Singing's secret power: The Ice-breaker Effect
Singing together produces faster bonding in groups
October 27, 2015
Science Daily/University of Oxford
A study with adult learners showed groups doing singing bonded faster than others. The study looked at how people attending adult education classes grew closer over seven months. The conclusion -- singing groups bonded more quickly than creative writing or craft classes.
We have long known the power of a good sing-along. Now, research from the University of Oxford has shown that singing is a great ice-breaker and can get groups of people to bond together more quickly than other activities can.
The new study, published in the Royal Society's Open Science journal, looked at how people attending adult education classes grew closer over seven months. The conclusion -- singing groups bonded more quickly than creative writing or craft classes.
Dr Eiluned Pearce, from Oxford's Department of Experimental Psychology led the research. She said: 'One of the key differences between humans and other primates is that we can exist in much larger social groups. Singing is found in all human societies and can be performed to some extent by the vast majority of people. It's been suggested that singing is one of the ways in which we build social cohesion when there isn't enough time to establish one-to-one connections between everyone in a group.
'We wanted to explore whether there was something special about singing as a bonding behaviour or whether any group activity would build bonds between members.'
To test the theory, the researchers worked with charity the Workers' Educational Association (WEA), the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education. The WEA set up seven courses, four in singing, two in crafts and one in creative writing. Each course, made up of weekly sessions, was run over seven months, with a break in the middle.
Those attending the classes were given surveys before and after individual sessions in the first month, in the third month and at the end of the seven-month course. In it, they were asked to rate how close they felt to their classmates.
Dr Pearce said: 'We had expected the singing classes to feel closer to each other than the other classes at the end of the seven months. However, we found something different.
'For every class, people felt closer to each other at the end of each two-hour session than they did at the start. At the end of the seven months, all the classes were reporting similar levels of closeness.
'The difference between the singers and the non-singers appeared right at the start of the study. In the first month, people in the singing classes became much closer to each other over the course of a single class than those in the other classes did. Singing broke the ice better than the other activities, getting the group together faster by giving a boost to how close classmates felt towards each other right at the start of the course.
'In the longer term, it appears that all group activities bring people together similar amounts. In non-singing classes ties strengthened as people talked to each other either during lessons or during breaks. But this is the first clear evidence that singing is a powerful means of bonding a whole group simultaneously.'
Howard Croft, WEA Project Manager, said: 'We're really pleased to have taken part in this experiment, which has shown that singing can be a great way to form close bonds with others. Feeling connected to those around you, be it friends or family, is one of the key ways to improve your wellbeing. Adult education of every kind can help improve mental health and boost self-esteem, but singing together is a uniquely communal experience that can foster better relations between people from all walks of life.'
The research is part of a series of studies looking at how music leads to social bonding. Co-author Dr Jacques Launay said: 'Given that music-making is an important part of all human cultures throughout history we think it probably evolved to serve some purpose. Evidence suggests that the really special thing that music does for us is encourage social bonding between whole groups of people playing and dancing together'.
Dr Pearce added: 'Really close relationships still depend on interactions between individuals or much smaller groups, but this study shows singing can kick start the bonding process.'
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151027213419.htm
When it comes to children's ability to think, weight and activity level both matter
October 27, 2015
Science Daily/Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University
Weight and physical activity levels are both factors in a child's ability to acquire and use knowledge, a new study finds. Children who were lean and active scored better on cognitive tests than either their lean, inactive peers or overweight, inactive children, according to the study, which provides some of the first evidence that weight, independent of physical activity, is a factor.
"The question this paper asks that has not been asked before is whether it is just fitness that influences children's cognition," said Dr. Catherine Davis, clinical health psychologist at the Georgia Prevention Institute at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University. "What we found is weight and physical activity both matter."
Children who were lean and active scored better on cognitive tests than either their lean, inactive peers or overweight, inactive children, according to the study in the journal Pediatric Exercise Science. The study provides some of the first evidence that weight, independent of physical activity, is a factor.
