Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Suicides Among Kids Ages 8 to 12 Are Rising, Especially Among Girls

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

New data shows a troubling 8% annual increase in the number of American children ages 8 to 12 who died by suicide, with the sharpest increase seen among girls.

Suicide has now become the fifth leading cause of death among both male and female preteens, report a team led by Donna Ruch, of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Ruch works at the hospital's Center for Suicide Prevention and Research. Her team published its findings in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Rising rates of suicides among children have set off alarm bells for experts in recent years.

"In 2021, the National Institute of Mental Health convened a research roundtable series to address the rising rates of suicides in preteens, defined as youths aged 8 to 12 years," Ruch's group noted.

They said that, until now, there's been little good data on suicides among preteens.

To help remedy that, the Ohio group looked at data for 2001 through 2022 from a major federal online database that lists the underlying cause of death for U.S. preteens.

Overall, 2,241 preteens are known to have died by suicide during the more than two decades covered by the database.

Initially, there was a encouraging downward trend in these deaths between 2001 and 2007, Ruch's group noted.

However, beginning in 2008, that trend reversed.

Each year after 2007, there's been an 8.2% annual increase in preteen suicide cases.

Preteen suicide is still exceedingly rare: Between 2001 and 2007, there were 3.3 such cases per 1 million population, Ruch's team noted.

By 2022, that number had risen to 5.7 per million, however.

In sheer numbers, preteen boys are still more likely to die by suicide compared to girls, with almost double the number of deaths.

But the rate at which young girls die by suicide is rising, more than tripling over the study time period. This trend reveals "a narrowing of the historically large gap in youth suicide rates between sexes," the researchers noted.

Whereas suicide was the 11th leading cause of death for preteen girls in 2007, by 2022 it became the 5th leading cause -- similar to boys.

Source: HealthDay
https://www.healthday.com/health-news/mental-health/suicides-among-kids-ages-8-to-12-are-rising-especially-among-girls

Cutting Screen Use Boosts Mental Health in Children, Teens

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

Short-term reduction in leisure-time screen media use within families positively affects psychological symptoms in children and adolescents, according to a study published online in JAMA Network Open.

Jesper Schmidt-Persson, Ph.D., from the Centre of Research in Childhood Health at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, and colleagues investigated the effects of a two-week screen media reduction intervention on children's and adolescents' mental health. Analysis included 181 children and adolescents from 89 participating families.

The researchers found that there was a statistically significant mean difference in the total difficulties score, favoring the screen media reduction intervention. The greatest benefits were seen for internalizing symptoms (emotional symptoms and peer problems; between-group mean difference) and prosocial behavior (between-group mean difference).

"Future research should explore the potential differential effects of various types of screen media use and look deeper into whether collective family participation in such interventions is a pivotal component for observed benefits," the authors write.

Source: HealthDay
https://www.healthday.com/healthpro-news/mental-health/cutting-screen-use-boosts-mental-health-in-children-teens

Frequent House Moves Take Lifetime Toll on Kids' Mental Health

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

Kids whose families frequently move have a significantly higher risk of depression later in life, a new study warns.

Children who move once between the ages of 10 and 15 are 41% more likely to be diagnosed with depression in adulthood compared with those whose families don’t move, researchers found.

And kids who move twice or more at that age are 61% more likely to develop depression, results.

By comparison, kids who live in a poor neighborhood are 10% more likely to develop depression as adults, researchers noted.

The results suggest that a settled home environment during childhood is crucial to protecting children against future mental health problems.

“We know there are a number of factors which lead to a person being diagnosed with a mental illness,” said lead researcher Clive Sabel, a professor with the University of Plymouth in the U.K. “However, this is the first evidence to suggest that moving to a new neighborhood during childhood is among them, and we believe the numbers we are seeing could be the tip of the iceberg.”

For the study, researchers tracked nearly 1.1 million people born in Denmark between 1981 and 2001, comparing their changes of address while young to any subsequent mood disorders or mental health problems.

