Mental Health

The introduction of a voter referendum in California in 2008 that limited marriage to heterosexual couples, known as Proposition 8, increased the rate of homophobic bullying among youth in the state, according to findings published in Pediatrics.

Using a machine learning algorithm to analyze audio data, researchers could detect signs of anxiety and depression in the speech patterns of young children, according to research published in Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics.

Nearly one-quarter of children with autism spectrum disorder have pica — an eating disorder involving the eating of nonfood items — according to research presented at the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference.

Compared with the general population, global subpopulations of children in care, correctional, special education, specialized clinical and Aboriginal populations had significantly higher prevalence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, according to study findings published in Addiction.

ATLANTA — Research presented at the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference highlighted that approximately one in 14 high school students in Washington, D.C., have exchanged sex for housing, food and other items of value. Youth with unstable housing were nearly 11 times more likely to engage in this behavior.

A Danish nationwide birth cohort study showed that the incidence rates of any mental disorder, substance use disorders, depression and anxiety disorders increased substantially by adolescence.

There was a significant increase in suicide rates among U.S. children and adolescents in the month after the first season release of the Netflix series “13 Reasons Why,” findings from a study published in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry showed.

New WHO guidelines stress the importance of active play for at least 180 minutes a day, less sedentary behavior, and more quality sleep among children aged younger than 5 years.

The phone call came while I was celebrating Christmas with my husband’s family during my first year of medical school. My grandfather, a World War II veteran, both a best friend and hero of mine, had died. He died of septic shock secondary to MRSA in the ICU in which I would eventually rotate in as a resident. He died under the care of an intensivist who would ultimately become my attending. As my training continued, I was drawn to the ICU; the sickest of the sick. There are profound ties between infectious diseases and critical care. In the ICU, patients are either presenting with life-threatening infections, or, in the process of providing critical care, we place devices that carry risk for infection, and thus every day demands attention to the appropriate diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infection. As an infectious disease and critical care physician, I have been blessed to have many physician mentors in both fields. But truth be told, my greatest mentor is the one I lost. Every day, his death challenges me to continue to improve the outcomes for our critically ill patients.

Pet therapy significantly reduced anxiety in children during hospitalization, according to a recent quasi-experimental study published in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing.