Conflict between divorced parents can lead to mental health problems in children
January 12, 2021
Science Daily/Arizona State University
Conflict between divorced or separated parents increases the risk of children developing physical and mental health problems.
A new study from the Arizona State University Research and Education Advancing Children's Health (REACH) Institute has found that children experience fear of being abandoned when their divorced or separated parents engage in conflict. Worrying about being abandoned predicted future mental health problems in children. The work will be published in Child Development on January 12.
"Conflict is a salient stressor for kids, and the link between exposure to interparental conflict and mental health problems in children is well established across all family types -- married, cohabitating, separated and divorced," said Karey O'Hara, a research assistant professor of psychology at ASU and first author on the paper. "Conflict between divorced or separated parents predicted children experiencing fear that they would be abandoned by one or both parents. This feeling was associated with future mental health problems, especially for those who had strong relationships with their fathers."
Based on studies including children from families with married or cohabitating parents, the researchers knew that children view interparental conflict as a threat, often wondering if their parents will get divorced.
To understand how children with divorced or separated parents interpreted interparental conflict, the researchers surveyed families participating in the New Beginnings Program, asking 559 children (aged 9-18 years) about their exposure to conflict. The questions included topics like whether their parents fought in front of them, spoke poorly of the other parent or asked children to carry messages. Children exposed to interparental conflict were more likely to report worrying about being abandoned by one or both of their parents.
"When parents who are married or cohabitating engage in conflict, the child might worry about their parents separating," O'Hara said. "But children whose parents are divorced or separated have already seen the dissolution of their family. The idea that they might be abandoned might be unlikely, but it is not illogical from their perspective."
The fear of abandonment was persistent: Exposure to parental conflict predicted fear of abandonment three months later. And, worrying about abandonment predicted mental health problems, as reported by the children themselves and their teachers, 10 months later.
Because quality parent-child relationships are known to buffer children against stress, the researchers expected children who had strong relationships with a parent to experience less fear of abandonment and mental health problems. But the team did not find a general buffering effect of parenting.
"A strong father-child relationship came at a cost when interparental conflict was high," O'Hara said. "Having a high quality parenting relationship is protective, but it is possible that quality parenting alone is not enough in the context of high levels of interparental conflict between divorced parents."
The goal of ASU's REACH institute is to bring research promoting children's well-being from the lab into practice, and the research team is currently working on designing an intervention to help children cope with parental conflict after divorce.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210112110157.htm
Self-controlled children tend to be healthier middle-aged adults
January 5, 2021
Science Daily/Duke University
Self-control, the ability to contain one's own thoughts, feelings and behaviors, and to work toward goals with a plan, is one of the personality traits that makes a child ready for school. And, it turns out, ready for life as well.
In a large study that has tracked a thousand people from birth through age 45 in New Zealand, researchers have determined that people who had higher levels of self-control as children were aging more slowly than their peers at age 45. Their bodies and brains were healthier and biologically younger.
In interviews, the higher self-control group also showed they may be better equipped to handle the health, financial and social challenges of later life as well. The researchers used structured interviews and credit checks to assess financial preparedness. High childhood self-control participants expressed more positive views of aging and felt more satisfied with life in middle age.
"Our population is growing older, and living longer with age-related diseases," said Leah Richmond-Rakerd, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, who is the first author on the study. "It's important to identify ways to help individuals prepare successfully for later-life challenges, and live more years free of disability. We found that self-control in early life may help set people up for healthy aging."
The children with better self-control tended to come from more financially secure families and have higher IQ. However, the findings of slower aging at age 45 with more self-control can be separated from their childhood socio-economic status and IQ. Their analyses showed that self-control was the factor that made a difference.
And childhood is not destiny, the researchers are quick to point out. Some study participants had shifted their self-control levels as adults and had better health outcomes than their childhood assessments would have predicted.
Self-control also can be taught, and the researchers suggest that a societal investment in such training could improve life span and quality of life, not only in childhood, but also perhaps in midlife. There is ample evidence that changing behaviors in midlife (quitting smoking or taking up exercise) leads to improved outcomes.
"Everyone fears an old age that's sickly, poor, and lonely, so aging well requires us to get prepared, physically, financially, and socially," said Terrie Moffitt, the Nannerl O. Keohane Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke, and last author on the paper. "We found people who have used self-control since childhood are far more prepared for aging than their same-age peers."
The study appears the week of Jan. 4 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, based in New Zealand, has tracked these people since they were born in 1972 and 73, putting them through a battery of psychological and health assessments at regular intervals since, the most recent being at age 45.
Childhood self-control was assessed by teachers, parents and the children themselves at ages 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. The children were measured for impulsive aggression and other forms of impulsivity, over-activity, perseverance and inattention.
From ages 26 to 45, the participants also were measured for physiological signs of aging in several organ systems, including the brain. In all measures, higher childhood self-control correlated with slower aging.
The people with the highest self-control were found to walk faster and have younger-looking faces at age 45 as well.
"But if you aren't prepared for aging yet, your 50's is not too late to get ready," Moffitt added.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210105130117.htm
Why an early start is key to developing musical skill later in life
December 22, 2020
Science Daily/Association for Psychological Science
Is there, as some have suggested, a developmental period early in life when the brain is especially receptive to musical training? The answer, according to new research, is probably not.
Among the many holiday traditions scuttled by pandemic restrictions this year are live concerts featuring skilled musicians. These gifted performers can often play with such ease that it is easy to underestimate the countless hours of practice that went into honing their craft.
But could there be more to mastering music? Is there, as some have suggested, a developmental period early in life when the brain is especially receptive to musical training? The answer, according to new research published in the journal Psychological Science, is probably not.
"It is a common observation that successful musicians often start their musical training early," said Laura Wesseldijk, a researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and first author on the paper. "One much-discussed explanation is that there may be a period in early childhood during which the brain is particularly susceptible to musical stimulation. We found, however, that the explanation to why an early start matters may be more complicated and interesting than previously believed."
While the new study supports the idea that an early start is associated with higher levels of musical skills and achievement in adulthood, the underlying reasons for this may have more to do with familial influences -- such as genetic factors and an encouraging musical family environment -- along with accumulating more total practice time than those who start later in life.
To untangle these effects, Wesseldijk and her colleagues recruited 310 professional musicians from various Swedish music institutions, such as orchestral and music schools. The researchers also used data from an existing research project, the Study of Twin Adults: Genes and Environment (STAGE). Participants from both studies were tested on musical aptitude and achievement. They also answered a series of questions that gauged how often they practiced and the age of onset of musical training. The STAGE data also provided genetic information on its participants.
By comparing the results from these two independent studies, the researchers were able to show that an earlier start age is associated with musical aptitude, both in amateurs and professional musicians, even after controlling for accumulated practice time. They then evaluated starting age in a manner that accounted for the genetic data from the STAGE study.
The results indicate that genetic factors -- possibly related to musical interest and talent -- have a substantial influence on the age individuals start music practice and their future musical aptitude. When controlling for familial factors, namely shared genetic and environmental influences, such as a home environment that is steeped in music, there was no additional association between an earlier start age and musicality.
A possible explanation for these results could be that children who display more talent in a particular field, such as music, are encouraged to start practicing earlier. Another possibility is that a musically active, interested, and talented family provides a musical environment for the child, while also passing on their genetic predispositions to engage in music.
"I think we have really investigated effects of the age you start musical training to the fullest," said Wesseldijk. "Personally, as someone who practices music, it is always great to shed light on some of the factors, within the gene environmental interplay, that influence music skills."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201222192933.htm
Low-income preschoolers exposed to nurturing care have with higher IQ scores later on
December 18, 2020
Science Daily/University of Maryland School of Medicine
Preschoolers living in impoverished communities who have access to a nurturing home environment have significantly higher intelligence quotient (IQ) scores in adolescence compared to those raised without nurturing care. That is the finding of a new international study conducted by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers, which examined data from more than 1600 children from Brazil and South Africa who were followed from birth through their teenage years. Results were published this week in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Healthjournal.
The researchers analyzed data from long-running studies conducted in Brazil and South Africa to assess whether children exposed to early adversities (such as extreme poverty, low birth weight, or pre-term birth) could reach their full learning potential by experiencing responsive caregiving and opportunities to learn in their home. They found that prenatal and early life adversities matter throughout life. Adolescents who had been exposed to multiple adversities early in life had lower IQ scores, were more likely to have difficulties adjusting socially and psychologically, and achieved a lower physical height compared to adolescents exposed to fewer adversities. They also found that being raised in a nurturing environment could significantly counteract the detrimental effect of early adversities on IQ and help children achieve their full intellectual potential.
"We found that adolescents who were raised in nurturing environments had IQ scores that were on average 6 points higher than those who were not. This is a striking difference that has profound implications by increasing the intelligence of entire communities," said study corresponding author Maureen Black, PhD, the John A Scholl and Mary Louise Scholl Endowed Professor of Pediatrics at UMSOM. "A nurturing environment also led to better growth and fewer psycho-social difficulties in adolescence, but it did not mitigate the effects of early adversities on growth and psycho-social difficulties."
Globally, more than 250 million children younger than 5 years are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential because of adversities that co-occur early in life and accumulate with age. In the U.S, almost one in five children are raised in poverty and 15 percent do not complete high school, with higher rates for children in Black and Hispanic families. Exposing these children to a nurturing environment, whether at home or in daycare or pre-school settings, can lead to cognitive benefits that last into adolescence and beyond.
"I think our findings could apply to communities here in the U.S. where children are hungry, living in poverty or lacking in access to medical care," Dr. Black said.
Added study lead author Angela Trude, PhD, a post-doctoral fellow in the UMSOM Department of Pediatrics, "Parents want to provide nurturing environments and we need to help them." She said this includes interacting with young children in a positive way such as reading children's books from the library, singing songs together, and playing games with numbers and letters. Children who engage in age-appropriate chores with adult supervision like picking up toys and clearing the table gain skills and feel good about helping.
"Get children involved in friendly activities as much as possible rather than parking them in front of a screen," Dr. Black said. "Children love to learn and in a nurturing environment they can grow into adolescents and adults with the abilities to care for themselves, their families, and their communities."
The research was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
"As the world continues to suffer through a global pandemic, we must not let our youngest children fall through the cracks," 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. "This research highlights the importance of nurturing caregivers, both at home and at school to help children lead more productive lives as adults."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201218152721.htm
Talking to kids about weight: What the internet says and why researchers are wary
December 17, 2020
Science Daily/Drexel University
Parents, caregivers and health care professionals are increasingly concerned about childhood obesity. Compounding their concern are fears of inadvertently provoking disordered eating, such as unhelpful dieting, when discussing a child's weight status (i.e. normal weight, overweight or obese). Given the complexity of these concerns, major health advocacy groups have independently published guidelines for having conversations with children about weight status -- all at the fingertips of parents, caregivers and health care professionals with a quick internet search.
To help sort it all out, researchers from the Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Science (WELL Center) in the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University systematically reviewed numerous independently published guidelines for having conversations with children about weight status to analyze their content, consistency, actionability and scientific support.
"It's important that parents and health care professionals be critical consumers of guidelines on talking to kids about overweight and obesity because guidelines have a lot of variability between them on the question of whether or not to talk about a kid's weight directly," said Elizabeth Lampe, graduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences and lead author. "Parents and health care professionals should read several different guidelines and make sure that they are making the best decision for their kid, since every situation can be unique."
Researchers performed web-based searches that identified 59 independently published guidelines on childhood obesity by major health advocacy groups. Only 13 provided explicit direction on how the caregiver or health care professional should approach a conversation about overweight or obesity with a child.
Throughout the 13 guidelines, nine topics were identified within the advice provided: attitude modeling (covered by 31% of guidelines), behavior modeling (61%), dietary recommendations (54%), physical activity (46%), body acceptance and self-esteem (69%), conversation advice (92%), contact with health care professionals (46%), talking about "weight" versus "overall health" (54%) and external factors, such as bullying and/or media (54%).
Lampe noted that although all guidelines presented similar content, several inconsistencies in recommendations emerged. Only three of the 13 guidelines referenced any scholarly sources and only a small minority of advice was easily applied to everyday situations by caregivers or health care professionals.
"We call for future guidelines to unify their messages for caregivers and health care professionals and be better supported by scholarly data," said Lampe.
She added that parents and caregivers are not the only consumers of these guidelines.
"Policy makers may be using these guidelines to influence their decisions or practitioners might use these guidelines to inform their practice," said Lampe. "Some important implications of this could be a lack of health behavior change and potential perpetuation of weight stigma."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201217135256.htm
Individuals with high ADHD-traits are more vulnerable to insomnia
December 18, 2020
Science Daily/Karolinska Institutet
Individuals with high ADHD-traits that do not meet the criteria for a diagnosis are less able to perform tasks involving attentional regulation or emotional control after a sleepless night than individuals with low ADHD-traits, a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging reports.
While it can cause multiple cognitive impairments, there is considerable individual variation in sensitivity to the effects of insomnia. The reason for this variability has been an unresolved research question for long. In the present study, KI researchers investigated how sleep deprivation affects our executive functions, which is to say the central cognitive processes that govern our thoughts and actions. They also wanted to ascertain if people with ADHD tendencies are more sensitive to insomnia, with more severe functional impairments as a result.
ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is characterized by inattention, impulsiveness and hyperactivity; however, the symptoms vary from person to person and often also include emotional instability.
"You could say that many people have some subclinical ADHD-like symptoms but a diagnosis is only made once the symptoms become so prominent that they interfere with our everyday lives," says Predrag Petrovic, consultant and associate professor in psychiatry at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, who led the study along with Tina Sundelin and John Axelsson, both researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University.
The study included 180 healthy participants between the ages of 17 and 45 without an ADHD diagnosis. Tendencies towards inattentiveness and emotional instability were assessed on the Brown Attention Deficit Disorder (B-ADD) scale.
The participants were randomly assigned to two groups, one that was allowed to sleep normally and one that was deprived of sleep for one night. They were then instructed to perform a test that measures executive functions and emotional control the following day (a Stroop test with neutral and emotional faces).
The researchers found that the sleep-deprived group showed worse performance in the experimental tasks (including more cognitive response variability). Moreover, people with high ADHD-traits were more vulnerable to sleep deprivation and showed greater impairment than those with low ADHD-traits.
The effects were also related to the most prominent type of subclinical ADHD-like symptom, in that after being deprived of sleep, the participants who displayed more everyday problems with emotional instability had larger problems with the cognitive task involving emotional regulation, and those who had more everyday inattention symptoms had larger problems with the non-emotional cognitive task.
"One of the reasons why these results are important is that we know that young people are getting much less sleep than they did just ten years ago," explains Dr Petrovic. "If young people with high ADHD-traits regularly get too little sleep they will perform worse cognitively and, what's more, their symptoms might even end up at a clinically significant level."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201218084147.htm
Low-intensity exercise during adolescence may cut schizophrenia risk
December 16, 2020
Science Daily/University of Tsukuba
Although schizophrenia is increasingly understood as a neurodevelopmental disorder, environmental factors are known to play an important role in the disease onset and progression. But now, researchers from Japan have found that exercise during a specific postnatal period may prevent the development of behaviors associated with schizophrenia.
In a study published this month in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, researchers from the University of Tsukuba have revealed that low-intensity exercise during adolescence, which is a critical developmental period, significantly reduced abnormal behaviors in a mouse model of schizophrenia.
An enriched environment during development has been found to have a number of positive effects on brain function, including the prevention of neurodevelopmental disorders. Although exercise appears to have a particularly important effect, the combination of variables present in enriched environments can make it difficult to isolate the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects. To address this, the researchers at the University of Tsukuba developed a new exercise model in which mice ran on a treadmill at a fixed speed. They then tested whether low-intensity treadmill running prevented abnormal behaviors in a mouse model of schizophrenia.
"Previous studies have shown that exercise can enhance neuronal transmission and have other beneficial effects," says lead author of the study Hikaru Koizumi. "However, the intensity, duration, and frequency of exercise have varied among studies using wheel running, making it difficult to determine how much exercise would be necessary to see these positive effects in humans."
To address this, the researchers examined behavioral and neurological function in mice that had been exposed to phencyclidine (PCP) hydrochloride during perinatal development, which is a common model of schizophrenia. The mice were then exposed to 4 weeks of low-intensity exercise during adolescence, and tested to see whether they exhibited abnormal behaviors and associated neurological abnormalities.
"The results were surprising," explains senior author Professor Hideaki Soya. "Our finding that low-intensity exercise could prevent abnormal behaviors indicates that exercise may directly contribute to the prevention of schizophrenia."
This has important implications for the potential neuropathology of schizophrenia, especially given that the low-intensity exercise recovered changes in neural signaling associated with the expected behavioral abnormalities.
"Our findings indicate that mild exercise habits during development could have a powerful preventative effect in individuals who are genetically predisposed to schizophrenia. As such, exercise could be a particularly important consideration for individuals who are at risk for developing the condition," says Professor Soya.
Mild exercise during development could prevent schizophrenia by masking or improving neurodevelopmental abnormalities present due to genetic inheritance. Specialized exercise programs for individuals who are at risk may be successful in preventing the development of schizophrenia, with serious implications for the quality of life in these individuals.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201216094645.htm
Young people who go to bed later drink and smoke more due to their impulsivity
December 14, 2020
Science Daily/University of Surrey
Young people who prefer to stay up late are more impulsive than their peers who go to bed earlier, which makes them more likely to drink alcohol and smoke, a new study in the journal Chronobiology International, reports.
In the first study of its kind, researchers from the University of Surrey and Brunel University London investigated how being an evening type (someone who prefers to stay up late and functions better in the evening) links to impulsivity, anxiety, and substance use. Young people often prefer to stay up late, and those who do are known to be at higher risk of mental health issues and problematic substance use.
To better understand why this is, researchers recruited 191 participants aged between 18-25 years old. Participants were surveyed on their sleeping preference (morning or evening types), their sleep quality, levels of anxiety and impulsivity, and asked about how many cigarettes they smoked and how much alcohol, coffee, and other caffeinated drinks they consumed.
A lab-based computer test was also used to test impulsivity levels. Participants were required to indicate how long they were willing to wait before receiving a hypothetical cash reward. Researchers found that evening types were more impulsive, preferring small immediate rewards over delayed larger ones. These young adult evening types were also more anxious and reported higher alcohol, caffeine and cigarette use compared to their peers who preferred going to bed earlier. Lower sleep quality did not explain these effects; to see what could, researchers used a statistical method known as mediation analysis, which found that higher levels of impulsivity were the link between being an evening type and greater alcohol, caffeine, and cigarette use.
Researchers believe that by understanding what causes young people to smoke and drink more, we can educate them more effectively about risk factors and design strategies to combat problematic substance use.
Dr Simon Evans, Lecturer in Neuroscience at the University of Surrey, said: "Young people who stay up late and claim they function best in the evening are known to have higher alcohol intake, smoke more cigarettes and are at greater risk of mental health issues. What we have found is that their higher levels of substance use are due to their increased impulsivity levels. The consequences of high levels of substance use can be detrimental to long term physical and mental health, and these findings suggest ways we could reduce risky substance use behaviours in young people."
Dr Ray Norbury, Senior lecturer in Psychology at Brunel University London, said: "We found that the tendency to be a night owl was associated with higher levels of anxiety, impulsivity and alcohol and cigarette use. What we don't know is if night owls are more likely to engage with these harmful behaviours because they are already out late and so may just have more exposure to opportunities to drink and smoke or whether the addictive behaviours (the stimulant effects of smoking for instance) drive them to be up late.
"Clearly, this study has implications for both the mental and physical health of our student populations. It may be that simple interventions to improve sleep hygiene could reduce substance use and anxiety in these young and potentially vulnerable adults."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201214104708.htm
Strong social support decreases mental health problems in young adults
Awareness and presence of social support may guard against mental health problems
December 11, 2020
Science Daily/McGill University
A team of McGill University researchers has found that young adults who perceived higher levels of social support reported fewer mental health problems.
In a study published today in JAMA Network Open, the team led by Marie-Claude Geoffroy, Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology at McGill, reassessed the impact of the presence and awareness of social support, such as family and friends, as a safeguard against mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Their results indicate that young adults who perceived higher levels of social support -- the feeling that there is someone who they can depend on for help should they need it -- at the age of 19, showed lower levels of depression and anxiety symptoms one year later.
"Our study shows that even in cases where people previously experienced mental health problems, social support was beneficial for mental health later on," says Prof. Geoffroy, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Youth Suicide Prevention. "We discovered potential benefits of promoting and leveraging social support as a means to protect the mental health of young adults, even in individuals who experienced mental health problems at an earlier developmental stage in life. That social support is not only beneficial for depression, but for other salient mental health outcomes as well."
The power of perception
The team used data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study on Child Development, collected by the Institut de la statistique du Québec from over 1,000 participants of a representative birth cohort of individuals born in the province of Quebec. Following participants since their birth in 1997 and 1998, the researchers looked at their levels of perceived social support at the onset of adulthood.
The researchers found that people who experienced greater levels of social support experienced 47% less severe depression and 22% less anxiety than those with less social support. The team also found that those who reported higher levels of perceived social support were at a 40% decreased risk of experiencing suicidal ideation and attempts.
"Our study was conducted before the current COVID-19 pandemic, so we do not know whether our results will apply in the current context," adds Sara Scardera, a master's student in McGill's School/Applied Child Psychology program under the supervision of Prof. Geoffroy and co-author of the study. "However, in a 'normal' context, youth who perceived that they had someone to rely on reported better mental health outcomes. We believe that is beneficial to offer help to those in need, and to make sure your friends know that they can count on you."
The data collection is ongoing, therefore new mental health data will be available when participants turn 23 years old over the course of the 2021 winter season. The researchers will verify whether the same patterns of association have been present during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Future lines of research will examine whether certain types of social support -- for example, parents vs. friends -- is more beneficial to the mental health of young adults.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201211115455.htm
Preschool program linked with better social and emotional skills years later
December 10, 2020
Science Daily/Penn State
A preschool enrichment program developed at Penn State helps boost social and emotional skills that still have positive effects years later during middle and high school, according to a new study.
The researchers found that students attending Head Start preschools that implemented the Research-based, Developmentally Informed (REDI) program were less likely to experience behavioral problems, trouble with peers and emotional symptoms like feeling anxious or depressed by the time they reached seventh and ninth grade.
Karen Bierman, Penn State Evan Pugh Professor of Psychology, said she was encouraged that the students were still showing benefits from the program years later.
"The program had an effect on internal benefits, including better emotion management and emotional well-being, as well as external benefits, such as reduced conduct problems," Bierman said. "So not only did the program result in fewer distressed adolescents, but it also resulted in less distress for their teachers and peers, as well. It's an important finding to know we can promote these long-term benefits by intervening early with a strategic prevention programming embedded in a well-established public program like Head Start."
According to the researchers, living in poverty is difficult for children and their families. The lack of resources and added stress increase the chance that a child may develop gaps in social, emotional and language skills by the time they begin school, placing them behind other children growing up in more well-resourced circumstances. Moreover, this gap tends to widen over time, placing children in low income families at risk for developing emotional and behavioral problems by the time they reach adolescence.
But Bierman said previous research has also shown that stronger early social-emotional and self-regulation skills can protect against these effects, creating an opportunity for preschool programs to help close some of these gaps.
The REDI program was developed at Penn State as a way to build upon the existing Head Start program, which provides preschool education to low-income children. The REDI program aims to improve social and emotional skills, as well as early language and literacy skills, by incorporating stories, puppets and other activities that introduce concepts like understanding feelings, cooperation, friendship skills and self-control skills.
Bierman said the program uses a classroom curriculum called Preschool PATHS, which stands for Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies.
"It's a program that teaches skills like how to make friends, how to be aware of your and others' feelings, and how to manage strong feelings and conflict," Bierman said. "These programs are designed to enhance the child's ability to get along with others, regulate their emotions, and develop coping skills."
She added that REDI also promotes language development with daily interactive reading and discussion sessions that involve children in talking through the social and emotional challenges faced by story characters.
For the study, the researchers identified 25 preschool centers participating in Head Start. After obtaining consent from the children's parents, 356 children were cleared to participate in the study. Classrooms were randomly assigned to be part of the intervention group -- which included the REDI program enhancements -- or the comparison group, which was instructed to proceed with the school year as usual.
Students were assessed at the beginning and end of the preschool year, as well as at several checkpoints as they moved into elementary, middle, and high school. For this study, teachers rated students during seventh and ninth grade on such factors as conduct problems, emotional symptoms, hyperactivity and inattention, and peer problems.
"After the children left preschool, they moved on to many different schools and school districts," Bierman said. "Once they reached seventh and ninth grade, their teachers who provided ratings for this study didn't know who had been in the REDI classrooms and who hadn't, so it was very much a blind rating."
After analyzing the data, the researchers found that the number of students with clinically significant levels of conduct problems, emotional symptoms and peer problems was lower for children who had been in the Head Start classrooms implementing the REDI program compared to those in the Head Start classrooms without REDI enhancements.
By ninth grade, 6 percent of the REDI program students had ratings of very high conduct problems compared to 17 percent in the comparison group, and 3 percent of REDI program students had very high emotional symptoms compared to 15 percent in the comparison group. Additionally, 2 percent of REDI program students had very high peer problems compared to 8 percent in the comparison group.
"Teachers gave these ratings using clinical screening questionnaires, so students with very high difficulties may have problems significant enough to be referred for mental health treatment," Bierman said. "The main effect of the REDI program was to reduce the number of adolescents scoring in the highest risk category in adolescence and move them to a lower risk category."
The researchers said the results -- published today (Dec. 10) in the American Journal of Psychiatry -- suggest that programs like REDI can help reduce the gaps in school readiness and mental health that can come when early development is disadvantaged by financial hardship and lack of access to resources and supports.
"We found that the effects that lasted through adolescence weren't in the academic areas like literacy and math, but in the social-emotional areas," Bierman said. "Perhaps in the past, we've been too focused boosting academic learning in preschool and not paid enough attention to the value of enriching preschool with the social-emotional supports that build character and enhance school adjustment. We know from other research that these skills become very important in predicting overall success in graduating from high school, supporting future employment and fostering overall well-being in life."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201210145728.htm
Increased social media use linked to developing depression
December 10, 2020
Science Daily/University of Arkansas
Young adults who increased their use of social media were significantly more likely to develop depression within six months, according to a new national study authored by Dr. Brian Primack, dean of the College of Education and Health Professions and professor of public health at the University of Arkansas.
Compared with participants who used less than 120 minutes per day of social media, for example, young adults who used more than 300 minutes per day were 2.8 times as likely to become depressed within six months.
The study, which will be published online Dec. 10 and is scheduled for the February 2021 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, is the first large, national study to show a link between social media use and depression over time.
"Most prior work in this area has left us with the chicken-and-egg question," said Primack. "We know from other large studies that depression and social media use tend to go together, but it's been hard to figure out which came first. This new study sheds light on these questions, because high initial social media use led to increased rates of depression. However, initial depression did not lead to any change in social media use."
In 2018, Primack and his colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh sampled more than 1,000 U.S. adults between 18 to 30. They measured depression using the validated nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire and asked participants about the amount of time they used social media on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, and SnapChat. Their analyses controlled for demographic factors like age, sex, race, education, income and employment, and they included survey weights so the results would reflect the greater U.S. population.
"One reason for these findings may be that social media takes up a lot of time," said Dr. Cesar Escobar-Viera, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and co-author on the study. "Excess time on social media may displace forming more important in-person relationships, achieving personal or professional goals, or even simply having moments of valuable reflection."
The authors suggest that social comparison may also underlie these findings.
"Social media is often curated to emphasize positive portrayals," said Jaime Sidani, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and co-author of the study. "This can be especially difficult for young adults who are at critical junctures in life related to identity development and feel that they can't measure up to the impossible ideals they are exposed to."
The findings are of particular importance given that depression was recently declared to be the leading global cause of disability by the World Health Organization and accounts for more disability-adjusted life years than all other mental disorders.
"These findings are also particularly important to consider in the age of COVID-19," Primack said. "Now that it's harder to connect socially in person, we're all using more technology like social media. While I think those technologies certainly can be valuable, I'd also encourage people to reflect on which tech experiences are truly useful for them and which ones leave them feeling empty."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201210074722.htm
Engaged dads can reduce adolescent behavioral problems, improve well-being
December 9, 2020
Science Daily/Rutgers University
In low-income families, fathers who are engaged in their children's lives can help to improve their mental health and behavior, according to a Rutgers University-New Brunswick study published in the journal Social Service Review.
The researchers found that adolescents in low-income families whose fathers are more frequently engaged in feeding, reading, playing and other activities and who provide necessities such as clothes and food throughout their childhood have fewer behavioral and emotional problems -- reducing a significant gap between poor families and those with higher socioeconomic status.
"On average, children in lower socioeconomic status families tend to have more behavior problems and their fathers have lower levels of overall involvement than those in higher socioeconomic status families," said lead author Lenna Nepomnyaschy, an associate professor at Rutgers University-New Brunswick's School of Social Work.
The researchers analyzed data on the long-term behavior of 5,000 children born between 1998 and 2000. They focused on the frequency of their fathers' engagement, from ages 5 to 15, through feeding, playing, reading and helping with homework, and providing noncash items as clothes, toys, food and other necessities. They reviewed the associations between such engagement and the children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors, including crying, worrying, fighting, bullying and skipping school.
According to Nepomnyaschy, fathers with lower education, lower skilled jobs and lower wages may find it difficult to engage in their children's lives due to social and economic changes over the last several decades. These changes have resulted in the loss of manufacturing jobs, a decline in union power and criminal justice policies linked to mass incarceration, particularly among men of color.
The researchers urged policymakers, scholars and the public to consider wage, employment and criminal justice policies that increase the opportunity for men to engage with their children to improve their well-being.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201209170640.htm
Youth depression tied to higher risk of 66 diseases and premature death
December 9, 2020
Science Daily/Karolinska Institutet
Depressed children and teenagers have an increased risk of suffering from premature death and a wide range of illnesses later in life. That is according to a large observational study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The findings highlight the need to look for other potential diseases following childhood or adolescent depression. Other psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety and substance misuse, can explain part of the association. The study is published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
"Our study shows that children and teenagers diagnosed with depression have a significantly higher risk of premature death, self-harm, and suffering from other diseases later in life" says Sarah E. Bergen, senior researcher at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, and corresponding author of the study. "It underscores how important it is that these children and teenagers receive the help they need and that medical personnel monitor for subsequent psychiatric and somatic diseases."
Depression is rarely diagnosed in young children but increases in prevalence through the teenage years. Previous studies have linked depression in adolescents to an increased risk of several adverse outcomes, including atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease and premature death. Other psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety and substance use disorder, are also commonly linked.
In this study, the researchers wanted to examine whether depression at an early age might be associated with a wide spectrum of diseases diagnosed later in life. They also examined how other psychiatric conditions affected the association and whether youth depression heightened the risk of premature death.
The researchers followed almost 1.5 million Swedish girls and boys, of whom more than 37,000 were diagnosed with depression at least once between the ages of 5 and 19. When the research concluded, they were between 17 and 31 years old.
The study found that children and teenagers with depression had a higher risk of being diagnosed with 66 out of 69 examined medical conditions, including sleep disorders, type 2 diabetes, viral hepatitis, and kidney and liver diseases. Compared to those without depression, they also had a significantly higher risk of injuries, especially injuries inflicted by self-harm, and an almost six-fold higher risk of premature death.
The findings also revealed sex differences. For example, women with early onset depression were more likely to suffer injuries as well as urinary, respiratory and gastrointestinal infections. Men, on the other hand, were more likely to have obesity, thyroid gland problems, coeliac disease, connective tissue disorders and eczema.
Part of the association may be explained by other co-existing psychiatric conditions, especially substance use disorder and anxiety, which have previously been linked to risk increases for certain medical outcomes. These psychiatric conditions often appear in the same patient and therefore more studies are needed to examine the specific effect of each condition, according to the researchers.
"We need more research to understand the causality between depression and other diseases," says Marica Leone, PhD candidate at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet, and first author of the study. "Currently, we cannot say whether depression leads to an increased risk of negative health effects or whether there are other underlying factors that lead to increased risks for both depression and the diseases examined in this study. Therefore, it is important to investigate how these processes affect each other and whether we, through discovery of these disease mechanisms, can find targets for intervention and treatment to improve overall health."
The research has been funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Some of the authors have reported conflicts of interest: Marica Leone is an employee of Johnson & Johnson, Henrik Larsson has received personal fees from Shire/Takeda and Evolan outside the submitted work and Amy Leval is an employee of and owns stock in Johnson & Johnson.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201209115213.htm
Significant increase in depression seen among children during first UK lockdown
December 8, 2020
Science Daily/University of Cambridge
The first lockdown led to a significant increase in symptoms of depression among children, highlighting the unintended consequences of school closures, according to a new study from the University of Cambridge.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK Government implemented a national "lockdown" involving school closures and social distancing. There has been widespread concern that these measures would negatively impact child and adolescent mental health. To date, however, there is relatively little direct evidence of this.
The most direct way of measuring the association between the onset of lockdown and children's mental health is to follow the same individuals over a length of time and look for changes -- so-called 'longitudinal' changes.
To test whether changes in emotional wellbeing, anxiety and depression symptoms occurred during lockdown since their initial assessment, a team at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, examined data from mental health assessments on 168 children (aged 8-12 years) before and during the UK lockdown. These assessments included self-reports, caregiver-reports, and teacher-reports.
The results of their study are published today in Archives of Disease in Childhood.
Relative to their own pre-pandemic scores, children tended to show more symptoms of depression during lockdown. Even though these symptoms are variable across children, the impact of lockdown can still be seen because the effect size is large. The researchers used the variability in scores to estimate how big an increase this is.
"To give an indication of how large this effect is, imagine ranking the children into 100 'centiles' depending on their scores," explained Dr Duncan Astle from the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and senior author of the study. "A child in the 50th centile would be exactly at the middle of the distribution. But a child at this position before the pandemic, could expect to be at the equivalent of the 77th centile during the lockdown.
"Put differently, if you randomly selected a child from the sample there is a 70% chance that their depression symptoms were worse during lockdown than before the pandemic."
"National lockdowns with mass school closures are unprecedented, so going into this crisis, no one could say definitively what impact it would have on children," said Giacomo Bignardi, a PhD student at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit.
"Our study is one of the first to follow the same children over time during lockdown and suggests that symptoms of depression among children got much worse during this period. This effect was independent of children's age, gender and family socio-economic status."
The team found only very small and not statistically significant changes in children's scores for emotional problems and anxiety during lockdown.
Dr Astle added: "Childhood is a period where mental health may be particularly vulnerable to reduced peer interaction and loneliness. Now that children have returned to school, their wellbeing, socialisation and enjoyment are crucial. Teachers may need additional resources and training to help them support children with low mood.
"Even before lockdown resources for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services were stretched thin -- and that was against a backdrop of worsening mental health among children. Our findings suggest that lockdown measures will likely exacerbate this. The education sector will bear the initial brunt of this."
The researchers say that how the lockdown measures impact children's mental health may depend on a variety of factors. A recent study found that loneliness in children was associated with subsequent mental health problems, particularly depression. Also, during lockdown children had fewer opportunities to engage in play and other fun activities that help improve mood.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201208193405.htm
Teen dislike of physical appearance strong predictor of depression in early adulthood
Heightened risk ranges from 50% to 285% by the age of 18; depression severity greater in boys
December 7, 2020
Science Daily/BMJ
Teens who are unhappy with their physical appearance are at significantly heightened risk of depression by the time they reach early adulthood, reveals the first UK study of its kind, published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
The size of the increased risk ranges from 50% to 285%, the findings show, with boys more likely to experience severe depression than girls.