The study looked at 45 normal-weight children age 7-11, including 24 who were active and 21 who weren't. Children were considered physically active if they participated in organized activities such as swimming, gymnastics, soccer or dance for more than an hour per week. Researchers corroborated this participation with an adult, and children self-reported their physical activity. The study also looked at 45 inactive, overweight children with very similar demographics, with exact matches on gender and race, and close matches on other relevant issues such as parents' marital status and education level and age to help ensure any differences were not strongly linked to socioeconomic status.
As expected, the 24 normal-weight, physically active children had a lower body mass index, or BMI, less fat and a lower resting heart rate than the overweight, inactive children.
When researchers used the well-verified Cognitive Assessment System, the advantages continued to hold. For example, comparing the active, healthy-weight group with the overweight, inactive children, the active group scored nine points higher for planning -- things such as figuring out and carrying out a strategy and using knowledge -- and eight points higher for their ability to pay attention.
Weight as an independent factor among inactive children generated an even bigger difference in the ability to pay attention, with normal-weight inactive children scoring 12 points higher. Those kinds of numbers could be the difference between a child being average in terms of his cognitive function and at the top end of the normal range, Davis said. In fact, the thinner, inactive kids scored higher on attention as well as a summary measure of cognition than their heavier peers.
Still, comparing inactive and active children who were all a healthy weight showed that activity alone clearly provided an edge, with the active children scoring higher in most areas of cognitive function, including 11 points higher for their ability to plan and seven points higher in attention.
"Activity made a difference even among normal-weight kids. That verifies that physical activity makes a difference in brain function," Davis said. The good news is that children, with the help of their families and schools, have time to make healthy lifestyle changes that will modify their weight trajectory, she said.
"These kids are still growing. If they can cut some of the empty calories out of their diet and pick up the pace on physical activity, they may grow into their weight," Davis said.
The long-time investigator of how physical activity affects overweight children was surprised that weight was an independent factor affecting cognition, acknowledging that exactly how and why is unclear. It could be excessive inflammation, hormones, both or neither, Davis said. She noted that while this study focused on weight, it's likely the amount of body fat that actually matters and overweight children in the study consistently had more fat, rather than having a higher weight because of extra muscle mass, for example.
Next steps include studies that also include overweight, active kids to see if heavier children derive as much benefit from physical activity as their normal-weight peers, and to learn more about how weight and physical activity relate to children's brain health.
Both overweight and inactivity have been independently associated with a cognitive disadvantage in children. Davis published a study in 2011 in Health Psychology that showed regular exercise improves the ability of overweight, previously inactive children to think, plan and even do math. Those who participated in 40 minutes of exercise every day after school garnered even more improvement than those who were active for about 20 minutes daily. That study also used the Cognitive Assessment System as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging, which showed those who exercised experienced increased brain activity in the prefrontal cortex -- an area associated with complex thinking, decision-making and correct social behavior. A later study comparing an after-school exercise program to an after-school sedentary program, showed better brain development in the exercise group.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151027123906.htm
Light exposure linked to weight gain in children
October 23, 2015
Science Daily/Queensland University of Technology
A world-first study has revealed pre-schoolers exposed to more light earlier in day tend to weigh more. She says the research suggests light exposure, artificial and natural, needs to be part of the conversation about the weight of children, along with calorie intake, decreased physical activity and sleep patterns.
http://images.sciencedaily.com/2015/10/151023105914_1_540x360.jpg
Ms Pattinson said it is known the timing, intensity and duration of exposure to both artificial and natural light have acute biological effects in mammals. (Stock image of normal healthy child)
Credit: © Sabphoto / Fotolia
Cassandra Pattinson, a PhD student and her colleagues studied 48 children aged three to five from six Brisbane childcare centres over a two week period, measuring each child's sleep, activity and light exposure along with their height and weight to calculate their BMI.
"We found moderate intensity light exposure earlier in the day was associated with increased body mass index (BMI) while children who received their biggest dose of light -- outdoors and indoors -- in the afternoon were slimmer," said Ms Pattinson who will present her findings at the ASA Sleep Downunder Conference in Melbourne on 23 October.
