January 20, 2014
News Clips
- Easier Way for Doctors to Identify Substance Abuse?
Study supports asking a simple question, rather than giving lengthy questionnaire
A single question may help doctors determine whether a patient has a drug or alcohol problem and the level of abuse, a new study suggests. Keep it simple is the message from the study of nearly 300 people recruited from the Boston Medical Center primary care clinic.
Medline Plus
January 16, 2014 - New Books, ‘Helping Boys Learn,’ Feature Separate Editions for Parents & Teachers
Edmond J. Dixon, Ph.D. offers practical teaching strategies with parents’ and teachers’ editions of a new book, “Helping Boys Learn: 6 Secrets for Your Son’s Success in School.”
Digital Journal
December 16, 2014 - Primary Care Providers May Balk at Giving Teens Antidepressants
Many aren’t comfortable writing the prescription and most would refer patient to a psychiatrist, study finds
Primary health care providers are reluctant to prescribe antidepressants for their teenaged patients, even in cases of severe depression, a new study suggests. The researchers found that those who were more knowledgeable about depression — and especially those who could consult with an on-site mental health expert — were more likely to prescribe antidepressants for depressed teens.
Medline Plus
January 15, 2014 - Half of teens outgrow depression and anxiety
Around half of teens who experience a brief episode of depression or anxiety do not go on to have a mental illness in adulthood, according to a study from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Half of girls and almost one-third of boys have an episode of depression or anxiety in their teens but rates drop sharply when young people reach their 20s. The study was published January 16 in The Lancet medical journal.
The Conversation.com
January 16, 2014 - In Defense of Boys
When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a male.
The New York Times‘s Charles Blow had an interesting column the other day, and we mean that as a backhanded compliment. Blow opens by announcing that his intention is to transcend the “simplistic, black-or-white, conservative vs. progressive discussion around the dissolution of the traditional family and high single-parent birthrates” and instead “focus more on complex areas of causation.”
Wall Street Journal
January 15, 2014 - Colorado Introduces New Campaign to Combat Teen Prescription Drug Abuse
Fresh on the heels of its move to make now-legal marijuana more readily available to adults, Colorado has introduced a campaign meant to help fight teen prescription drug abuse. The Rise Above Colorado campaign is being unveiled today (Jan. 15) and will include educational programs and outreach efforts.
Home Testing Blog
January 15, 2014 - Predictors of substance abuse identified among teens with bipolar disorder
A study published in the issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that approximately one in three teens with bipolar disorder developed substance abuse, for the first time, during 4 years of follow-up. The study also identified several risk factors that predicted who among these teens was most likely to develop substance abuse.
Yotta Fire
January 14, 2014 - Are Teen Brains Hyper-Wired for Rewards?
Study suggests there may be some logic in their choices after all
Teens are notorious for taking more risks than adults, and a new imaging study suggests it’s because the adolescent brain is hypermotivated when it comes to receiving rewards. A study published online Jan. 13 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that teen brains showed more activity in a specific pleasure center of the brain compared to adults when they were rewarded during gambling games where money was at stake.
Medline Plus
January 14, 2014 - Bullies and victims face mental health risks
Young teenage bullies and their victims face increased risks of developing mental health and substance use problems later in adolescence, a University of Queensland study has found.
The study examined the mental health outcomes of 17-year-olds who had been involved in peer aggression and bullying at 14 years of age.
Medical Express
January 14, 2014 - Higher depression risk in boys who think they are underweight
The focus on teenage weight issues tends to center around girls, but boys are not immune to body image pressures. In two new studies, researchers found that teen boys of a healthy weight who think they are too skinny have a higher risk of being depressed, compared with other boys – even those who think they are overweight.
Medical News Today
January 13, 2014 - Teens down about concussion
Teenagers who have suffered from concussion should be screened for depression, research suggests.
The US study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that adolescents with a history of concussion are more than three times as likely to suffer from depression as those who have never had mild traumatic brain injury.
6 minutes.com
January 13, 2014 - Lack of sleep in teenage boys may lead to obesity
A new research study finds that lack of sleep in teenage boys leads to weight gain even though it has no effect on girls of the same age. The researchers looked at the sleeping habits and body fat and weight in 386 boys and 299 girls. The age group was 15-18. They found that an average teenage boy of 16 years who sleeps 8 hours a day will have 1.6 kg more fat in their body and will be 1.8 cm bigger around the waist compared to a boy of same size who slept 10 hours every day.
Health and Beauty News
December 13, 2014 - Assaults at Schools Send 90,000 Kids to ER Each Year: Study
Children and teenagers who are assaulted at school account for nearly 90,000 emergency-room visits in the United States each year, new research finds.
Healthfinder.gov
January 13, 2014 - Why Florida Wants To Expand Single-Gender Classes
A handful of public schools in Florida have either all-girls or all-boys classrooms. More could be coming. Rep. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, is behind a bill that would have one school in each school district offer only single sex classes. The proposed legislation would create a pilot project in designated districts for two years.
NPR
January 13, 2014 - Michael Gurian: If I Were a Parent of a Boy…
But it is also true that boys and men are in substantial trouble today. They increasingly fill our principal’s offices, ADD/ADHD assessment clinics, and rolls of the homeless and unemployed. Boys and men are more likely to be victims of violence than girls and women, commit suicide at four times the rate of females, and suffer emotional disturbance, behavioral and other brain related disorders in higher numbers. They are suspended or expelled from school in much higher numbers than girls, receive two thirds of the Ds and Fs in schools, and lag behind girls in standardized test scores in all fifty states. They abuse substances and alcohol at higher rates than girls and are incarcerated at exponentially higher rates.
Strong for Parenting Blog
January 8, 2014 - What Happens to Depressed Adolescents?
The disruption caused by adolescent depression is also known to affect health outcomes during young adulthood; however, few studies have tracked outcomes into this stage. My colleagues and I recently published a study that looked at the longer-term clinical and psychosocial outcomes of depressive disorder in early adulthood.1 In addition, clinical and demographic variables that were associated with recurrence and lack of remission were identified.
Psychiatric Times
December 30, 2013
International News
CANADA
- Banding Together to Help Boys into Manhood
Vancouver ‘Young Men’s’ school group resists gendered pressures through mentorship.
We know there’s something up with boys — the alarms have been sounding for decades. Today, young men are 10 per cent more likely than young women to //www4.hrsdc.gc.ca/.3ndic.1t.4r@-eng.jsp?iid=32#M_2″ target=”_blank” style=”margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(0, 78, 188); text-decoration-line: none;”>drop out of high school. Their post-secondary enrollment falls worryingly short of women’s, too. In particular, single young men have been hit hard by recession. Recognizing the trends, an increasing number of schools in the Lower Mainland are rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
The Tyee
December 20, 2013
HONG KONG
- Hong Kong follows global trend with women dominating higher education
Worldwide, girls are outperforming boys at school and university. In the first of two-part series, Elaine Yau examines how this trend is playing out in Hong Kong
South China Morning Post
January 17, 2014
THAILAND
- Boys will be boys It is imperative that parents set a good example for their sons
Unpleasant stories about men’s aggression and violence towards their family members continue to surface. And violent behaviour can be assimilated through the family environment as children grow up. Boys…
Bangkok Post
January 14, 2014