Mental Health

Adolescents who sleep fewer than 8 hours on school nights are more likely to engage in several risk-taking behaviors, according to research published in JAMA Pediatrics. However, teens who get fewer than 6 hours of sleep are at significantly higher risk for considering, planning and attempting suicide, researchers said.

Researchers and pediatric specialists are working to find new, innovative ways to use virtual reality to improve patient care.

An analysis of data from a study published in 2016 demonstrated that 71.4% of completed youth suicides occurred at the index attempt. Findings were published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

After examination of three independent cohorts, researchers found that extra-axial cerebrospinal fluid volume was higher in children with autism spectrum disorder from 6 months through to age 3 years, regardless of familial risk.

Violent video game play was linked to increases in physical aggression over time among teenagers, even after adjusting for covariates, according to a meta-analysis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Peggy Honein, PhD, MPH, and Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, MD, have been awarded 2018 Service to America Medals — or “Sammies” — according to the CDC. The awards recognize the talent and achievements of federal employees based on their service to the public.

Youth with a history of institutional rearing assigned to early foster care intervention had less problematic trajectories of psychopathology from childhood to adolescence, study findings revealed.

Shared genetic factors between parent and child account for most of the connection between maternal prenatal depressive symptoms and offspring’s subsequent internalizing and externalizing issues in early childhood, according to results of analyses published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Children in the United States who have a heart condition are significantly more likely to have additional special health care needs, according to a CDC report. Because approximately 1% of children in the U.S. have a current heart condition and another 1% have experienced a past heart condition, researchers write that this information could assist in intervention and public health resource planning.

Well over half of American adults have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience in their lifetime, and nearly one-quarter reported three or more of these experiences, according to research published in JAMA Pediatrics. The CDC says that these events, also known as ACEs, are linked to risky health behaviors, chronic health conditions, low life potential and early mortality.