particularly area based initiatives
- The impact of drought on child and youth development
Publications
- Biddle, N & Edwards, B 2017, 'The Characteristics and Potential Effects of the Schools that Indigenous Australians Attend', CAEPR Working Papers, vol. 119/2017, p. 18.
- Doidge, J, Higgins, D, Delfabbro, P et al 2017, 'Economic predictors of child maltreatment in an Australian population-based birth cohort', Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 72, pp. 14-25pp.
- Jenkinson, R, Silbert, M, de Maio, J et al 2016, 'Settlement experiences of recently arrived humanitarian migrants: Building a New Life in Australia-Wave 1', Family Matters, no. 97, pp. 82-82.
- Miller, P, Butler, E, Richardson, B et al 2016, 'Relationships between problematic alcohol consumption and delinquent behaviour from adolescence to young adulthood', Drug and Alcohol Review, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 317-325.
- Vassallo, S, Lahausse, J & Edwards, B 2016, 'Factors affecting stability and change in risky driving from late adolescence to the late twenties', Accident Analysis and Prevention, vol. 88, pp. 77-87pp.
- Vassallo, S, Edwards, B & Forrest, W 2016, 'Childhood behavior problems and fighting in early adulthood: What factors are protective?', Journal of Criminal Justice, vol. 45, pp. 85-93.
- Forrest, W, Edwards, B & Vassallo, S 2014, 'Individual differences in the concordance of self-reports and official records', Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 305-315pp.
- Vassallo, S, Edwards, B, Renda, J et al 2014, 'Bullying in Early Adolescence and Antisocial Behavior and Depression Six Years Later: What Are the Protective Factors?', Journal of School Violence, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 100-124pp.
- Renda, J, Vassallo, S & Edwards, B 2011, 'Bullying in early adolescence and its association with anti-social behaviour, criminality and violence 6 and 10 years later', Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 117-127pp.
