children
Childhood Delinquency Linked to Alcohol Abuse, Risky Behavior in Adulthood
A new study suggests that the chances of at-risk youth falling into a life of crime or alcohol abuse during adulthood can be circumvented with intervention outreach, especially when performed at an early stage.
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Troubled Children Can Increase Parents’ Stress, Even as Adults
Addiction and mental illnesses have been called "family diseases" because these types of behavioral health problems affect the well-being of the entire household. Now, researchers have proven that children who have led poor lifestyles—such as substance abuse, chronic behavioral health issues, problems with the law, or financial troubles— well into adulthood still pose a major threat to their parents’ overall well-being, even if their siblings were more successful in life.
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Intervention Program Highly Effective in Treating Abused Children in Foster Care
The Fostering Healthy Futures program, a mentoring and skills training program for abused children placed in foster care, has the potential to reduce mental health disorders and associated problems in children with a history of maltreatment, according to a new study.
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Parents Sedating Their Children with Drugs Called Child Abuse
A new U.S. study has found that malicious use of drugs on children by their parents or caregivers is an under-recognized problem and should be classified as a form of child abuse. Dr. Shan Yin from the University of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain Poison Drug Center investigated the prevalence of the national problem over an eight-year period and are encouraging officials and medical professionals to take this form of child abuse into higher consideration. Dr. Yin’s report on the study, “The Malicious Use of Pharmaceuticals in Children,” is to be published in an upcoming issue of The Journal of Pediatrics.
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Diabetes and Childhood Eating Disorders
Children diagnosed with diabetes might find it hard not to obsess over food. With restrictions on carbohydrates and doses of insulin which can affect appetite, children with diabetes may find it hard to think about anything but food.
Discrimination Leads to Depression in Minority Children
A new study found that minority children who are exposed to more racism and discrimination often experience more symptoms of depression. The study was presented May 2 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
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Children Who Lose a Parent to Suicide More Likely to Commit Suicide Themselves
Losing a parent to suicide makes children more likely to die by suicide themselves and increases their risk of developing a range of major psychiatric disorders, according to a study led by Johns Hopkins Children’s Center that is believed to be the largest one to date on the subject. A report on the findings will appear in the May issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
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Recognizing Signs of Mental Illness in Your Child
When something just doesn’t seem right with your child, your first reaction is most likely to check to see if there’s something physically wrong. But once you’ve ruled out, or taken care of, any obvious physical reason for your child behaving markedly different, you may wonder if there’s a psychological cause. While there’s usually another explanation for why your child is acting odd, sometimes there may be something more to it. If you suspect mental illness, it’s important to recognize the signs that may indicate a problem.
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Childhood Stress Contributes to Depression
New research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows that childhood stress such as abuse or emotional neglect, in particular when combined with genetic factors, can result in structural brain changes, rendering these people more vulnerable to developing depression. The study led by scientists at Trinity College Dublin has just been published in the international scientific journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
Children More Prone to Stress Thrive Depending Upon Home Environment
There are so many negative things about stress, it is a wonder it doesn’t have a more prominent focus in medical research. A new study by scientists at the University of British Columbia, the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of California, Berkeley and featured in Science Daily, examines the role of stress in children.
Those children who tend to be significantly reactive to stress tend to be more vulnerable to adversity and experience more behavior and health problems than their peers. This new longitudinal study suggests that highly reactive children are also more likely to do well when they are raised in supportive environments.
“Parents and teachers may find that sensitive children, like orchids, are more challenging to raise and care for, but they can bloom into individuals of exceptional ability and strength when reared in a supportive, nurturing, and encouraging environment,” said Jelena Obradović, an assistant professor in the School of Education at Stanford University, a University of British Columbia professional when she led the study.
In this study, researchers found that children with significantly stronger biological reactions to a series of mildly stressful tasks designed to look like challenges in their daily lives were more affected by their family contexts, whether they were good or bad.
In contrast with what the researchers were expecting, these children were also more likely to thrive when they were raised in caring, low-stress families due to their sensitiveness to the supportive and nurturing qualities of such environments.
“The study tells us that when children are highly susceptible to stress, it’s not always bad news, but rather should be considered in terms of the type of environment they live in,” explained Obradović.
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