Researchers said they’d expect similar outcomes in other parts of the world, particularly among groups of children like foster kids and Army brats.

The new study was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

Source: HealthDay
https://www.healthday.com/health-news/mental-health/frequent-house-moves-take-lifetime-toll-on-kids-mental-health

Cutting Screen Time to 3 Hours Per Week Improves Kids’ Behavior and Mental Health in Days

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by StudyFinds.

Drastically reducing children’s leisure screen time to just three hours per week can lead to significant improvements in their mental health and behavior in as little as two weeks, a new study shows. The research, led by Dr. Jesper Schmidt-Persson from the University of Southern Denmark, offers a powerful and actionable strategy for parents concerned about their children’s well-being in our increasingly digital world.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, involved 89 families with 181 children and adolescents between four and 17 years old. Half of these families were asked to limit their leisure screen time to a maximum of three hours per week per person – a dramatic reduction from the average seven to eight hours per day that many children typically spend on screens for entertainment.

The results were remarkable. After just two weeks (14 days) of this reduced screen time regimen, children in the intervention group showed significant improvements in their overall behavior and emotional well-being. Using a standardized assessment tool called the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), researchers found that these children experienced a decrease in behavioral difficulties equivalent to moving from the “borderline” category to the “normal” category.

This rapid and substantial improvement is particularly striking given the short duration of the study. It suggests that even a brief period of reduced screen time can have measurable benefits for children’s mental health.

The most notable improvements were seen in internalizing symptoms – those related to emotional problems and difficulties with peers – and in prosocial behavior, which involves being considerate and helpful towards others. This indicates that reducing screen time may help children better process their emotions and improve their social interactions.

Source: StudyFinds
https://studyfinds.org/cutting-screen-time-kids-behavior/

Teens Struggling With Mental Abilities Face Triple Risk Of Stroke By Age 50

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by Medical Daily.

Individuals experiencing poor mental abilities in their teenage years could face a triple risk of stroke by the age of 50, a new study revealed.

A stroke, also known as a brain attack, is a sudden cardiovascular medical emergency where blood flow to the brain gets disrupted, impacting a person's speech, eating, movement, and other bodily functions. This can happen either due to a blood clot (ischemic stroke) or from bleeding in the brain tissue (hemorrhagic stroke). Around half of stroke patients may experience long-term impairments.

According to the results of the study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, teens with poor concentration, problem-solving, and learning abilities are at a heightened risk of early-onset stroke.

"Alongside adolescent obesity and hypertension, lower cognitive function may be a risk factor for early-onset stroke," the researchers concluded in the study.

The study results hold special significance given the rising incidence of stroke among individuals under 50 years old.

The research team utilized data from a nationally representative sample of 1.7 million young Israelis who underwent comprehensive cognitive function tests before mandatory military service. The study has data of participants between the ages of 16–20 years, from 1987 to 2012.

"Among those scoring low to medium on mental ability, the incidence of both types of stroke was higher, particularly that of ischemic stroke. After accounting for potentially influential factors, those with low mental ability were more than 2.5 times as likely to have a stroke before the age of 50 as those with a high level, while those with a medium level were 78% more likely to do so," the news release stated.

After accounting for potentially influential factors, the risk was almost double among those with a medium level of mental ability and more than 3 times higher among those with a low level in their teenage years.

Source: Medical Daily
https://www.medicaldaily.com/teens-struggling-mental-abilities-face-triple-risk-stroke-age-50-study-471900

Which Adolescents Are at Risk of Depression Following Early Social Media Use?

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

A new study that looked for relationships between early social media use and depression across adolescence and into young adulthood found that certain factors may make social media more risky or protective regarding depression. The findings, which are published in the Journal of Adolescence, suggest that social media use does not impact all adolescents in the same way, and an individualized approach is needed to determine the benefits and harms of social media on young people's mental health.

