Cognitive behavioral therapy reduces insomnia symptoms among young drinkers

Pilot study shows sleep therapy also reduces alcohol-related issues among those who binge drink

October 20, 2020

Science Daily/University of Missouri-Columbia

More than half of young adults at risk for alcohol-related harm report symptoms of insomnia. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the first-line treatments for insomnia, but it's never been tested on young adults who are actively drinking. Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine conducted a pilot study to evaluate CBT's effect on young adult binge drinkers with insomnia to determine if this treatment can improve their sleep and potentially affect alcohol use outcomes.

"The potential for insomnia treatment to influence alcohol-related consequences has significant implications for the prevention and treatment of alcohol use among young adults," said Mary Beth Miller, PhD, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at the MU School of Medicine. "Given the stigma associated with mental health issues and addiction, it's crucial to identify other forms of treatment that either influence alcohol outcomes or open the door to alcohol-related treatment."

Miller tested CBT in a pilot study of 56 people between 18 and 30 years old who reported at least one binge-drinking episode in the past month. Binge drinking was defined as four or more drinks in one occasion. Participants were randomly assigned to either five weekly sessions of CBT -- a behavioral therapy program that focuses on changing patterns of thinking and behavior -- or a single session on sleep hygiene, which focuses on creating optimal sleeping conditions and establishing a bedtime routine. The CBT session topics included sleep hygiene, sleep restriction, relaxation techniques, behavioral experiments, insomnia prevention discussions and sleep diary use. All participants wore wrist devices to objectively measure sleep and completed subjective daily sleep and drinking surveys.

Results showed CBT participants reported a 56% reduction in insomnia severity, compared to a 32% reduction in symptoms for those who completed only the sleep hygiene session. The CBT participants also showed moderate improvement in objectively assessed sleep efficiency after treatment compared to the sleep hygiene participants. Both groups reduced their drinks per week and alcohol-related consequences after treatment. However, CBT participants reported greater improvements in insomnia, which in turn were associated with reductions in alcohol-related problems.

"The results of this study indicate that insomnia treatment may improve alcohol-related problems, and therefore, may be an ideal first step toward treatment among binge-drinking young adults with insomnia," Miller said.

Miller believes the data collected in this study warrants a larger sample size study looking at alcohol-related problems as a primary outcome. She plans to determine if insomnia treatment improves executive function and the ability to regulate emotions, which in turn might decrease risk for alcohol-related problems.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201020131347.htm

Could excessive sugar intake contribute to aggressive behaviors, ADHD, bipolar disorder?

New peer-review paper looks at evolution and current Western diet to help explain manic behaviors

October 16, 2020

Science Daily/University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

New research suggests that conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity syndrome (ADHD), bipolar disorder, and even aggressive behaviors may be linked with sugar intake, and that it may have an evolutionary basis.

The research, out today from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and published in Evolution and Human Behavior, presents a hypothesis supporting a role for fructose, a component of sugar and high fructose corn syrup, and uric acid (a fructose metabolite), in increasing the risk for these behavioral disorders.

"We present evidence that fructose, by lowering energy in cells, triggers a foraging response similar to what occurs in starvation," said lead author Richard Johnson, MD, professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.

Johnson outlines research that shows a foraging response stimulates risk taking, impulsivity, novelty seeking, rapid decision making, and aggressiveness to aid the securing of food as a survival response. Overactivation of this process from excess sugar intake may cause impulsive behavior that could range from ADHD, to bipolar disorder or even aggression.

"While the fructose pathway was meant to aid survival, fructose intake has skyrocketed during the last century and may be in overdrive due to the high amounts of sugar that are in the current Western diet," Johnson adds.

The paper looks at how excessive intake of fructose present in refined sugars and high fructose corn syrup may have a contributory role in the pathogenesis of behavioral disorders that are associated with obesity and Western diet.

Johnson notes, "We do not blame aggressive behavior on sugar, but rather note that it may be one contributor."

Johnson recommends further studies to investigate the role of sugar and uric acid, especially with new inhibitors of fructose metabolism on the horizon.

"The identification of fructose as a risk factor does not negate the importance of genetic, familial, physical, emotional and environmental factors that shape mental health," he adds.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201016112903.htm

Teen brain differences linked to increased waist circumference

October 13, 2020

Science Daily/NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse

Differences in the microstructure of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), a region in the brain that plays an important role in processing food and other reward stimuli, predict increases in indicators of obesity in children, according to a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and nine other institutes, all part of the National Institutes of Health. The paper, published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is based on data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. The ABCD Study will follow nearly 12,000 children through early adulthood to assess factors that influence individual brain development and other health outcomes.

Findings from this study provide the first evidence of microstructural brain differences that are linked to waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) in children. These microstructural differences in cell density could be indicative of inflammatory processes triggered by a diet rich in high fat foods.

"We know that childhood obesity is a key predictor of adult obesity and other poor health outcomes later in life," said Nora D. Volkow, M.D., director of NIDA. "These results extend previous animal studies to reveal what may prove to be a vicious cycle in which diet-related inflammation in brain striatal regions promotes further unhealthy eating behaviors and weight gain."

Evidence from past human imaging studies has demonstrated the relationship between the NAcc and unhealthy eating behavior in adults. In this study, the researchers leveraged new diffusion MRI imaging techniques to examine the cellular structure of areas that comprise the striatal reward pathway in the brain to investigate disproportionate weight gain in youth.

This study included data from 5,366 ABCD Study participants, ages 9- to 10-years-old at baseline, of whom 2,133 returned for a one-year follow-up visit. The mean waist circumference of the participants, used here as a measure of body fat, increased an average of 2.76 centimeters per participant from the baseline through the one-year follow-up. The researchers used a noninvasive MRI technique to show that an alleged marker of cellular density in the NAcc reflected differences in waist circumference at baseline and predicted increased waist circumference at one-year follow-up.

Because the ABCD Study is longitudinal, it will allow to assess if this association holds or changes over the course of adolescent development, and what factors may influence this trajectory.

Obesity in the United States affects approximately 35% of children and adolescents and is associated with negative health consequences, mentally and physically, as well as higher mortality rates. Children who are obese have more than a fivefold likelihood of becoming obese as adults. Predictive models of weight gain in youth, coupled with knowledge about factors that could impact this trajectory, would benefit public health and individual wellbeing.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201013150815.htm

Television advertising limits can reduce childhood obesity

October 13, 2020

Science Daily/PLOS

Limiting the hours of television advertising for foods and beverages high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) could make a meaningful contribution to reducing childhood obesity, according to a new study published this week in PLOS Medicine by Oliver Mytton of the University of Cambridge, UK, and colleagues.

Childhood obesity is a global problem with few signs of progress. As part of the UK government's plan to halve childhood obesity by 2030, it is considering limitations on television advertising for HFSS products between the hours of 5:30am and 9pm. In the new study, researchers used data on children's exposure to HFSS advertising during these hours, as well as previously published information on the association between exposure to HFSS advertising and children's caloric intake.

The study concluded that if all HFSS advertising in the UK was withdrawn during the hours in question, the 3.7 million children in the UK would see on average 1.5 fewer HFSS advertisements per day and decrease their caloric intake by an average of 9.1 kcal (95%CI 0.5-17.7). This would reduce the number of children aged 5 through 17 with obesity by 4.6% (95%CI 1.4-9.5) and the number of children considered overweight by 3.6% (95%CI 1.1-7.4). This is equivalent to 40,000 fewer UK children with obesity and 120,000 fewer classified as overweight and would result in a monetary benefit to the UK of £7.4 billion (95%CI 2.0 billion-16 billion). The study only considered the direct impact of HFSS advertising on children's caloric intake and did not consider the impact of HFSS advertising on changing both children's and adults' dietary preferences and habits.