"Surprisingly physical activity was not associated with the body mass of the children but sleep timing and light exposure was. This is the first time light has been shown to contribute to weight in children.
"With an estimated 42 million children around the globe under the age of five being classified as overweight or obese, it is a significant breakthrough and a world-first.
"Thanks to artificial lighting, including light given off by tablets, mobile phones, night lights, and television, modern children are exposed to more environmental light than any previous generation. This increase in light exposure has paralleled global increases in obesity."
The research team, from QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, worked with the Centre for Children's Health Research
Ms Pattinson said it is known the timing, intensity and duration of exposure to both artificial and natural light have acute biological effects in mammals.
"The circadian clock -- also known as the internal body clock -- is largely driven by our exposure to light and the timing of when that happens. It impacts on sleep patterns, weight gain or loss, hormonal changes and our mood," Ms Pattinson said
"Recent research in adults suggests exposure to light later in the day is associated with increased body mass, but no studies had investigated these effects in young children and it turns out it has the opposite effect.
"While adults who take in more morning light are slimmer, pre-school children exposed to morning light tend to be heavier.
"Factors that impact on obesity include calorie intake, decreased physical activity, short sleep duration, and variable sleep timing. Now light can be added to the mix."
Ms Pattinson said the next step was to figure out how the research can be used in the fight against obesity in children.
"We plan to conduct further studies with pre-schoolers and also infants," she said.
"Animal studies have shown that timing and intensity of light exposure is critical for metabolic functioning and weight status. Our findings suggest that the same applies to us.
"This research suggests that exposure to different types of light at different times now needs to be part of the conversation about the weight of children."
Children in foster care three times more likely to have ADHD diagnosis
October 23, 2015
Science Daily/American Academy of Pediatrics
Researchers already knew that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder was the most common behavioral health diagnosis among children enrolled in Medicaid. A new study found that children in foster care were three times more likely than others to have an ADHD diagnosis.
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) examined 2011 Medicaid outpatient and prescription drug claims from multiple states across the United States. Among their key findings:
More than 1 in 4 children between the ages of 2 and 17 who were in foster care had received an ADHD diagnosis, compared to about 1 in 14 of all other children in Medicaid.
Children with ADHD who were in foster care were also more likely to have another disorder, with roughly half also diagnosed with conditions such as oppositional defiant disorder, depression, or anxiety. This is compared to about 1 in 3 children with ADHD in Medicaid who were not in foster care.
Among children with an ADHD diagnosis, those in foster care were as likely as others to be treated with ADHD medication but were more likely to have received psychological services; About 3 out of 4 of the children with ADHD in foster care received some psychological care in 2011.
Lead author Melissa Danielson, MSPH, a statistician with the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, said findings that children in foster care experience high rates of ADHD along with other, simultaneous behavioral disorders as compared to their peers in Medicaid shows a substantial need for medical and behavioral services within this group. The high proportion of children with ADHD in foster care who receive psychological services was promising, she said, especially since behavior therapy is recommended as the first-line treatment for preschoolers with ADHD and is preferred in conjunction with medication as treatment for school-aged children with ADHD.
"As we work to improve the quality of care for children with ADHD, it will be important to consider the needs of special populations, including those in foster care," Ms. Danielson said. "Working together, primary care and specialty clinicians can best support the health and long-term well-being of children with ADHD."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151023083721.htm
Early childhood stress affects brain's response to rewards
Study finds lingering changes in brain activity
October 19, 2015
Science Daily/Duke University
A new study has pinpointed how early childhood stress affects brain activity, related to risks for depression and other mental health problems in adulthood.
A Duke University-led study has pinpointed how early childhood stress affects the adult brain's response to rewards. Their findings suggest a possible pathway by which childhood stress may increase risk of depression and other mental health problems in adulthood.
Many studies have connected early life stress to later mental health issues for adults, but little is understood about the reasons for this connection. The new study published in the current issue of Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the relations between early life stress and reward-related brain activity in adults.
