Mental Health

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 13% of children aged 8 to 15 years in the United States will experience a severe mental disorder at some point in their lives. Most mental health conditions develop by the age of 24, with 50% of lifetime cases of disorders emerging by the age of 14 in the form of autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, behavioral problems and depression.

Parent-mediated intervention within the first year of life may reduce the severity of autism prodromal symptoms and enhance parent-child dyadic social communication over the 3 years following the intervention, according to findings published in Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Children in New Zealand exposed to high lead levels exhibited lower cognitive function, socioeconomic status and declines in IQ scores by age 38, highlighting the possible long-term ramifications of lead exposure at young ages.

On March 31, 2017, President Donald J. Trump declared April 2017 to be National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time in which the prevention and recognition of child abuse is placed in the forefront.

Inadequate access to food in early childhood was correlated with negative social-emotional and cognitive outcomes among children in kindergarten, according to a study published in Child Development.

Rural children from small communities exhibited a higher prevalence of mental, behavioral and developmental disorders than children living in cities and suburbs, according to data from the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The current shortage of pediatric subspecialists has resulted in a national ‘wait time’ of 6 months for children to be seen by developmental pediatricians, access further delayed by inadequate Spanish language accommodations, according to a study published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.

Adopted children who underwent extended social and emotional deprivation in early childhood experienced a range of mental health problems in early adulthood, despite influence from positive experiences with adoptive families, according to a recent study.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and other pediatric behavioral health organizations released a report that outlines guidance and recommendations for clinicians treating children with past maltreatment.

For children raised in middle-class to lower class families, school readiness is negatively impacted by increased time spent watching television, an impact intensified as the income of the family decreased.