"Measures which have the potential to reduce exposure to less-healthy food advertising on television could make a meaningful contribution to reducing childhood obesity," the authors say. However, they also point out that "this is a modeling study and we cannot fully account for all factors that would affect the impact of this policy if it was implemented."

"Our analysis shows that introducing a 9 PM watershed on unhealthy TV food advertising can make a valuable contribution to protecting the future health of all children in the UK, and help level up the health of children from less affluent backgrounds," said Dr Mytton. "However, children now consume media from a range of sources, and increasingly from online and on-demand services, so in order to give all children the opportunity to grow up healthy it is important l to ensure that this advertising doesn't just move to the 9-10pm slot and to online services."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201013141752.htm

More young adults are abstaining from alcohol

October 12, 2020

Science Daily/University of Michigan

Fewer college-age Americans drink alcohol, compared to nearly 20 years ago, according to a new study.

Between 2002 and 2018, the number of adults aged 18-22 in the U.S. who abstained from alcohol increased from 20% to 28% for those in college and from about 24% to 30% for those not in school, say researchers at the University of Michigan and Texas State University. And alcohol abuse among both groups decreased by roughly half.

However, the study found that the number of young adults using marijuana, as well as co-using alcohol and marijuana, has increased.

Overall, the mixed findings show more positive than negative trends for alcohol and marijuana use and misuse among this age group, but the progression still bears close monitoring, the researchers say.

The study, appearing in JAMA Pediatrics Oct. 12, examined how alcohol and marijuana abstinence, co-use and use disorders have changed in 18-to-22-year-olds as a function of college status, using data from a nationally representative survey of 182,722 young adults. It also looked at prescription drug use and misuse as a function of alcohol and marijuana use, from 2015 to 2018.

The researchers were particularly surprised at the drop in alcohol use and misuse.

"We're encouraged by the significant decreases in alcohol use disorder -- for both college and noncollege students," said lead author Sean Esteban McCabe, director of the Center for the Study of Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking and Health at the U-M School of Nursing.

"The prevalence of alcohol use disorder in both groups in 2018 was roughly half of what it was in 2002. We are excited to learn about these drops in disordered drinking, as alcohol-related consequences are one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity for young adults."

Co-author Ty Schepis, professor of psychology at Texas State, said "even with increases in marijuana use disorder and co-use of alcohol and marijuana, there is a lot of hope in our study's results."

"Points of concern that deserve more attention are the rise in co-use of alcohol and marijuana, as we know that polysubstance use can have more negative consequences and be more difficult to treat," he said.

The study also found that more than three-fourths of those who had disordered use of both alcohol and marijuana reported past-year prescription drug use and illicit drug use, while the majority reported prescription drug misuse.

The findings indicate that the substance use landscape has changed over the past 20 years, with more young adults using or misusing several different substances, as opposed to just marijuana or alcohol.

"For example, from 2015 to 2018, only 2.5% of young adults who abstained from both alcohol and marijuana reported misusing prescription drugs, while 25.1% of co-users misused prescription drugs," Schepis said. "That is a tenfold difference with potentially dangerous consequences."

Abusing multiple substances is often more dangerous than abusing a single substance.

"Interventions that focus solely on one substance will be less effective than interventions that take a more holistic polysubstance use perspective," McCabe said. "The findings of our study reinforce the complex task health professionals have of detecting and developing effective interventions to reduce consequences associated with polysubstance use, such as co-use of alcohol and marijuana."

Schools and employers may require more resources to scale interventions to address both young adults with and without a disorder, including screening and brief interventions for co-use of alcohol and marijuana, McCabe said.

"The finding that abstinence is increasing among college students and young adults not in college is very important for U.S. colleges and universities to take into account moving forward," he said. "These findings reinforce the importance of the need to support those young adults in recovery and abstinence for other reasons. There are over 1 million U.S. young adults in recovery and a wide variety of resources are needed to support these individuals."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201012120007.htm

Girls benefit from doing sports

September 29, 2020

Science Daily/University of Montreal

Extracurricular sport in middle childhood diminishes subsequent ADHD symptoms in girls, but not in boys, a new study suggests

Girls -- but not boys -- who participate actively in school sports activities in middle childhood show improved behaviour and attentiveness in early adolescence, suggests a new Canadian study published in Preventative Medicine.

"Girls who do regular extracurricular sports between ages 6 and 10 show fewer symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at age 12, compared to girls who seldom do," said Linda Pagani, a professor at Université de Montréal's School of Psychoeducation.

"Surprisingly, however, boys do not appear to gain any behavioural benefit from sustained involvement in sports during middle childhood," said Pagani, who led the study co-authored by her students Marie-Josée Harbec and Geneviève Fortin and McGill University associate medical professor Tracie Barnett.

As the team prepared their research, "it was unclear to what extent organized physical activity is beneficial for children with ADHD symptoms," recalled Pagani.

"Past studies have varied widely in quality, thus blurring the true association between sport and behavioural development." She added: "On top of that, "past research has not acknowledged that boys and girls are different in how they present ADHD symptoms."

A chance to get organized

ADHD harms children's ability to process information and learn at school, Pagani explained. Sport helps young people develop life skills and supportive relationships with their peers and adults. It offers a chance to get organized under some form of adult influence or supervision.

"Thus, from a public-health perspective, extracurricular sport has the potential to be a positive, non-stigmatizing and engaging approach to promote psychological well-being and could thus be viewed as behaviour therapy for youth with ADHD," Pagani said.

"Sports are especially beneficial if they begin in early childhood. And so, since using concentration and interpersonal skills are essential elements of sport, in our study we undertook to examine whether it would result in reductions in ADHD symptoms over the long term."

Pagani and her team came to their conclusions after examining data from a Quebec cohort of children born in 1997 and 1998, part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development coordinated by the Institut de la statistique du Québec.

Parents of the 991 girls and 1,006 boys in the study reported on whether their sons and daughters were in an extracurricular physical activity that required a coach or instructor between ages 6 and 10. At age 12 years, teachers rated the children's behaviour compared to their classmates. Pagani's team then analyzed the data to identify any significant link between sustained participation and later ADHD symptoms, discarding many possible confounding factors.

"Our goal was to eliminate any pre-existing conditions of the children or families that could throw a different light on our results," said Pagani.

'Boys more impulsive'

Why do girls with ADHD benefit from sports, but not boys?

"In childhood, boys with ADHD are more impulsive and more motor-skilled than girls -- as a result, boys are more likely to receive medication for their ADHD, so faster diagnosis and treatment for boys in middle childhood could diminish the detectable benefits of sport," Pagani said. "They might be there; they're just harder to tease out."

"In girls, on the other hand, ADHD is more likely to go undetected -- and girls' difficulties may be even more tolerated at home and in school. Parents of boys, by contrast, might be more inclined to enroll them in sports and other physical activities to help them."

She added: "We know that sporting activities have other numerous benefits for mental health of all children. However, for reducing ADHD symptoms, middle childhood sports in elementary school seem more noteworthy for girls."