Participants in the study were closely monitored beginning in kindergarten and then were scanned using brain imaging when they were adults. The participants were all part of the Fast Track Project, which in 1991 began tracking how children developed across their lives.
For this new study, researchers focused on the levels of stress that 72 subjects were exposed to early in development. At age 26, the study participants completed an experimental game to assess how their brains processed rewards and positive feedback. The scientists focused on reward-related activity in an area of the brain known as the ventral striatum, measured using fMRI.
"We found that greater levels of cumulative stress during childhood and adolescence predicted lower reward-related ventral striatum activity in adulthood," said study lead author Jamie Hanson, a postdoctoral researcher at Duke's Center for Child and Family Policy and the Duke Department of Psychology and Neuroscience.
Hanson and colleagues found that early stress, specifically between kindergarten and grade three, was most strongly associated with muted responses to rewards in adulthood. Previous studies have identified this type of brain activity as a marker for increased risk of depression and anxiety.
"In participants with the greatest levels of early stress, we saw the lowest levels of activity in the ventral striatum in response to a reward," Hanson said.
"We think reward-related ventral striatum activity is an important marker of mental health," Hanson explained. "Past studies have focused on the processing of threat and negative emotion after early stress. Generating positive emotions may potentially buffer some of the effects of stress."
The researchers say that a variety of early life stresses may affect whether children or not will grow up to be at risk for mental health problems. They add that further work in this area may lead to the development of new interventions that will help prevent negative mental health outcomes after childhood stress.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151019110955.htm
Poor infant sleep may predict problematic toddler behavior
Study finds frequent night wakings, broken sleep patterns are linked to trouble later on
October 8, 2015
Science Daily/American Friends of Tel Aviv University
A recent study finds a definite link between poor infant sleep and compromised attention and behavior at the toddler stage.
Temper tantrums and misbehavior, restlessness and inattention are the trappings of the typical toddler. But they may also be signs of developmental delays or disorders. Are infant sleep irregularities red flags for later ?
A study recently published in Developmental Neuropsychology finds a definite link between poor infant sleep and compromised attention and behavior at the toddler stage. The research discovered that one-year-olds who experienced fragmented sleep were more likely to have difficulties concentrating and to exhibit behavioral problems at three and four years of age.
The research was led by Prof. Avi Sadeh of Tel Aviv University's School of Psychological Sciences and conducted by a team that included his TAU colleagues Yael Guri and Prof. Yair Bar-Haim; Dr. Gali De Marcas of the Gordon College of Education in Haifa; and Prof. Andrea Berger and Dr. Liat Tikotzky of Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
A predictor of future problems
"Many parents feel that, after a night without enough sleep, their infants are not at their 'best.' But the real concern is whether infant sleep problems -- i.e. fragmented sleep, frequent night wakings -- indicate any future developmental problems," said Prof. Sadeh. "The fact that poor infant sleep predicts later attention and behavior irregularities has never been demonstrated before using objective measures."
The team assessed the sleep patterns of infants at TAU's Laboratory for Children's Sleep Disorders, where Prof. Sadeh is director. The initial study included 87 one-year-olds and their parents. They revisited the lab when the infants were three to four years old. According to the study, "Night-wakings of self-soothing infants go unnoticed by their parents. Therefore, objective infant sleep measures are required when assessing the role of sleep consolidation or sleep fragmentation and its potential impact on the developing child."
To accomplish this, the researchers used wristwatch-like devices to objectively determine sleep patterns at the age of one, and in the follow-up visits they used a computerized attention test, the Spatial-Stroop task, to assess attentional executive control. They also referred to parental reports to determine signs of behavioral problems.
The results revealed significant predictive and concomitant correlations between infant sleep and toddler attention regulation and behavior problems. The study points to significant ties between sleep quality markers (sleep percentage and number of night wakings) at one year of age and attention and behavior regulation markers two to three years later.
Is it genetic?