For the study, 488 adolescents living in the United States were surveyed once a year for 8 years (beginning in 2010 when the average age for participants was 13 years old). The investigators found 5 classes that differed in how self-reported social media use duration related to depressive symptoms. Although high amounts of reported social media use were often related to larger increases in depressive symptoms, this was not universal.

Social media use was related to increased depression for adolescents with greater parental hostility, peer bullying, anxiety, reactivity to stressors, and lower parental media monitoring. With many other characteristics and factors, social media use was related to less depression or was unrelated to depression.

"When thinking about whether social media may impact a particular teen, it's important to take a broad perspective. If the teen is already in a vulnerable position (being bullied or having hostile parents or parents who don't monitor their teen's media), then social media is much more likely to be harmful. This is especially true if there is more than 3+ hours of use a day," said corresponding author W. Justin Dyer, Ph.D., of Brigham Young University.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-adolescents-depression-early-social-media.html

Depression in Adolescents Linked to Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

Depression affects about 8% of adolescents worldwide and is a known risk factor for premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adulthood. While the reasons for this risk are not well understood, a study from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) has found that certain subgroups of adolescents with depression have an even higher risk of developing CVD.

CVD refers to a group of conditions that affect the heart and the blood vessels. Routine screening methods in place today rely heavily on body measurements to assess eligibility for preventive measures against CVD.

"Preventative cardiology in adolescents is important, as early interventions are known to diminish the more serious consequences of CVD later in life," says Dr. Brian McCrindle, a Senior Scientist in the Child Health Evaluative Sciences program and Section Head of Preventative Cardiology & Epidemiology at SickKids.

The new research published in JAACAP Open and led by Dr. Daphne Korczak, Associate Scientist in the Neurosciences & Mental Health program and a Staff Psychiatrist in the Department of Psychiatry, is delving deeper into how those risk factors present in adolescents MDD.

"By identifying the heterogeneity of depression in adolescents and better understanding the intersection between mental and physical health we hope to be able to provide more personalized and effective care for this vulnerable population," says Korczak, who is also the SickKids Chair in Child and Youth Medical Psychiatry.

The study recruited 189 adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) from the Children's Integrated Mood and Body (CLIMB) depression program at SickKids and assessed their mental health symptoms and cardiovascular risk factors, such as blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass index (BMI).

Using machine learning, and a statistical method called cluster analysis, the researchers identified four distinct groups of adolescents with depression, two of which demonstrated higher CVD risk. Of the two high-risk subgroups, one had high levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL, or "bad" cholesterol) but appeared healthy on physical examination.

Adolescents in this group demonstrated this dyslipidemia—a condition known to lead to CVD and characterized by abnormal levels of lipids in the bloodstream—despite being of a healthy weight and having normal blood pressure.

"Our findings suggest that there may be a subgroup of adolescents with depression that would not be identified using usual physical examination indicators but are at increased risk for heart disease later in life," Korczak says.

Based on these findings, Korczak believes that a more tailored approach to treatment aligned with Precision Child Health, a movement at SickKids to deliver individualized care to each patient, could be provided that incorporates preventative heart health care to adolescents at a higher CVD risk, sooner.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-depression-adolescents-linked-cardiovascular-disease.html

Teen Cannabis Use Dramatically Raises Risk of Psychotic Disorders

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by ScienceAlert.

Using cannabis raises the risk of teenagers developing a psychotic disorder by a staggering 11 times compared to teens who didn't report using the drug, a Canadian study has found.

That's a much stronger association than what previous studies have reported. A 2016 analysis of data from 10 different studies found the heaviest cannabis users were about four times more likely than non-users to be diagnosed with schizophrenia or another psychotic condition.

Part of the reason, aside from cannabis users' age, is that much of the data used in past analyses of adolescent cannabis use comes from before 2000, when cannabis was far less potent than it is today, the team behind the new analysis suggests.

