Background

Background

I completed my PhD titled Understanding maternal behaviours that promote language development in slow-to-talk toddlers in 2013. Subsequently, I took up the position as a post-doctoral research fellow within the Centre of Research Excellence in Child Language (CRE-CL) at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia. In this position, I was primarily responsible for the CRE-CL’s Language for Learning cohort. This involved the supervision of Masters and PhD students utilising the cohort for secondary data analysis; managing and carrying out the 2015-2016 follow-up study of the cohort for which I am a co-investigator; and carrying out cohort maintenance. Prior to joining the CRE-CL, I was a senior research assistant on two large population-based randomised controlled trials (Let’s Learn Language and Language for Learning), aimed at improving outcomes for children at risk of ongoing language impairment. In December 2016 I joined Speech and Language Sciences as a Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Fellow. My supervisors are Professor James Law and Dr Cristina McKean.       

Qualifications

• PhD - 2013, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
• B.A. (Hons) Sociology - 2003, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Area of expertise

• Child language

Previous Positions

• 2013 - 2016     Research officer, Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
• 2013 - 2015     Postdoctoral research fellow, Centre of Research Excellence in Child Language, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
• 2005 – 2013    Research Assistant – Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia

SCOPUS: Click here.

Research

Research Interests

My research efforts have focussed on examining factors that predict variation in language pathways, in particular contributions of parent-child interactions, as well as investigating the effectiveness of prevention and intervention for children at risk of ongoing language difficulties. I have specific training in coding parent-child interactions, qualitative and quantitative analysis and experience in child language randomised controlled trials and longitudinal studies. My current interest lies in developing and trialling language interventions delivered within a framework of “proportionate universalism”, whereby a universal service is offered to all children and parents, with additional service appropriate to additional needs.

Current Projects

As part of my Marie Sk?odowska-Curie fellowship I am conducting a project which focusses on population-based approaches to enhancing parent-child interaction to improve child oral language skills and reduce social inequalities.  

Publications

• Smith J, Levickis P, Eadie T, Bretherton L, Conway L, Goldfeld S. Associations between Maternal Behaviors at 1 Year and Child Language at 2 Years in a Cohort of Women Experiencing Adversity. Infancy 2018, 23(1), 74-102.
• Levickis P, Reilly S, Girolametto L, Ukoumunne OC, Wake M. Associations between maternal responsive linguistic input and child language performance at age 4 in a community‐based sample of slow‐to‐talk toddlers. Child: Care, Health and Development 2018, 44(5), 776-783.
• Reilly S, Cini E, Gold L, Goldfeld S, Law J, Levickis P, Mensah F, Morgan A, Nicholson JM, Le H, Pezic A, Tomblin B, Wake M, Wardrop L. Data Resource Profile: The Child LAnguage REpository (CLARE). International Journal of Epidemiology 2018, 47(3), 688-688j.
• Westrupp EM, Bennett C, Cullinane M, Hackworth NJ, Berthelsen D, Reilly S, Mensah FK, Gold L, Bennetts SK, Levickis P, Nicholson JM. EHLS at School: school-age follow-up of the Early Home Learning Study cluster randomized controlled trial. BMC Pediatrics 2018, 18, 148.
• Smith J, Eadie T, Levickis P, Bretherton L, Goldfeld S. Predictive validity of verbal and non-verbal communication and mother-child turn-taking at 12 months on language outcomes at 24 and 36 months in a cohort of infants experiencing adversity: A preliminary study. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 2018, 53(5), 969-980.
• Conway LJ, Levickis PA, Mensah F, Smith J, Wake M, Reilly S. The role of joint engagement in the development of language in a community-derived sample of slow-to-talk children. Journal of Child Language 2018, 45(6), 1275-1293.
• Conway L, Levickis P, Smith K, McKean C, Mensah F, Reilly S. Associations between expressive and receptive language and internalizing and externalizing behaviours in a community-based prospective study of slow-to-talk toddlers. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 2017, 52, 839-853.
• Law J, Levickis P, McKean C, Goldfeld S, Snow P, Reilly S. Child Language in a Public Health Context. Melbourne: Centre of Research Excellence in Child Language, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, 2017.
• Smith J, Levickis P, Eadie P, Bretherton L, Conway L, Goldfeld S. Concurrent associations between maternal behaviours and infant communication within a cohort of women and their infants experiencing adversity. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 2017, 20(5), 516-527.
• Levickis P, Sciberras E, McKean C, Conway L, Pezic A, Mensah F, Bavin E, Bretherton L, Eadie P, Prior M, Reilly S. Language and social-emotional and behavioural wellbeing from 4-7 years: A community-based study. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 2018, 27(7), 849-859.
• Conway L, Levickis P, Smith J, Mensah F, Wake M, Reilly S. Maternal communicative behaviours and interaction quality as predictors of language development: findings from a community-based study of slow-to-talk toddlers. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 2018, 53(2), 339-354.
• Levickis P. Measuring communicative participation in population‐based samples of children with speech and language difficulties. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 2017, 59(10), 993-994.
• Law J, Levickis P, McKean C, Nolan C, Goldfeld S. Oral language – a foundation for learning. Centre of Research Excellence for Child Language, 2017. Policy Brief 3.
• Hudson S, Levickis P, Down K, Nicholls R, Wake M. Maternal responsiveness at age 2 years predicts child language outcomes at ages 3 and 4 years: Longitudinal population study. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 2015, 50(1), 136-142.
• Down K, Levickis P, Hudson S, Nicholls R, Wake M. Measuring maternal responsiveness in a community-based sample of slow-to-talk toddlers: A cross-sectional study. Child: Care, Health & Development 2015, 41, 329-333.
• Wake M, Levickis P, Tobin S, Gold L, Ukoumunne OC, Zens N, Goldfeld S, Le H, Law J, Reilly S. Two-Year Outcomes of a Population-Based Intervention for Preschool Language Delay: An RCT. Pediatrics 2015, 136(4), e838–e847.
• Wake M, Tobin S, Levickis P, Gold L, Zens N, Goldfeld S, Le H, Law J, Reilly S. Five-year old outcomes of population-based intervention for preschoolers with language delay: The Language for Learning Randomised Trial. Pediatrics 132, 895 –902 2014, 132, 895 –902.
• Reilly S, McKean C, Levickis P. Late talking: can it predict later language difficulties?. Centre for Research Excellence in Child Language, 2014. Research Snapshot 2.
• Levickis P, McKean C. Late talking: does parenting behaviour hold the key?. Centre for Research Excellence in Child Language, 2014. Research Snapshot 4.
• Levickis P, McKean C. Late talking: is intervention necessary and effective?. Centre for Research Excellence in Child Language, 2014. Research Snapshot 3.
• Levickis P, Reilly S, Girolametto L, Ukoumunne OC, Wake M. Maternal behaviors promoting language acquisition in slow-to-talk toddlers: Prospective community-based study. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics 2014, 35(4), 274-281.