That's why structured extracurricular activities that demand physical skill and effort under the supervision of a coach or instructor could be valuable to any official policy aimed at promoting behavioral development, the UdeM researchers maintain.

Concluded Pagani: "Sports activities in early childhood can help girls develop essential social skills that will be useful later and ultimately play a key role in their personal, financial and economic success."

The work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanties Research Council of Canada and other funders, including the Fondation Lucie et André Chagnon.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200929123524.htm

Why writing by hand makes kids smarter

Writing by hand creates much more activity in the sensorimotor parts of the brain, researchers found

October 1, 2020

Science Daily/Norwegian University of Science and Technology

New brain research shows that writing by hand helps children learn more and remember better. At the same time, schools are going more and more digital, and a European survey shows that Norwegian children spend the most time online of 19 countries in the EU.

Professor Audrey van der Meer at NTNU believes that national guidelines should be put into place to ensure that children receive at least a minimum of handwriting training.

Results from several studies have shown that both children and adults learn more and remember better when writing by hand.

Now another study confirms the same: choosing handwriting over keyboard use yields the best learning and memory.

Van der Meer and her colleagues have investigated this several times, first in 2017 and now in 2020.

In 2017, she examined the brain activity of 20 students. She has now published a study in which she examined brain activity in twelve young adults and twelve children.

This is the first time that children have participated in such a study.

Both studies were conducted using an EEG to track and record brain wave activity. The participants wore a hood with over 250 electrodes attached.

The brain produces electrical impulses when it is active. The sensors in the electrodes are very sensitive and pick up the electrical activity that takes place in the brain.

Handwriting gives the brain more hooks to hang memories on

Each examination took 45 minutes per person, and the researchers received 500 data points per second.

The results showed that the brain in both young adults and children is much more active when writing by hand than when typing on a keyboard.

"The use of pen and paper gives the brain more 'hooks' to hang your memories on. Writing by hand creates much more activity in the sensorimotor parts of the brain. A lot of senses are activated by pressing the pen on paper, seeing the letters you write and hearing the sound you make while writing. These sense experiences create contact between different parts of the brain and open the brain up for learning. We both learn better and remember better," says Van der Meer.

She believes that her own and others' studies emphasize the importance of children being challenged to draw and write at an early age, especially at school.

Today's digital reality is that typing, tapping and screen time are a big part of children's and adolescents' everyday lives.

A survey of 19 countries in the EU shows that Norwegian children and teens spend the most time online. The smartphone is a constant companion, followed closely by the PC and tablet.

The survey shows that Norwegian children ages 9 to16 spend almost four hours online every day, double the amount since 2010.

Kids' leisure time spent in front of a screen is now amplified by schools' increasing emphasis on digital learning.

Van der Meer thinks digital learning has many positive aspects, but urges handwriting training.

"Given the development of the last several years, we risk having one or more generations lose the ability to write by hand. Our research and that of others show that this would be a very unfortunate consequence" of increased digital activity, says Meer.

She believes that national guidelines should be put in place that ensure children receive at least a minimum of handwriting training.

"Some schools in Norway have become completely digital and skip handwriting training altogether. Finnish schools are even more digitized than in Norway. Very few schools offer any handwriting training at all," says Van der Meer.

In the debate about handwriting or keyboard use in school, some teachers believe that keyboards create less frustration for children. They point out that children can write longer texts earlier, and are more motivated to write because they experience greater mastery with a keyboard.

"Learning to write by hand is a bit slower process, but it's important for children to go through the tiring phase of learning to write by hand. The intricate hand movements and the shaping of letters are beneficial in several ways. If you use a keyboard, you use the same movement for each letter. Writing by hand requires control of your fine motor skills and senses. It's important to put the brain in a learning state as often as possible. I would use a keyboard to write an essay, but I'd take notes by hand during a lecture," says Van der Meer.

"The brain has evolved over thousands of years. It has evolved to be able to take action and navigate appropriate behaviour. In order for the brain to develop in the best possible way, we need to use it for what it's best at. We need to live an authentic life. We have to use all our senses, be outside, experience all kinds of weather and meet other people. If we don't challenge our brain, it can't reach its full potential. And that can impact school performance," says Van der Meer.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201001113540.htm

Having high cholesterol levels early in life leads to heart problems by middle age

Finding could lead to more aggressive strategies to lower cholesterol in early adulthood

September 22, 2020

Science Daily/University of Maryland School of Medicine

Having elevated cholesterol during the teens or early twenties increases a person's risk of having a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular event during middle age. That is the finding a new landmark study led by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM). This increased risk persists even in those who were able to get their cholesterol levels down to a healthy level before reaching their late thirties. The research makes a strong case for doctors to intervene early to treat high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the so-called "bad" type of cholesterol, the study authors contend. It also provides guidance for future intervention studies aimed at stemming the worldwide epidemic of heart disease and stroke.

The study, entitled "Time Course of LDL Cholesterol Exposure and Cardiovascular Disease Event Risk," was published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and relied on data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA). This ongoing study, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, began 35 years ago, recruiting 5,000 young adults aged 18 to 30. It has been tracking this cohort ever since to understand how individual characteristics, lifestyle and environmental factors contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease later in life.

"We found having an elevated LDL cholesterol level at a young age raises the risk of developing heart disease, and the elevated risk persists even in those who were able to later lower their LDL cholesterol levels" said study leader Michael Domanski, MD, a Professor of Medicine at UMSOM. For instance, two people with the same cholesterol level at age 40 may have very different risks of having a heart attack or stroke with risk being higher for the person who had higher cholesterol as a teenager.

"Damage to the arteries done early in life may be irreversible and appears to be cumulative," Dr. Domanski said. "For this reason, doctors may want to consider prescribing lifestyle changes and also medications to lower high LDL cholesterol levels in young adults in order to prevent problems further down the road."

To conduct the study, the researchers used complex mathematical modeling to understand how cardiovascular risk (heart attack, stroke, blood vessel blockages, and death from cardiovascular disease) rises with increasing cumulative "exposure" to LDL cholesterol over an average of 22 years. They found that the greater the area under the "LDL curve" -- which measured time of exposure and level of LDL cholesterol over time -- the more likely participants were to experience a major cardiovascular event.

"Interestingly and importantly, we also found it was not just the area under the curve that accounted for the difference in risk but also the time course of the exposure," study co-author Charles Hong, MD, PhD, the Melvin Sharoky, MD, Professor in Medicine at UMSOM. "This underscores the importance of regular cholesterol screenings beginning in early adulthood to help reduce this time of high exposure."

While the medical establishment understands the importance of managing high LDL cholesterol levels to lower heart risks, there is little consensus on how aggressively to intervene in young adults who may not experience a heart attack or stroke for decades. The American College of Cardiology's current cholesterol management guidelines recommend using lifestyle measures to lower high LDL levels during the teenage years. This includes exercise, maintaining a healthy body mass index, and following a healthy diet low in saturated animal fats. The guidelines recommend that doctors consider prescribing cholesterol-lowering medications like statins to prevent heart disease in those ages 20 to 39 who have elevated cholesterol levels, especially if they have a family history of early-onset heart disease.

Researchers from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, George Washington University, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, University of Alabama School of Medicine, the University of Toronto and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai were co-authors on this study.

