Mental Health

Study findings published in Translational Psychiatry revealed that 8 to 12 weeks of individual music intervention improved social communication and functional brain connectivity in children with autism.

Interventions based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Health Action Process Approach that included primers on sleep medicine, reconstructed sleeping environments and outlined sleeping habits, improved sleep hygiene in teenagers, according to findings recently published in Sleep.

ORLANDO, Fla. — In this video perspective from the AAP National Conference & Exhibition, motivational speaker Lizzie Velásquez discusses how she discovered her voice and learned to speak up — both in doctors’ offices and in public. Velásquez, who was born with a rare congenital condition called Marfanoid-progeroid-lipodystrophy syndrome, has been the victim of bullying.

VIDEO: Addressing the effects of armed conflict on children

ORLANDO, Fla. — Therapy putty may not help children and teenagers with ADHD focus or improve their academic performance, according to research presented at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition. However, the tool may be helpful for listening-based activities, researchers said.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The AAP updated its policy on corporal punishment today, emphasizing ways that pediatricians should encourage parents to seek alternatives to spanking.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Most parents and caregivers said in a recent survey that their children could tell a toy gun from a real gun. However, less than half of children could distinguish between them in side-by-side photos.

Group cognitive behavioral therapy was significantly more effective in reducing anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents compared with other psychotherapies, according to data published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Adolescents with more frequent back pain were also more likely to report anxiety and depression, and more likely to smoke and drink alcohol, according to findings recently published in the Journal of Public Health.

Electronic health record tools designed to help improve screening rates on several behavioral health scales succeeded at increasing screening rates but were only implemented in one-third of the practices studied, according to research recently published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.