Dislike of one's physical appearance, formally known as body dissatisfaction, affects up to 61% of teens worldwide. It has been identified as a risk factor for eating disorders, unhealthy behaviours, and poor mental health.
Most published research on body dissatisfaction and depression has been carried out in the US, and few studies have explored the issue among young men and Millennials -- those born between 1981 and 1997 -- to factor in the influence of the internet, technology, and social media.
In a bid to plug these knowledge gaps, the researchers drew on nearly 4000 participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a population-based long term tracking study of women and their children born in 1991/2 and living in Somerset, England.
When they were 14, some 3753 teens were asked to rate satisfaction with their physical appearance by scoring their weight, figure, body build and specific areas, including breasts, stomach, waist, thighs, buttocks, hips, legs, face and hair, on a 5-point scale, where 0 equals 'extremely dissatisfied' and 5 equals 'extremely satisfied'.
Both the boys (1675) and the girls (2078) were mildly satisfied with their body, overall. But girls were more dissatisfied than boys.
Girls tended to dislike their thighs, stomach, and weight, but liked their hair and hips. Boys tended to be dissatisfied with body build, stomach, and hips, but weren't bothered about their hair, weight, or legs.
Nearly 1 in 3 (32%) of the girls and around 1 in 7 (14%) of the boys were dissatisfied with their weight, and around 1 in 4 (27%) girls and 1 in 7 (14%) boys were dissatisfied with their figure.
When they were 18, depressive symptoms were formally assessed using a validated scale (CIS-R). Girls were more likely to experience episodes of depression than the boys.
One in 10 (10%) of the girls reported at least one mild depressive episode compared with 1 in 20 (5%) of the boys. Nearly 7% of the girls and nearly 3% of the boys reported at least one moderately severe depressive episode, while severe depressive episode(s) affected 1.5% of the girls and less than 1% (0.7%) of the boys.
Analysis of the data revealed that body dissatisfaction at the age of 14 predicted depressive episodes of all degrees of severity among the girls, and mild and severe depressive episodes among the boys by the time they were 18 years old.
These findings held true, even after taking account of depressive symptoms at the age of 14.
Among the girls, each increase in the body dissatisfaction scale at the age of 14 was associated with a heightened risk of experiencing at least one mild (63%), moderate (67%) and/or severe (84%) depressive episode at the age of 18.
The strength of this association increased with the severity of the depressive episode.
The impact of body dissatisfaction on mild depressive episodes was comparable between boys and girls, but its impact on severe depressive episodes was stronger among the boys.
Each increase in the body dissatisfaction scale at the age of 14 among the boys was associated with a heightened risk of experiencing at least one mild (50%) and/or severe (285%) depressive episode at the age of 18.
"it is possible that in the era of social media and increasing pressures on body ideals, male adolescents have also become sensitive to [idealised body image] pressures, which may translate into later depressive episodes," suggest the researchers.
The researchers acknowledge that the lack of ethnic and socioeconomic diversity in the ALSPAC data, and the absence of any information on sexual orientation may limit the wider applicability of the findings.
And the measure of body dissatisfaction assessed in the questionnaires was skewed towards female appearance ideals.
Nevertheless, they conclude: "These findings demonstrate that body dissatisfaction should be considered as a public health issue of pressing concern. [It] is highly prevalent among young people in the general population and has an increasing incidence; the findings indicate that reducing body dissatisfaction might be an effective strategy to reduce mental health issues."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201207195131.htm
Poor sleep can lead to depression in adolescents
December 7, 2020
Science Daily/University of Ottawa
Chronic sleep disruption during adolescence can lead to depression in both males and females and alters stress reactivity in females, according to a new study led by University of Ottawa researchers. Their findings, published in the journal Behavioral Brain Research, are particularly relevant in the context of a pandemic, when adolescents' mental health is already under strain.
We talked to senior author Nafissa Ismail, Associate Professor at the uOttawa School of Psychology and University Research Chair in Stress and Mental Health, to learn more about the findings.
Why did you and your team decide to investigate sleep and depression in adolescents?
"More than 264 million people around the world suffer from depression. It is a prevalent mood disorder that reduces our quality of life. Individuals diagnosed with depression experience several symptoms including general malaise, reduced libido, sleep disruptions and suicidal tendencies in severe cases.
Twice as many females as males are currently diagnosed with depression. Preliminary evidence suggests that Canadians are experiencing greater depressive symptoms this year, likely as a result of lifestyle changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adults with depression often first experience depressive symptoms in early adolescence. However, the causes underlying adolescent depression and its sex-specific prevalence rates remain unclear. A popular theory suggests that depression originates in adolescents overexposed to stress, and that differences between male and female depression rates are attributed to an increased female vulnerability to chronic stress.
Sleep disruption is a common stressor during adolescent development. Its repeated exposure could partially be responsible for adolescent female susceptibility to depression.
Using a mouse model, we investigated whether repeated sleep delays differentially affected male and female adolescent mice and examined how their response to stress changed."
How was the research conducted?
"80 adolescent and adult mice (40 males and 40 females) were manually sleep disrupted for the first four hours of each rest cycle or allowed normal rest for eight consecutive days. They were then exposed to a stressor to assess depression-like behavior."
What did you find?
"Our results showed that adolescent male and female mice both displayed significantly greater depressive behaviour after only 7 days of sleep delays while adult male and female mice did not show depressive behaviour under similar conditions.
When exposed to a new stressor following 7 days of repeat sleep delay, only adolescent male and female mice showed increased activity in the prelimbic cortex of the brain -- not the adults. The prelimbic cortex is associated with stress coping strategies and can be damaged from overactivation following sleep deprivation.
Adolescent females also showed greater stress hormone release and activation of stress-sensitive brain cells than adolescent males following repeat sleep delay."
Why is it important?
"Our findings suggest that significant sleep delays during adolescence may increase the likelihood of depression onset in both males and females.
Additionally, sleep delay may sensitize adolescent females to other stressors and increase the likelihood of mood disorder development.
As COVID-19 quarantine requirements -- such as remote learning, limited in-person social interactions and increased screen time -- have removed some pressure to adhere to regular sleep schedules, adolescents could be at a higher risk than ever before for developing depression and other mood disorders."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201207150447.htm
Air pollution spikes linked to lower test scores for Salt Lake County third graders
December 1, 2020
Science Daily/University of Utah
More frequent exposure to air pollution spikes were associated with reduced test scores for third graders in Salt Lake County. Schools with a higher proportion of students of color and from households experiencing poverty were exposed to more peak pollution days than were schools serving middle- to upper- class and predominately white students. The results stress the need for legislators to enact policies to reduce the number of peak pollution days.
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5), the tiny particles responsible for hazy air pollution, are detrimental to children's health even inside the classroom. Mounting evidence has linked chronic exposure with poor academic performance in K-12 students. Until now, no research had examined the impact of "peak" air pollution events, the 24-hour spikes of extremely high PM2.5 levels. For students in Salt Lake County, Utah, these episodes are a dangerous reality -- the county's largest city, Salt Lake City, was among the top 10 most polluted American cities for short-term particle pollution in the latest American Lung Association report.