"Cardiovascular disease remains the biggest killer in the world, and this new finding provides a potential way to save many lives," said E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, UM Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine. "The medical community should sit up, take notice, and respond to this important new evidence."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200922172604.htm

Teacher stress linked with higher risk of student suspensions

Study examines impact of teacher burnout on student behavior, discipline issues

September 15, 2020

Science Daily/University of Missouri-Columbia

Just how stressed are teachers? A recent Gallup poll found teachers are tied with nurses for the most stressful occupation in America today. Unfortunately, that stress can have a trickle-down effect on their students, leading to disruptive behavior that results in student suspensions.

One of those overburdened teachers is Jennifer Lloyd, a high school English teacher in Maryland and a graduate student at the University of Missouri. She has noticed how perceptive her students are to her mood and their ability to feed off of her energy, for better or worse.

"If I come into class from a rough meeting or a stressful morning and I bring those feelings into the classroom environment, the kids notice," Lloyd said. "Sometimes they will give that negative energy right back to me, and we all end up having a bad day."

To examine the impact of teacher burnout on student behavior outcomes, Lloyd's sister, Colleen Eddy, a doctoral student in the MU College of Education, and her colleagues with the Missouri Prevention Science Institute, conducted teacher surveys and classroom observations in nine Missouri elementary schools. They found when teachers are highly stressed and emotionally exhausted, students in their classrooms are at a higher risk of being suspended or disciplined by school administrators.

"Removing students from the classroom environment as a form of punishment can be really harmful, as research has shown it not only reduces student achievement but also increases the risk of dropout," Eddy said. "If we want to make schools a positive place for student learning, we first need to ensure it is a positive workplace for teachers. By giving teachers strategies to better manage disruptive student behavior, they will have more time for instruction and building those positive relationships with students."

Strategies for managing teacher stress include personal coping mechanisms, such as reflecting on things to be grateful for, as well as collaborating with school administrators to identify ways to reduce some of the demands placed on overburdened and under supported teachers.

"Teachers have the potential to impact the lives of so many students in their classrooms," Eddy said. "Therefore, supporting them with the skills they need in classroom management and stress management is really important because it will have a positive impact on their students in the long run."

As the sister of a teacher, Eddy has seen firsthand the influence Lloyd can have on her students and their long-term life trajectories.

"The students have told me that it is so helpful to know they have someone who is in their corner and supporting them, and when students don't have that, we have seen higher absence rates and lower assignment completion," Lloyd said. "They don't want to be engaged if they feel like no one in the building cares about them, so if they do feel cared for and supported in the school environment, they are much more likely to remain in school and be a part of the learning experience."

Since nearly half of all new teachers leave the profession within their first five years, creating a support system to help manage teacher stress can reduce teacher burnout and improve student outcomes.

"Our research is focused on identifying what we can shift in students' environments to improve their learning and behavioral outcomes," Eddy said. "Teachers are so important and their influence on students is immense. They are superstars and deserve all the support we can give them."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200915105929.htm

Probiotics may help manage childhood obesity

September 7, 2020

Science Daily/European Society of Endocrinology

Probiotics may help children and adolescents with obesity lose weight when taken alongside a calorie-controlled diet, according to a study being presented at e-ECE 2020. The study found that obese children who were put on a calorie-restricted diet and given probiotics Bifidobacterium breve BR03 and Bifidobacterium breve B632, lost more weight and had improved insulin sensitivity compared with children on a diet only. These findings suggest that probiotic supplements and a calorie-controlled diet may help manage obesity in the younger population and reduce future health risks, such as heart disease and diabetes.

Obesity is a global health concern and can lead to a number of life-threatening conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. Treatment and prevention is a serious public health challenge, especially in children and adolescents. Bifidobacteria are a group of probiotic bacteria that are part of the natural gut microbiome and help with preventing infection from other bacteria, such as E.coli, and digestion of carbohydrates and dietary fibre. During digestion, they release chemicals called short-chain fatty acids, which play an important role in gut health and controlling hunger. Low numbers of Bifodobacteria may impair digestion, affect food intake and energy expenditure, leading to body weight gain and obesity.

Previous studies suggested that probiotic supplementation with Bifidobacteria could help restore the composition of the gut microbiome, which may aid weight loss and could be a potential approach for obesity management. However, current research uses mixtures of different strains of probiotics and does not examine the effects of administering Bifidobacteria alone.

Dr Flavia Prodam and her team at the University of Piemonte Orientale, aimed to assess the impact of Bifidobacteria probiotic treatment in children and adolescents with obesity on a controlled diet, on weight loss and gut microbiota composition. 100 obese children and adolescents (6-18 years) were put on a calorie-controlled diet and randomly given either probiotics Bifidobacterium breve BR03 and Bifidobacterium breve B632, or a placebo for 8 weeks. Clinical, biochemical and stool sample analyses were carried out to determine the effect of probiotic supplementation on weight gain, gut microbiota and metabolism.

The results suggested that children who had taken probiotics had a reduction in waist circumference, BMI, insulin resistance and E.coli in their gut. These beneficial effects demonstrate the potential of probiotics in helping to treat obesity in children and adolescents, when undergoing dietary restrictions.

"Probiotic supplements are frequently given to people without proper evidence data. These findings start to give evidence of the efficacy and safety of two probiotic strains in treating obesity in a younger population," Dr Prodam comments.

The study suggests that supplementation with probiotics could modify the gut microbiome environment and beneficially affect metabolism, helping obese children or adolescents who are also undergoing a restricted diet to lose weight. However, larger studies over a longer period of time are needed to investigate this.

Dr Prodam explains, "The next step for our research is to identify patients that could benefit from this probiotic treatment, with a view to creating a more personalised weight-loss strategy. We also want to decipher more clearly the role of diet and probiotics on microbiome composition. This could help us to understand how the microbiota is different in young people with obesity."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200907080342.htm

Complications from diabetes linked to worse memory, IQ in children

Cognitive problems stem from episodes of diabetic ketoacidosis

September 22, 2020

Science Daily/University of California - Davis Health

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a serious but common complication of type 1 diabetes, is linked to lower IQ scores and worse memory in children with type 1 diabetes, according to a study led by UC Davis Health researchers. The study published Sept. 22 in Diabetes Care is also the first large-scale work to differentiate between DKA's impact on children with a new diagnosis and children with a previous diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.

DKA happens when diabetes goes undiagnosed or is poorly managed. With DKA, blood sugar gets very high as acidic substances called ketones build up to dangerous levels in the body. Early signs of DKA include excessive thirst, frequent urination, and nausea, abdominal pain, weakness and confusion.

"We assessed the neurocognitive effects of DKA in children with known type 1diabetes as well as in those who were just diagnosed with it," said Simona Ghetti, professor of psychology at UC Davis and the lead author on the study. "Our study uncovered that even one severe episode of DKA in children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes is linked to cognitive problems; and among children with a previous diagnosis, repeated DKA exposure predicted lower cognitive performance after accounting for glycemic control."

The study included 376 children with type 1 diabetes and no DKA history and 758 children with type 1 diabetes and a history of DKA. These children, ages 6-18 years, were participating in a DKA clinical trial at the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) sites led by two of the study's co-authors, Nathan Kuppermann and Nicole Glaser.

One severe DKA episode can hurt memory and IQ

The study found that among children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, those who experienced moderate and severe DKA had lower long-term memory compared to children with diabetes and no exposure to DKA. Greater severity of DKA was also associated with lower IQ in these children.

Children with a previous diagnosis showed lower performance compared with children with new onset in measures of memory and IQ, suggesting that cognitive deficits may worsen over time.