"We don't know what the underlying causes are for the lower sleep quality and later behavior regulation problems in these children," said Prof. Sadeh. "There may be genetic or environmental causes adversely affecting both the children's sleep and their development in other domains. Our findings, however, support the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of sleep problems in infants and young children. Early interventions for infant sleep problems, very effective in improving sleep quality, could potentially improve later attention and behavior regulation."
The researchers are currently exploring the underlying characteristics of children who are considered "good sleepers" at the age of nine to 18 months.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151008142505.htm
Battling obesity in the classroom with exercise
October 5, 2015
Science Daily/University of Michigan
There's another burst of seat-bouncing, giggling and shouting in a simulated classroom. Through a new study, researchers hope to find ways to redesign classrooms and develop a curriculum to add in two-minute exercise breaks throughout the day -- "a prescription for physical activity" -- and incorporate the additional fitness as seamlessly as possible for teachers.
Marcus isn't having it. "How do you call that cheating?" demands Patton, an 11-year-old cyclone of energy.
Patton admits it's tough to sit still. Like millions of other U.S. middle and grade school kids he gets scant exercise during school because budget and time restraints have slashed recess and lunch periods.
Hasson, assistant professor at the U-M School of Kinesiology, seeks to remedy that problem by studying kids like Patton in a collaborative research project called Active Classroom. Partners include the School of Public Health Momentum Center, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and School of Education.
Researchers hope to find ways to redesign classrooms and develop a curriculum to add in two-minute exercise breaks throughout the day -- "a prescription for physical activity" -- and incorporate the additional fitness as seamlessly as possible for teachers.
Clarke Fields, 9, and Patton, are between activity breaks now, meaning they'll play games, watch television or do something else sedentary between one of the 20 activity breaks. That's 40 minutes of exercise by the end of the school day -- but still only two-thirds of the recommended 60 minutes for kids.
Hasson's physical activity study differs from others in that it focuses on the built and curricular environments rather than solely focusing on behaviors, nutrition and exercise.
Her initial findings are promising: By incorporating low-, medium- or high-intensity activity, kids may burn 100-300 more calories a day. She found they quickly refocused on school work, and none reported disliking the exercise.
Their enthusiasm shows. Patton and Fields snap to attention when Hasson shouts: "Ready for an activity break?"
They jump up and record their resting heart rates. Nicki Minaj pumps out of the computer and they're off: Two minutes of high-intensity jumping jacks, skiers, butt kicks and high-knees. Hasson, who's also a former competitive volleyball player, jumps and kicks along with them, shouting encouragement.
"Time!" The students, breathless and smiling, shout out heart rates and perceived exertion scores and Hasson writes them on a whiteboard.
After the exercise, students take a quick math test to gauge how easily they reset back to learning mode. By the end of this first study phase, researchers will also know which intensities and exercises are best for weight management, fitness, cognition and other factors that impact a child's well-being in and out of the classroom.
The other essential parts of the research are "playable" hallways and classrooms. Hallways could be designed with pathways or longer routes and encourage room-to-room movement or activities like hopscotch. Classes might include furniture that teachers can store or rearrange and structures such as climbing walls.
Patton's mother Tabia arrives during another activity break. She teaches elementary school and supports Hasson's goal but remains guarded. Climbing walls in a classroom with 30 kids? That sounds hard to manage. Still, she says she'd love to be able to do this in her classroom.
"When (Marcus) has to sit for long periods of time, it's hard for him to focus," Tabia Patton said, and she knows this is true for many kids.
Hasson understands if teachers are concerned.
"The kids will be an easy sell," she said.
Indeed, their self-reported perceived exertion is almost always much lower than their actual exertion, which means they're working a lot harder than they feel like they are. They also report enjoying the exercise days more than the sedentary days when they're instructed to use a tablet.
The biggest challenge will be convincing overworked teachers and pressured administrators that it's doable, Hasson says.
Hasson's next steps are to partner with teachers like Tabia Patton in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti elementary schools to pilot this project in an actual classroom with the long-term goal of implementing the project nationwide. With waistlines expanding and lifespans shortening, she says it's a public health priority.