In this new study, McMaster University epidemiologist André McDonald and colleagues looked at formal diagnoses of a psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia, rather than acute psychotic episodes or psychotic symptoms.

They also analyzed psychosis in late adolescence, as well as early adulthood, to make sure they weren't missing (like other studies might have) a critical window when psychotic disorders tend to first appear.

The team linked survey data on cannabis use in teens and young adults, collected between 2009 and 2012, with public health records in Ontario, Canada, up to 2018. This allowed them to trace recorded diagnoses of psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, in the years after cannabis use among some 11,300 individuals.

The researchers found a strong association between using cannabis and the risk of adolescents being diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. Diagnosis rates were 11 times higher among teens aged 12-19 years who said they used cannabis compared to those who didn't.

 

"These findings are consistent with the neurodevelopmental theory that teens are especially vulnerable to the effects of cannabis" because their brains are still developing," McDonald says.

 

The paper was published in Psychological Medicine.

 

Source: ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/teen-cannabis-use-dramatically-raises-risk-of-psychotic-disorders

Study Links Household Chaos with Sleep Quality Among Teens with ADHD Symptoms

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2024 annual meeting found that household chaos and sleep hygiene are important factors in the relationship between sleep quality and ADHD symptoms in teens.

Results of structural equation modeling show that household chaos and sleep hygiene were significant mediators of the relationship between ADHD symptoms and poor sleep quality. The results suggest that improving the daily routine and stability of the household is an important strategy to consider when seeking to improve sleep quality in adolescents with symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

"These results begin to explicate some contextual factors that may help explain the increase in sleep difficulties observed in youth with higher symptoms of ADHD," said lead author and co-principal investigator Jamie Flannery, who is a doctoral candidate in developmental psychology at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

"It suggests that when ADHD symptoms are high, aspects of the individual—poor sleep hygiene—and the familial environment—household chaos—are associated with poor sleep quality in adolescents."

The researchers collected data from 259 pairs of mothers and adolescents from across the U.S. Mothers used a scale to rate the severity of their adolescent's ADHD symptoms, while adolescents completed three separate surveys about sleep quality, home environment and sleep hygiene.

The research abstract was published recently in an online supplement of the journal Sleep and will be presented Monday, June 3, during SLEEP 2024 in Houston.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-links-household-chaos-quality-teens.html

Study Shows More Than Just Social Media Use May be Causing Depression in Young Adults

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

Over the past few decades, there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of depression in adolescents and young adults—and a simultaneous uptick in the inclusion of technology and social media in everyday life. However, it is unclear how exactly social media use and depression are associated and relate to other behaviors, such as physical activity, green space exposure, cannabis use, and eveningness (the tendency to stay up late).

In a study published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, a team of researchers led by experts at Johns Hopkins Children's Center investigated the association among social media use, depression, and other health-related behaviors of young adults over time.

"Research shows that when social media use is high, depression is also high. But the question is—is that because social media caused that person to be depressed? Or is it because people who are depressed tend to also use social media more and spend less time exercising and being in green spaces? That is what we wanted to understand," says Carol Vidal, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., the first author of the study, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

In their study, 376 young adults in Canada (82.4% women) were asked to complete three online questionnaires between May 2021 and January 2022. At each point, participants self-reported depressive symptoms based on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)—a nine-item scale that is commonly used to measure depression—as well as social media use, greenspace exposure, physical activity, and cannabis use.

The researchers found that most study participants had at least mild depressive symptoms. Findings showed that participants who had higher social media use tended to be more depressed, and people who were more depressed also tended to use social media more. However, researchers found that social media use did not cause an increase or decrease in depressive symptom levels over time.

"We found that if you tended to be a person who was depressed, you were a person also spending more time on social media," explains Vidal.

Researchers also found that higher levels of social media use and higher levels of depressive symptoms were associated with lower levels of green space exposure. In addition, cannabis use and higher eveningness were also associated with higher depressive levels.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-social-media-depression-young-adults.html