The study's large sample allowed the researchers to capture complex associations of DKA severity, socioeconomic status and glycemic control among previously diagnosed patients. These associations revealed that patients with repeated DKA exposure and poorly controlled type 1 diabetes are at substantial risk of cognitive deficits.

"The results from the study emphasize the importance of prevention of DKA in children with known type 1 diabetes and of timely diagnosis during new onset before the development of DKA," said Glaser, professor of pediatrics at UC Davis Health and senior author of the study. "There is an opportunity to prevent DKA with proper management of the glucose level in the blood."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200922172622.htm

Perfectionists may be more prone to helicopter parenting

Parents with perfectionist tendencies may see their children's successes as a reflection on them.

September 16, 2020

Science Daily/University of Arizona

The negative effects of over-parenting on children are well documented, but less is known about why certain people become helicopter parents. A new study suggests perfectionism is one driver.

Perfectionists often have high standards, not only for themselves but for their children. Yet, in their quest for perfection, they might find themselves with a less-than-ideal label: helicopter parent.

So-called helicopter parents engage in what's known as "over-parenting" -- hovering over their young adult children and taking care of tasks that the children should be able to do themselves, such as cooking, cleaning or paying bills.

"Over-parenting is when you apply what we call developmentally inappropriate parenting or guidance structure for the child," said University of Arizona researcher Chris Segrin, who studies the parenting style.

"By developmentally inappropriate, we mean we're providing to the child that which the child could easily do him or herself. People who engage in over-parenting are not adjusting their parenting and letting the child have greater autonomy; they still want to control all the child's outcomes."

The negative effects of over-parenting are well documented. Researchers have found it can lead to psychological distress, narcissism, poor adjustment, alcohol and drug use, and a host of other behavioral problems in emerging adults ages 18 to 25.

Yet, far less is known about why certain people become helicopter parents in the first place.

In a new study, Segrin and co-authors Tricia Burke from Texas State University and Trevor Kauer from the University of Nebraska find that perfectionism might be one driver of over-parenting.

"Perfectionism is a psychological trait of wanting to be prefect, wanting success, wanting to have positive accolades that you can point to," said Segrin, professor and head of the UArizona Department of Communication in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Perfectionist parents may see their children's success as a reflection on them, Segrin said, and they may engage in over-parenting in an effort to achieve "perfect" results.

"They want to live vicariously through their children's achievements. They want to see their children achieve because it makes them look good," he said. "I'm not saying they don't care about their children; of course they do. But they measure their self-worth by the success of their children. That's the yardstick that they use to measure their own success as a parent."

Segrin and his collaborators conducted two studies looking at the link between perfectionism and over-parenting, the results of which are published together in the journal Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice.

In the first study, 302 parents of young adults were asked to rate a series of statements designed to measure their levels of engagement in over-parenting and their levels of perfectionism. In the second, the researchers surveyed 290 parent-young adult pairs. The young adults responded to statements designed to measure their perception of their parent's parenting style.

The findings from both studies confirmed that perfectionism is indeed associated with helicopter parenting.

'Anxious Parents' May Also be Prone to Helicoptering

It's important to understand what motivates over-parenting in order to determine how to intervene in the potentially harmful behavior, Segrin says.

"All the research thus far on helicopter parenting, or over-parenting, has focused on what are the outcomes for the children who are the recipients of over-parenting, and no one has been looking at who does this in the first place," he said. "We think knowing more about the motivations of the parents has important implications for understanding what happens to the children."

Although he doesn't specifically address it in the study, Segrin suspects that middle-aged moms and dads who grew up in the "self-esteem era" of the 1970s and 1980s might be especially prone to perfectionism that can lead to over-parenting. In that era, children's bad behavior was often blamed on low self-esteem, and the remedy for low self-esteem was lots of praise, Segrin said.

"We started giving kids trophies at the end of the season just for being on the team, not because they actually achieved anything," he said. "Fast-forward 35, 40 years and these people are now adults who have children who are entering into adulthood. They were raised in a culture of 'you're special, you're great, you're perfect,' and that fuels perfectionistic drives. 'If I really am special, if I really am great, then my kids better be special and great, too, or it means I'm not a good parent.'"

Perfectionism isn't the only characteristic that can lead to over-parenting. Previous research by Segrin showed there's also a link between over-parenting and its close cousin: anxious parenting.

Anxious parents tend to worry a lot and ruminate on bad things that could happen to their child, so they parent with risk aversion in mind, Segrin said. His previous work showed that parents who have many regrets in their own lives may engage in this type of parenting as they try to prevent their children from repeating similar mistakes.

Just because someone engages in anxious parenting doesn't mean they engage in over-parenting, but anxious parenting is "one of the ingredients in the over-parenting stew," Segrin said, adding that anxious parenting can sometimes lead to over-parenting.

More Moms Than Dads Fall in the Over-parenting Trap

The parents in the study were mostly moms, and there's an explanation for that, Segrin said.

"When we recruit young people into the study and ask them to get a parent to also fill out the survey for us, we let them pick the parent, with the understanding that they will naturally lead us to the helicopter parent among their parents," Segrin said. "The one who's super involved in the child's life is, of course, going to want to participate in the research project with their child. So, like a moth to the flame, these young adults draw us right to the parent who delivers the most over-parenting, and we're finding that it is the mothers, usually."

That's not to say that dads can't be helicopter parents. They certainly can and in some cases are, Segrin said, but it seems to be less common.

"We know that in our culture, for better or worse, women end up getting strapped with child-rearing responsibilities to a much greater extent than men, so it stands to reason that as the child matures and gets older, the mother sort of stays on board with that job," he said.

Segrin hopes his research illuminates the hazards of helicopter parenting, not only for the young adults on the receiving end, but the parents themselves.

For perfectionism-driven helicopter parents to change their ways, they first need to recognize their own value, independent of their children, Segrin said.

"I sometimes see, especially in mothers, that they define their whole universe as 'mother' -- not spouse, not wife, not worker, not hobbyist but 'mother.' I think those blurred boundaries between parent and child can be harmful to the psychological landscape of the parent," Segrin said. "We need the parents to realize they have some element of their own life -- whether it's their career, their personal relationships, their hobbies -- that's independent of their role as a parent, so they don't get caught up in this trap of wanting to just keep parenting their children until they're 40 years old."

Avoiding that trap is also important for the well-being of emerging adults, as a growing body of research shows.

"Parents need to learn to accept their children's own goals and give them the chance to explore," Segrin said. "Young adults need the room to go out and explore and find their own life and their own ambitions."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200916131032.htm

Late childhood peer group status linked to heightened adult circulatory disease risk

Unpopular pre-teens at significantly higher risk of heart and blood vessel conditions

September 15, 2020

Science Daily/BMJ

Late childhood peer group status may be linked to a heightened risk of developing circulatory system disease -- conditions that affect the normal functioning of the heart and blood vessels -- in later life, indicates research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

13-year olds who aren't very popular with their classmates seem to be at significantly increased risk, the findings indicate.

Childhood family circumstances and living conditions are important predictors of subsequent mental and physical health. But it's not entirely clear what impact peer group status might have.

To explore this further, the researchers looked at whether peer group status among 13 year- olds might be associated with the risk of developing conditions in adulthood that affect the normal functioning of the heart and blood vessels, such as narrowed and hardened arteries and abnormal heartbeat (atrial fibrillation).

They drew on data from the Stockholm Birth Cohort Multigenerational Study (SBC Multigen), which includes everyone born in 1953 and resident in the greater metropolitan area of Stockholm in 1963 (n=14,608).