"This generation of kids is expected to live two to five years less than their parents, and this problem is directly related to diet and physical inactivity," Hasson said.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151005121703.htm
Stress causes infants to resort to habits
September 30, 2015
Science Daily/Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum
Under stress, people are inclined to resort to habits, rather than trying out new things. In a new article, psychologists report that this is true not only for adults, but also for infants.
Unfamiliar situations akin to everyday life caused an increase in the stress hormone cortisol
Together with their colleagues, Dr Sabine Seehagen from Bochum and Prof Dr Norbert Zmyj from Dortmund studied 26 infants at the age of 15 months who underwent a learning task. Approximately half of the infants had previously been subjected to stressful situations such as they may occur in their everyday life: a stranger sat down next to them, a dancing robot played loud music and moved around, their parents left the room for a maximum of four minutes. These events caused an increase in the stress hormone cortisol. The infants in the control group spent the same period of time playing with their parents.
Stressed infants hardly explored alternative behaviours
Then, the infants were presented with a box containing two lamps and learned that one of them emitted a red light when pressed and the other one a blue light. They were allowed to press one of the lamps as often as they liked while access to the other lamp was blocked. In the subsequent test, the infants were free to choose which lamp they wanted to play with, but now neither of them lit up. Even though the lamps did no longer work, infants in the stress group continued to press the lamp that they had got used to pressing. Children in the control group exhibited more flexible behaviour and pressed the other lamp significantly more frequently.
Experiment design adapted for children from adult studies
In adults, it has been well-documented that stress promotes habits and reduces cognitive flexibility. The team from Bochum and Dortmund adapted an experimental design used in adult studies, enabling the researchers to analyse the same effects in infants. "If infants are repeatedly exposed to stress and therefore don't try out alternative behaviours, this may have a negative impact on their knowledge acquisition," says Sabine Seehagen. "This effect should be investigated in further studies in more detail."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150930074325.htm
Childhood stress impacts adult health
Persistent distress, distress in childhood associated with higher risk of heart disease, diabetes
September 28, 2015
Science Daily/American College of Cardiology
A 45-year study of nearly 7,000 people born in a single week in Great Britain in 1958 found psychological distress in childhood -- even when conditions improved in adulthood -- was associated with higher risk for heart disease and diabetes later in life.
The study, published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, looked at information related to stress and mental health collected about participants in the 1958 British Birth Cohort Study at ages 7, 11, 16, 23, 33 and 42. Researchers also collected data for nine biological indicators at age 45 using information from blood samples and blood pressure measures to create a score indicating risk for heart disease and diabetes, known as the cardiometabolic risk score, for each.
The study found that people with persistent distress throughout their lives had the highest cardiometabolic risk score relative to participants who reported low levels of distress throughout childhood and adulthood. Using the same comparison group, participants with high levels of distress occurring primarily in childhood, and those with high levels of distress occurring primarily in adulthood also exhibited higher cardiometabolic risk. The estimated risk for cardiometabolic disease for people with persistent distress through to middle adulthood was higher than risk commonly observed for people who are overweight in childhood.
After adjusting for a range of factors that might affect these associations, including medication use, socioeconomic status, and health behaviors, the researchers found the risk for people who experienced high distress levels primarily in adulthood was not different compared with those with low levels of distress over their life course. But participants who experienced high distress primarily in childhood and those with persistent distress continued to have significantly higher risk scores even after considering those other factors.
"This study supports growing evidence that psychological distress contributes to excess risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease and that effects may be initiated relatively early in life," said lead author Ashley Winning, ScD, MPH, of Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
"While effects of distress in early childhood on higher cardiometabolic risk in adulthood appeared to be somewhat mitigated if distress levels were lower by adulthood, they were not eradicated," the authors said. "This highlights the potentially lasting impact of childhood distress on adult physical health."
"It is also increasingly apparent that adversity in a child's social environment increases the likelihood of developing high levels of distress. Thus, early prevention and intervention strategies focused not only on the child but also on his or her social circumstances may be an effective way to reduce the long-lasting harmful effects of distress," Winning said.