In a new study, University of Utah researchers found that more frequent peak air pollution exposure was associated with reduced math and English language arts (ELA) test scores for third graders in all primary public schools in Salt Lake County during the 2016-2017 year. The minimum peak pollution levels in this study are below what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determines are "safe" levels of PM2.5. The results stress the need for legislators to enact policies that reduce the number of peak pollution days, and to advocate for lower federal pollution standards.
"The huge takeaway is that this isn't about school location -- it's not just the schools in the most polluted parts of the city. Everyone is impacted by peak pollution," said lead author Casey Mullen, doctoral student in sociology at the University of Utah.
The study highlights the environmental injustice of Salt Lake County's air pollution problem -- schools with a higher proportion of students of color and from households experiencing poverty were exposed to higher mean concentrations of fine particulates and more peak pollution days than were schools serving middle- to upper- class and predominately white students. Though peak exposures had a stronger effect on lower math proficiency in more socially advantaged schools.
"There are so many studies showing us that air pollution damages our brain's cognitive processing ability," said co-author Sara Grineski, professor of sociology at the University of Utah. "Utah has made great strides to lower pollution in the past decades, but we need to keep pushing forward policies to reduce pollution. We already know it will improve Utahns respiratory health, but it also can help kids do a little bit better in schools."
The paper published online on Sept. 22, 2020, in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. This research was funded by the Interdisciplinary Exchange for Utah Science at the University of Utah.
Air quality impacts test scores
The researchers looked at the Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence (SAGE) math and ELA scores of third graders in 156 primary public schools in Salt Lake County in 2017. They focused on the percentage of students whose scores were lower than grade-level expectations.
In order to ensure that air pollution was the only variable affecting test scores, the researchers created a school disadvantage variable that took into account Title I school status; Hispanic students; the percentage of non-Hispanic minority students who were Black, Asian/Pacific Islander or Native American/Alaska Native; and the percentage of students on free and/or reduce-priced meals. They also accounted for the school's neighborhood context.
"It is important to account for social disadvantage since social factors are tightly linked with standardized test scores. Students from low-income families have additional struggles that don't tend to affect more affluent students, such as food insecurity. Students from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds often have unequal educational experiences in the U.S. In some cases, they are immigrants themselves or the children of immigrants, and they might still be learning English," said Grineski. "These factors influence standardized test scores."
Then, they evaluated each school's chronic and peak air pollution concentrations. For chronic air pollution levels, they analyzed the daily PM2.5concentrations for each school using daily concentrations in the census tract housing each school from the U.S. EPA's Downscaler data. On average, schools had chronic PM2.5 levels of just over 8 micrograms per cubic meter. To establish peak air pollution episodes, the researchers identified the number of days each school was exposed to PM2.5 levels in the 95th percentile of PM2.5 concentrations for the year, which was 23 micrograms per cubic meter. The U.S. EPA's unhealthy air standard is 35 micrograms per cubic meter.
While chronic pollution exposure was associated with lower test scores, the effect disappeared when researchers controlled for the social disadvantage factors. In contrast, the frequency of peak pollution exposure was associated with a higher percentage of students who tested below grade proficiency in math and ELA, even after controlling for social disadvantage.
"Research shows that air pollution is associated with brain cell inflammation. That is well-established," said Mullen. "With that in mind, our study findings suggest that future research should examine if repeated peak exposures to concentrations of fine particulate matter might be more damaging to children's brain functioning than chronic exposures."
Reduce air pollution
The authors suggest that legislators could advance public health initiatives that protect children's exposure to air pollution. The researchers have consulted with urban planners about creating cleaner air routes for children to move around their communities. For the future, the state could improve regulations that would prevent schools from being built in high pollution areas. For now, investing in better air filtration systems in classrooms could help mitigate the poor air quality already exists. In the face of growing evidence that even low PM2.5 concentrations does damage to the human body, legislators should advocate for lower federal air pollution standards.
"Here, with constant air quality issues throughout the seasons, we need to increase awareness about air pollution exposures," Mullen said. "This is a conversation everyone should be having -- people need to be informed about what's at stake."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201201103622.htm
Study shows strong links between music and math, reading achievement
November 30, 2020
Science Daily/University of Kansas
Music educator Martin J. Bergee thought that if he could just control his study for the myriad factors that might have influenced previous ones -- race, income, education, etc. -- he could disprove the notion of a link between students' musical and mathematical achievement.
Nope. His new study,"Multilevel Models of the Relationship Between Music Achievement and Reading and Math Achievement," published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, showed statistically significant associations between the two at both the individual and the school-district levels. That the study of more than 1,000 mainly middle-school-aged students showed no such association at the classroom or school levels only shows how rigorously it was conceived by Bergee, a professor in the University of Kansas School of Music, and his co-author and Ph.D. student, currently a visiting professor of music education at the University of Washington, Kevin M. Weingarten.
The study has implications for school-board members considering budgets that impact music programs. It adds to the body of scientific research showing linkages between music and math/reading. And in his conclusion, Bergee even suggests some specific reasons for why that might be.
"There has been this notion for a long time," Bergee said recently, "that not only are these areas related, but there's a cause-and-effect relationship -- that as you get better in one area, you will, per se, get better in another area. The more you study music, the better you're going to be at math or reading. That's always been suspect with me.
"I've always believed that the relationship is correlational and not causational. I set out to demonstrate that there are probably a number of background variables that are influencing achievement in any academic area -- in particular, things like the educational level of the family, where the student lives, whether they are white or non-white, and so forth.
"Those variables are in the article, and there are about lots of them. My intention was to was to show that the relationships are probably spurious, meaning that background influences are the main drivers of the relationships, and once those outside influences, like demographics, etc., are controlled for, the relationship essentially disappears.
"But hang on. Much to my surprise, not only did they not disappear, but the relationships are really strong."
Bergee "apologizes for the complexity" of the study's design, but said "it's not an easy thing to determine, because there are influences that can happen at different levels. It can be an influence at the level of the individual person, but there are also influences that can happen at the classroom, school and school-district level, and those are hierarchical. That involves a complicated set of analyses.
Even though he was prepared to write "a completely different conclusion," Bergee said he has thought a lot about what the findings show.
The authors write that: "Perhaps music discrimination at a more micro level -- pitches, intervals, meters -- shares a cognitive basis with certain patterns of discrimination in speech. Similarly, perhaps the more macro skills of modal and tonal center discrimination share some psychological or neurological space with aspects of math cognition. ... Results of the present study ... at least point to the possibility."
In a recent interview, Bergee said, "Based on the findings, the point we tried to make is that there might be, and probably are, general learning processes that underlie all academic achievement, no matter what the area is. Music achievement, math achievement, reading achievement -- there are probably more generalized processes of the mind that are brought to bear on any of those areas.
"Therefore, if your goal is to educate the person -- to develop the person's mind -- then you need to educate the whole person. In other words, learning may not be as modular as it is often thought to be."
It implies more than introducing children to subjects, Bergee said: "Develop them in these subjects. See that learning is taking place. See that development is, too." Bergee said his study wasn't intended to show that learning music will necessarily improve a child's math or reading scores.
"It would not be impossible, but really difficult to do a truly definitive study," Bergee said. "My inclination is that it would not show a strong effect, but that's what I said about this study! I actually don't know."
But he can say this: "If you want a young person's -- or any person's -- mind to develop, then you need to develop it in all ways it can be developed. You can't sacrifice some modes of learning to other modes of learning for whatever reason, be it financial or societal."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201130150413.htm
Alarming' COVID-19 study shows 80 percent of respondents report significant symptoms of depression
Young adults across the United States took part in loneliness study
November 16, 2020
Science Daily/Taylor & Francis Group
A new national survey, looking at how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted young US adults' loneliness, reveals "significant depressive symptoms" in 80% of participants.
Over 1,000 Americans aged 18-35 took part in the online anonymous questionnaire, which also asked the subjects to report on their anxiety and substance use.
The analysed findings, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, show that "alarming" levels of loneliness are associated with significant mental health issues, asapproximately 61% of respondents reporting moderate (45%) to severe (17%) anxiety.
Meanwhile, 30% of interviewees disclosed harmful levels of drinking. And, although only 22% of the respondents reported using drugs, 38% of these reported severe drug use.
Therefore, a response with mental health care provision is "imperative," lead author Professor Viviana Horigian, from the University of Miami, states.
"The convergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the loneliness and addiction epidemics in the US is here to stay," she said.
"These young adults are the future of our nation's social fabric. They need to be given access to psychological help, coupled with the development and dissemination of brief online contact-based interventions that encourage healthy lifestyles.
"Addressing mental health and substance use problems in young adults, both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, is an imperative."
And co-author Renae Schmidt adds: "As we invest in developing the sense of cohesion and social connectedness in these generations, we can address social and physical resiliency in our communities at large.
"Students need sustaining online delivery of [relevant] coursework, increasing counseling services, and deploying outreach through telehealth services. For young adults not engaged in school, aggressive patient outreach by primary care physicians should be used to ensure screening and intervention, also via telehealth. Access to psychological help coupled with the development and dissemination of brief online contact-based interventions that encourage healthy lifestyles."
The online, 126-item, survey was carried out between April 22 and May 11. 1,008 participants took part, with the average age 28 and 86% being over 23.
Each symptom (loneliness, anxiety, depression, alcohol use, drug use) was measured against internationally recognized scoring systems.
To examine the associations between loneliness and the mental health conditions highlighted, the researchers used a model which looked at the direct effects of both loneliness and social connectedness on depression, anxiety, alcohol use, and drug use. They also looked at the indirect effects of loneliness and social connectedness on alcohol and drug use working through anxiety and depression. In addition, they characterized relationships in pre-COVID and post-COVID behaviors and psychosocial symptomatology.
The results show that most participants who reported an increase in feelings of loneliness also indicated an increase in drinking (58%), drug use (56%), anxiety (76%), and depression (78%), and a decrease in feelings of connectedness (58%).
Looking at general increases of mental health issues or substance use due to the pandemic, most issues were recorded by participants as rising, with their feelings of loneliness going up by 65%, lack of connectedness 53%, alcohol use 48%, drug use 44%, anxiety 62%, and depression 64%.
Overall, an "alarming" 49% of respondents reported a great degree of loneliness.
Most respondents (80%) reported drinking alcohol, with 30% revealing harmful and dependent levels of drinking. 19% of respondents reported binge drinking at least weekly and 44% reported binging at least monthly.
The team hopes that the results will now be used to guide intervention efforts.
"Social prescribing, which draws from and promotes usage of community resources, also shows promise of improving social and psychological wellbeing," Professor Horigian adds.
"This could be positioned to then encourage service to others, bringing social comfort and reward as a result of connecting with others in need.
"These efforts, and others, can help to alleviate the problems of loneliness and its manifestations; yet it may take an integrated, multi-faceted, and concerted approach, rooted, and supported by mental health prevention and wellbeing promotion boosted by workforce development and research on intervention development, to readdress these trajectories."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201116112918.htm
Loneliness in youth could impact mental health over the long term
Children and adolescents more likely to experience higher rates of depression and anxiety during and after enforced isolation ends
November 19, 2020
Science Daily/Elsevier
A new review reports on the available evidence about children and young people specifically, stating that loneliness is associated with mental health problems, including depression and anxiety-potentially affecting them years later.
The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated widespread social isolation, affecting all ages of global society. A new rapid review in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry(JAACAP), published by Elsevier, reports on the available evidence about children and young people specifically, stating that loneliness is associated with mental health problems, including depression and anxiety-potentially affecting them years later.
The review, which synthesizes over 60 pre-existing, peer-reviewed studies on topics spanning isolation, loneliness and mental health for young people aged between 4 and 21 years of age, found extensive evidence of an association between loneliness and an increased risk of mental health problems for children and young people.
"As school closures continue, indoor play facilities remain closed and at best, young people can meet outdoors in small groups only, chances are that many are lonely (and continue to be so over time)," said lead author, Maria Loades, DClinPsy, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Bath, UK.
"This rapid review of what is known about loneliness and its impact on mental health in children and young people found that loneliness is associated with both depression and anxiety. This occurs when studies measured both loneliness and mental health at the same point in time; when loneliness was measured separately; and when depression and anxiety were measured subsequently, up to 9 years later," Dr. Loades added. "Of relevance to the COVID-19 context, we found some evidence that it is the duration of loneliness that is more strongly associated with later mental health problems."
From the selected studies there was evidence that children and young people who are lonely might be as much as three times more likely to develop depression in the future, and that the impact of loneliness on mental health outcomes like depressive symptoms could last for years. There was also evidence that the duration of loneliness may be more important, than the intensity of loneliness, in increasing the risk of future depression among young people.
For many young people, loneliness will decrease as they re-establish social contacts and connections as lockdown eases (e.g., as they return to school or college). For some a sense of loneliness may persist as they struggle to resume social life, particularly for those who were more vulnerable to being socially isolated before lockdown.
"It's key that children and young people are allowed to return to activities such as playing together, even if outdoors, as soon as possible, and that they are able to resume attending school, which gives them a structure for their day, and provides them with opportunities to see peers and to get support from adults outside of the nuclear family," said Dr. Loades. Furthermore, she added "children need more in their strategy for easing lockdown. Alongside this, the government could target children's wellbeing in public health messaging. And meanwhile, we should also continue to embrace technology as a way to keep in touch."
So whilst we do what we can to mitigate the effects of loneliness and re-establish social connections, we also need to prepare for an increase in mental health problems, in part due to loneliness, and also due to the other unintended consequences of lockdown, such as a lack of structure, physical inactivity and social and/separation anxiety that might be triggered when resuming social interactions outside of the home.
There are several levels at which we can prepare for the heightened demand:
Take a universal approach to promoting wellbeing through public messaging, and by schools doing activities to promote wellbeing in children and young people as they resume normal activities.
Seek to identify those who are struggling with loneliness as early as possible and do so by targeted interventions to help them overcome their struggles. This may be through the provision of extra support in schools, helping them overcome anxieties about returning to school, or giving them an extra hand with reconnecting socially with peers.
For those who continue to struggle over time, and can't get back to doing the things they normally do as a result of their struggles, we need to ensure that they are made aware that services are open, and can provide specialist help, and to make sure that they know how to access this help and are supported to do so.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201119124626.htm