The health of 5410 men and 5990 women, whose peer group status was known at the age of 13, was tracked into their 60s, using data from inpatient care registers.

To gauge peer group status, the 13 year olds were asked whom among their classmates they preferred to work with. Four categories were created: zero nominations (marginalised); 1 (low status); 2 or 3 (medium status); and 4 or more (high status).

Information was also obtained on family factors, such as number and position of siblings, parental education and mental health, socioeconomic conditions, and school factors, such as intellect, academic performance, and any criminal behaviour.

Slightly more of the boys enjoyed high peer group status at the age of 13 (33%; 1788) than did the girls (28.5%;1710). And more of the girls were marginalised:16% (940) vs 12% (652).

Circulatory disease was more common among the men than it was among the women:18.5% (999) vs 11% (669).

But peer group marginalisation at age 13 was associated with a significantly higher 33-34% higher risk of circulatory disease in adulthood in both sexes.

Compared with boys and girls who were very popular (high peer group status), those who were marginalised at the age of 13 remained at significantly increased risk of circulatory disease as adults after accounting for potentially influential family and school factors as well as adult mental health.

Although no longer statistically significant, a graded association was observed for girls: the less popular they were, the higher their risk of circulatory disease in adulthood.

GIrls who enjoyed medium to high peer group status were still at greater risk of circulatory disease in later life than their most popular classmates.

This is an observational study, and as such can't establish cause. Childhood peer group status was assessed at a single time point, and there was little information available about health and health behaviours from childhood into adult life, which may have skewed the findings.

But, write the researchers: "Peer relations play an important role for children's emotional and social development and may have considerable long-term implications on their health."

They add: "There is convincing evidence from neuroscience regarding how social relationships modulate neuroendocrine responses that subsequently affect the circulatory system, increasing the risk for stroke and cardiovascular diseases."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200915194255.htm

Concussions are a risk for young athletes in all sports -- not just football

Retrospective study reveals that younger brains take longer to heal

September 15, 2020

Science Daily/Henry Ford Health System

A recent study from the Henry Ford Sports Medicine Research team suggests that high school athletes competing, not only in football, but in soccer, hockey, basketball, swimming, cheerleading and other sports are not only at risk for concussions, but may need a longer recovery than first thought.

The study's results published by Orthopedics, a nationally recognized, peer-reviewed journal for orthopedic surgeons found that the most common sports for brain injuries were indeed football, hockey and soccer.

"We thought that concussion issues would be very short-lived," said Vasilios (Bill) Moutzouros, M.D., chief of Sports Medicine at Henry Ford and a study co-author, "That they wouldn't have as many attention issues, that they'd be able to recover for their sport much more quickly. Our study found just the opposite."

"The two sports, other than football, where concussions are common are soccer and hockey, although brain injuries can happen in any sport," said Meaghan Rourke, one of more than 30 Henry Ford athletic trainers who support sports programs at over 20 high schools, colleges and universities and professional teams in the tri-county area.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's latest executive order allows the high school football season to begin September 18. Football was reinstated by the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) after initially being postponed until spring 2021. With football back in action with an adjusted six-game season, athletic trainers will once again be patrolling the sidelines and be on the lookout for signs of concussions. Other sports given the green light to compete this fall include soccer, volleyball, swimming and diving. These competitions will also present the potential for brain injuries from collisions, falls and impacts with the field of play.

"I went through a four-year period as an athletic trainer where I had at least one swimmer suffer a concussion. That's a sport you don't really think about in terms of concussions," said Rourke. She explained that in one instance a swimmer miscalculated her distance to the pool wall while doing the backstroke and bumped her head against the wall. As a result, the swimmer was out for more than a month with a concussion. Diving is another sport susceptible to brain injuries as the divers' heads impact the surface of the water at high speeds generated from their dives. In reality, all sports have the potential for concussions since athletics involve physical activity and competition.

"Competitive cheerleading is another sport where I've seen concussions happen. The kids get very high in the air, and if they slip and fall when they are coming down, they can suffer serious head injuries," said Rourke, "We usually have one or two athletes in that sport suffer concussions. Overall, I've probably had to deal with a concussion in every sport, including golf."

The retrospective study looked at Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) scores at baseline testing and following concussions performed by neuropsychologists. The study found that memory ImPACT scores increased as players suffered repeated concussions.

ImPACT is the brain injury testing protocol developed in the late 1990s at the University of Pittsburgh and released in the early 2000s. The testing protocol is the only FDA-approved tool for concussion assessment and is the national testing used by healthcare, educational and sports organizations to help assess and manage concussions. The protocol defines a concussion as "a disturbance in brain function that occurs following either a blow to the head or as a result of the violent shaking of the head." Symptoms of a concussion can include a combination of headaches, nausea, vomiting, balance problems, dizziness, fatigue, visual problems and a host of other brain-associated symptoms.

The study examined the records of 357 high school athletes who were treated for concussions at Henry Ford from 2013 to 2016. The athletes age averaged between 14-18 with nearly 62% being males. Football yielded the most concussions (27.7%), followed by hockey (21.8%), soccer (17%), basketball (9 %) and cheerleading (4.2%). From the study's participants, 72 played in "Other" sports and accounted for 20.3% of the total number of concussions. Overall, 14 % reported suffering from amnesia and 33 % reported a history of concussions.

Henry Ford athletic trainers use internationally approved guidelines to accurately diagnose concussions, appropriately manage the recovery process, and safely return athletes back to their game. They use sideline tools such as the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool 5 (SCAT5) to immediately evaluate cognitive function and, if needed, additional neuropsychological tests may be administered by a physician to track progression through the recovery process. SCAT5 is a standardized concussion assessment used by licensed healthcare providers when a concussion is suspected in athletes ages 12 and older.

Current MHSAA protocols call for a player showing concussion symptoms to be sidelined for at least 24 hours. Athletes at high schools staffed with a Henry Ford athletic trainer are sidelined for at least five days and follow a strict return to play protocol, "We're going to slowly bring them back," said Rourke. "We don't want to just throw them out there where they're going to get hit again, and then they're dealing with prolonged symptoms."

The Henry Ford research team found that athletes with only one concussion required at least 30 days of recovery prior to returning to their sport while others who reported a second or more concussions required more recovery time. They also learned that visual motor speed and reaction time scores decreased with recurrent concussions, and that male and female athletes with a previous history of concussion, and those with delayed diagnosis, required more time before returning to competition.

The study team hopes that the results help start the conversation on how to more safely return student athletes to their sport after a brain injury. "When you recognize that it can be up to 30 days to get a young student athlete back, you're going to change your mind-set on how you advance them, in terms of how you push them, in terms of how you test them," said Dr. Moutzouros.

Previously, it was believed that brain injuries were related to a player's age. The younger the player, the shorter the recovery time. "We need more studies on the younger athletes," said Dr. Moutzouros, "Many of us have children. We're all worried about them and we want them to be safe. So, we need to recognize that this is a problem for the youth athlete."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200915110014.htm

How screen time and green time may affect youth psychological outcomes

September 5, 2020

Science Daily/PLOS

Less screen time and more green time are associated with better psychological outcomes among children and adolescents, according to a study published September 2 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Tassia Oswald of the University of Adelaide, and colleagues.

The prevalence of mental illness among children and adolescents is increasing globally. Technological developments in recent decades have increased young people's engagement with screen-based technologies (screen time), and a reduction in young people's contact with nature (green time) has been observed concurrently. This combination of high screen time and low green time may affect mental health and well-being. But research investigating the psychological impacts of screen time or green time typically considers each factor in isolation and fails to delineate the reciprocal effects of high technology use and low contact with nature on mental health and cognitive outcomes. To address this question, Oswald and colleagues analyzed the findings of 186 studies to collate evidence assessing associations between screen time, green time, and psychological outcomes (including mental health, cognitive functioning, and academic achievement) for children and adolescents.

In general, high levels of screen time appeared to be associated with unfavorable psychological outcomes, while green time appeared to be associated with favorable psychological outcomes. Young people from low socioeconomic backgrounds were underrepresented in the literature overall and may be disproportionately affected by high screen time and low green time, making this a priority group for future research. However, additional longitudinal studies and RCTs are needed to determine whether decreasing screen time and increasing green time would improve psychological outcomes. According to the authors, preliminary evidence suggests that green time could potentially buffer the consequences of high screen time, meaning nature may be an under-utilized public health resource to promote youth psychological well-being in a high-tech era. Investment in more rigorous research is needed to explore this.

Oswald adds: "This systematic scoping review highlights that nature may currently be an under-utilised public health resource, which could potentially function as an upstream preventative and psychological well-being promotion intervention for children and adolescents in a high-tech era. However, robust evidence is needed to guide policies and recommendations around appropriate screen time and green time at critical life stages, to ultimately ensure optimal psychological well-being for young people."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200902152132.htm

Heavy electronic media use in late childhood linked to lower academic performance

Findings could help guide parents, teachers, clinicians in planning kids' screen time

September 2, 2020

Science Daily/PLOS

A new study of 8- to 11-year olds reveals an association between heavy television use and poorer reading performance, as well as between heavy computer use and poorer numeracy -- the ability to work with numbers. Lisa Mundy of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on September 2, 2020.

Previous studies of children and adolescents have found links between use of electronic media -- such as television, computers, and videogames -- and obesity, poor sleep, and other physical health risks. Electronic media use is also associated with better access to information, tech skills, and social connection. However, comparatively less is known about links with academic performance.

To help clarify these links, Mundy and colleagues studied 1,239 8- to 9-year olds in Melbourne, Australia. They used a national achievement test data to measure the children's academic performance at baseline and again after two years. They also asked the children's parents to report on their kids' use of electronic media.

The researchers found that watching two or more hours of television per day at the age of 8 or 9 was associated with lower reading performance compared to peers two years later; the difference was equivalent to losing four months of learning. Using a computer for more than one hour per day was linked to a similar degree of lost numeracy. The analysis showed no links between use of videogames and academic performance.

By accounting for baseline academic performance and potentially influencing factors such as mental health difficulties and body mass index (BMI) and controlling for prior media use, the researchers were able to pinpoint cumulative television and computer use, as well as short-term use, as associated with poorer academic performance.

These findings could help parents, teachers, and clinicians refine plans and recommendations for electronic media use in late childhood. Future research could build on these results by examining continued associations in later secondary school.

The authors add: "The debate about the effects of modern media on children's learning has never been more important given the effects of today's pandemic on children's use of time. This is the first large, longitudinal study of electronic media use and learning in primary school children, and results showed heavier users of television and computers had significant declines in reading and numeracy two years later compared with light users."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200902152150.htm

Teens who think their parents are loving are less likely to be cyberbullies

September 2, 2020

Science Daily/New York University

Adolescents who perceive their parents to be loving and supportive are less likely to engage in cyberbullying, according to a new study by researchers at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing.

The findings, published in the International Journal of Bullying Prevention, are especially relevant given changes in family life created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"With remote learning replacing classroom instruction for many young people, and cell phones and social media standing in for face-to-face interaction with friends, there are more opportunities for cyberbullying to occur," said Laura Grunin, a doctoral student at NYU Meyers and the study's lead author. "New family dynamics and home stressors are also at play, thanks to higher unemployment rates and more parents working from home."

More than half of U.S. teens report having experience with cyberbullying, or online behavior that may involve harassment, insults, threats, or spreading rumors.

"Understanding what factors are related to a young person's cyberbullying of peers is important for developing ways that families, schools, and communities can prevent bullying or intervene when it occurs," said Sally S. Cohen, clinical professor at NYU Meyers and the study's senior author.

Gary Yu, associate research scientist and adjunct associate professor at NYU Meyers, coauthored the study with Grunin and Cohen.

Using data from the World Health Organization (WHO) Health Behavior in School-Aged Children survey, the researchers analyzed responses from 12,642 U.S. pre-teens and teens (ages 11 to 15 years old) surveyed in 2009-2010, the most recent WHO data on school-aged children collected in the United States. The adolescents were asked about their bullying behaviors, as well their perceptions of certain family characteristics, including their relationship with their parents.

The researchers found that the more adolescents perceived their parents as loving, the less likely they were to engage in cyberbullying. When asked if their parents are loving, youth who said "almost never" were over six times more likely to engage in high levels of cyberbullying than those who answered that their parent is "almost always" loving. Other types of emotional support, including how much teens feel their parents help and understand them, also contributed to the likelihood of whether young people engaged in cyberbullying behavior.

"Our findings point to the importance of parental emotional support as a factor that may influence whether teens cyberbully -- and more importantly, it is how teens perceive the support they receive from their parents," said Grunin. "I would stress to parents it is not necessarily if they think they are being supportive, but what their adolescent thinks. Parents should strive to discern their teen's perception of parental emotional support as it might be associated with youth cyberbullying behavior."

Certain demographic factors were also related to teens' likelihood of cyberbullying. Girls were much less likely than boys to exhibit high levels of cyberbullying. Race also played a role: Asian American adolescents were the least likely to be cyberbullies, while African American teens were less likely than white teens to engage in lower levels of cyberbullying and more likely to engage in higher levels.

Cohen added, "Since 2010, when the survey was conducted, technology and social media have become increasingly ubiquitous in teens' lives; the increase in screen time during the current pandemic poses new challenges. Online access and anonymity in posts create widespread opportunities for cyberbullying."

The researchers note that educators, health professionals, social media experts, and others working in youth development should take family dynamics into account when creating programs to address cyberbullying.

"While our study doesn't prove that a lack of parental support directly causes cyberbullying, it does suggest that children's relationships with their parents might influence their bullying behaviors. These relationships should be considered when developing interventions to prevent cyberbullying," said Grunin.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200902101822.htm

Researchers discover a specific brain circuit damaged by social isolation during childhood

Study in mice shows long-lasting effects and points the way to potential treatments

August 31, 2020

Science Daily/The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Loneliness is recognized as a serious threat to mental health. Even as our world becomes increasingly connected over digital platforms, young people in our society are feeling a growing sense of isolation. The COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many countries to implement social distancing and school closures, magnifies the need for understanding the mental health consequences of social isolation and loneliness. While research has shown that social isolation during childhood, in particular, is detrimental to adult brain function and behavior across mammalian species, the underlying neural circuit mechanisms have remained poorly understood.

A research team from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has now identified specific sub-populations of brain cells in the prefrontal cortex, a key part of the brain that regulates social behavior, that are required for normal sociability in adulthood and are profoundly vulnerable to juvenile social isolation in mice. The study findings, which appear in the August 31 issue of Nature Neuroscience, shed light on a previously unrecognized role of these cells, known as medial prefrontal cortex neurons projecting to the paraventricular thalamus, the brain area that relays signals to various components of the brain's reward circuitry. If the finding is replicated in humans, it could lead to treatments for psychiatric disorders connected to isolation.