In the accompanying editorial in the Journal, E. Alison Holman, PhD, FNP, of the Program of Nursing Science at University of California, Irvine, said the study indicates it may not be helpful for clinicians to focus on "managing" known cardiovascular disease risk factors like smoking, obesity, elevated cholesterol and lack of exercise without addressing underlying risk factors that affect patients.
"When considering our patients in this broader social context, telling them to lose weight, stop smoking, eat a better diet without addressing the underlying stress or distress that may be fueling unhealthy behaviors (and lab values) may be counter-productive," Holman said. "Indeed, by 'advising' or 'directing' our patients to change their behaviors, we undermine their trust in us and may exacerbate their distress, especially if they feel stuck or unable to make the recommended changes."
Holman suggests patient-centered motivational interviewing and more compassionate approaches to patient communication.
JACC Editor-in-Chief Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, said, "If stress contributes to cardiovascular disease in adults, as this study finds, it is easy to extrapolate the impact that stress may cause in earlier years of life when psychological and biological stages are at such a heightened state for young people."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150928144037.htm
Children with ADHD and their mothers may live less than average population
A study conducted by Brazilian researchers shows that hyperactivity can produce chromosome changes that affect health
September 28, 2015
Science Daily/D'Or Institute for Research and Education
Brazilian scientists found that ADHD children and their mothers are more likely to have shorter telomeres, a hallmark of cellular aging, which is associated with increased risk for chronic diseases and conditions like diabetes, obesity and cancer.
Psychiatric disorders like Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) impact family's emotions and social life. It is well known. What is new is that this condition also affects the DNA of patients and their parents. Brazilian scientists from the D'Or Institute of Research and Education (IDOR) and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) found that ADHD kids and their mothers are more likely to have shorter telomeres, a hallmark of cellular aging, which is associated with increased risk for chronic diseases and conditions like diabetes, obesity and cancer.
Telomeres cap the ends of chromosomes and act as protection against the loss of protein-coding DNA during cell division. While telomere shortening happens naturally with aging, researches indicate the process is accelerated by psychological and biological stress. The shorter the telomeres are, shorter is the biological "life expectancy" of one.
The study, published in Frontiers of Molecular Neuroscience, assessed the length of telomeres from 61 ADHD children (age 6 to 16) and their parents. Even among the children, who are beginning their lives, researchers found shorter telomeres than those that would be expected for their ages. Although mother's telomeres were also shorter, they did not find any alteration in the father's telomere length.
The researchers believe the phenomenon is due to the stress that ADHD symptoms generate for the children and their mothers. Mothers are in most cases the main caretaker of the offspring, showing higher levels of depressive disorders and stress in parenting their children than fathers. ADHD symptoms usually appear during childhood and vary from inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity -- a combination that can produce negative effects on children's and its relative's lives.
"When people think about behavioral issues with children, they think about the psychological component and how that impacts school performance and interaction with society," points out one of the study's authors, neuropsychiatry Paulo Mattos from IDOR. "These kind of impact are real, but what we are showing for the first time now is that TDAH can impact at the cellular level, at the DNA."
Telomere length is highly heritable. Fathers and mothers with shorter telomeres transmit this characteristic to their children. It means that ADHA children, who already have shorten telomeres, will generate an offspring with shorter telomeres at birth.
The researchers also noticed that hyperactivity symptoms are more related to the telomere length than inattention symptoms. They observed that higher levels of hyperactivity in children were associated with shorter relative telomere in ADHD children and in their mothers.
"This makes sense if you think that hyperactivity is the symptom that affects more negatively the family and causes more stress," say Mattos. "It is usually the reason why parents search for medical care in the first place."
The findings underscore the importance of intervening early to address behavior issues in children to prevent psychosocial stress and shortening of telomeres.
"Decrease the hyperactivity and impulsivity levels in children is fundamental to them and their mothers and this can be achieved by several behavioral techniques applied as soon as possible," affirms another author of the study, geneticist and pediatrician Débora Miranda from UFMG.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150928082158.htm