"In addition to identifying this specific circuit in the prefrontal cortex that is particularly vulnerable to social isolation during childhood, we also demonstrated that the vulnerable circuit we identified is a promising target for treatments of social behavior deficits," says Hirofumi Morishita, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Ophthalmology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, a faculty member of The Friedman Brain Institute and the Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, and senior author of the paper. "Through stimulation of the specific prefrontal circuit projecting to the thalamic area in adulthood, we were able to rescue the sociability deficits caused by juvenile social isolation."

Specifically, the team found that, in male mice, two weeks of social isolation immediately following weaning leads to a failure to activate medial prefrontal cortex neurons projecting to the paraventricular thalamus during social exposure in adulthood. Researchers found that juvenile isolation led to both reduced excitability of the prefrontal neurons projecting to the paraventricular thalamus and increased inhibitory input from other related neurons, suggesting a circuit mechanism underlying sociability deficits caused by juvenile social isolation. To determine whether acute restoration of the activity of prefrontal projections to the paraventricular thalamus is sufficient to ameliorate sociability deficits in adult mice that underwent juvenile social isolation, the team employed a technique known as optogenetics to selectively stimulate the prefrontal projections to paraventricular thalamus. The researchers also used chemogenetics in their study. While optogenetics enables researchers to stimulate particular neurons in freely moving animals with pulses of light, chemogenetics allows non-invasive chemical control over cell populations. By employing both of these techniques, the researchers were able to quickly increase social interaction in these mice once light pulses or drugs were administered to them.

"We checked the presence of social behavior deficits just prior to stimulation and when we checked the behavior while the stimulation was ongoing, we found that the social behavior deficits were reversed," said Dr. Morishita.

Given that social behavior deficits are a common dimension of many neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia, identification of these specific prefrontal neurons will point toward therapeutic targets for the improvement of social behavior deficits shared across a range of psychiatric disorders. The circuits identified in this study could potentially be modulated using techniques like transcranial magnetic stimulation and/or transcranial direct current stimulation.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200831112345.htm

Depressed or anxious teens risk heart attacks in middle age

August 26, 2020

Science Daily/European Society of Cardiology

Depression or anxiety in adolescence is linked with a 20% greater likelihood of having a heart attack mid-life, according to research released today at ESC Congress 2020.1

In a warning to parents, study author Dr. Cecilia Bergh of Örebro University in Sweden, said: "Be vigilant and look for signs of stress, depression or anxiety that is beyond the normal teenage angst: seek help if there seems to be a persistent problem (telephone helplines may be particularly helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic). If a healthy lifestyle is encouraged as early as possible in childhood and adolescence it is more likely to persist into adulthood and improve long-term health."

There are indications that mental well-being is declining in young people. This study investigated whether conditions like depression in adolescence (age 18 or 19) are associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. The researchers also examined the possible role of stress resilience (ability to cope with stress in everyday life) in helping to explain any associations.

The study included 238,013 men born between 1952 and 1956 who underwent extensive examinations in late adolescence (as part of their assessment for compulsory military service) and were then followed into middle age (up to the age of 58 years). The assessments at the age of 18 or 19 years included medical, psychiatric, and physical examinations by physicians and psychologists.

Stress resilience was measured by an interview with a psychologist and a questionnaire, and based on familial, medical, social, behavioural and personality characteristics.

A total of 34,503 men were diagnosed with a non-psychotic mental disorder (such as depression or anxiety) at conscription. Follow-up for cardiovascular disease was through hospital medical records.

The study found that a mental disorder in adolescence was associated with the risk of having a myocardial infarction (heart attack) by middle age. Compared to men without a mental illness in adolescence, the risk of myocardial infarction was 20% higher among men with a diagnosis -- even after taking into account other characteristics in adolescence such as blood pressure, body mass index, general health, and parental socioeconomic status.

The association between mental illness and heart attack was partly -- but not completely -- explained by poorer stress resilience and lower physical fitness in teenagers with a mental illness. "We already knew that men who were physically fit in adolescence seem less likely to maintain fitness in later years if they have low stress resilience," said Dr. Bergh. "Our previous research has also shown that low stress resilience is also coupled with a greater tendency towards addictive behaviour, signalled by higher risks of smoking, alcohol consumption and other drug use."

Dr. Bergh said: "Better fitness in adolescence is likely to help protect against later heart disease, particularly if people stay fit as they age. Physical activity may also alleviate some of the negative consequences of stress. This is relevant to all adolescents, but those with poorer wellbeing could benefit from additional support to encourage exercise and to develop strategies to deal with stress."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200826083017.htm

Treatment for teen anxiety

Study shows a particular treatment for childhood anxiety disorders could be beneficial

August 25, 2020

Science Daily/University of Cincinnati

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., with approximately 4.4 million children and adolescents affected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"These disorders are not only common in children and teens, but, if untreated, result in considerable personal and economic cost over the lifetime," says Jeffrey Strawn, MD, associate professor and anxiety expert in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati.

In a new National Institute of Mental Health-funded study, led by Strawn and published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, UC researchers took a first look at one particular medication for treatment of these disorders in pediatric patients to see if it was beneficial.

"Psychotherapy and medications reduce symptoms for many children and adolescents with anxiety disorders," says the UC Health physician. "In particular, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, have shown benefit in numerous trials."

Strawn says SSRIs work by increasing serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is one of the chemical messengers that nerve cells use to communicate with one another. These medications block the reabsorption of serotonin into nerve cells, making more serotonin available to improve transmission of messages between neurons.

"However, up to two in five children don't completely improve with existing medication treatments," he says. "While SSRIs represent the first line medication for anxious youth, predicting treatment response is difficult.

"Improvement varies considerably from patient to patient, often resulting in a trial-and-error process of medication selection and dosing. Additionally, clinicians have limited data to help them to determine which patients will respond to what treatments."

"To help predict which patients would improve most with one SSRI, called escitalopram, my colleagues and I compared its use to a placebo in adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder."

Fifty-one patients aged 12-17 were randomly chosen to be treated with either escitalopram or a placebo for eight weeks. Their anxiety symptoms and overall improvement were evaluated in addition to how well they tolerated the medication. They also had their blood drawn to assess how medication blood levels impacted their outcomes.

"We found this particular SSRI to be superior to a placebo in reducing anxiety," Strawn says. "Also, differences in how adolescents break down the medication affected blood levels, and these blood levels predicted certain side effects, like restlessness, jitteriness and insomnia. Understanding how blood levels vary could help us determine dosage."

Strawn and his collaborators also found that some patients improved more quickly than others. Patients who were slower metabolizers of the medication had better outcomes and improved faster when compared to patients who had increased metabolism of the medication.

Strawn says this is the first controlled study of this SSRI for pediatric anxiety disorders and the first to assess the impact of metabolism on escitalopram blood levels in adolescents. He says a larger study with a more diverse population is needed.

"For clinicians treating anxious adolescents, this study provides preliminary answers to important questions about the effectiveness of this treatment. It may also help clinicians predict how quickly patients respond and identify which patients may be less likely to get better. This would help us select alternative treatments for patients who are less likely to respond," he says. "We hope this will open the door for more studies and eventually become a more effective treatment for patients in the future."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200825133130.htm