Pediatrics News

More than 60% of Americans have experienced at least one instance of adversity in their childhood, including physical, emotional or sexual abuse and parental separation or divorce, according to a study recently published in JAMA Pediatrics. Several studies have shown that a higher number of adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, can jeopardize health in adulthood.

A community engagement campaign that encourages youth to engage with mental health issues and to break down barriers to mental health care access reached more than one in five youth in Los Angeles County in a short period, according to a press release.

ORLANDO — Pediatric EDs throughout the United States have seen an increase in the number of visits due to mental health problems, according to research presented at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition. Researchers said the rate rose highest among pediatric patients who identified as non-Hispanic black.

Memories of happy caregiving experiences in childhood were linked to better health, fewer chronic conditions and fewer depressive symptoms in middle and older adulthood, according to findings published in Health Psychology.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently issued final recommendations that stated adults older than 18 years, including pregnant women, should be screened for unhealthy alcohol use in primary care settings. In addition, those found to participate in hazardous or risky drinking should be offered brief behavioral counseling interventions to reduce unhealthy alcohol use.

ORLANDO — Twenty children and six adults were killed in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.   

A study measuring population-level trends in a nationwide cohort of U.S. college students found that mental health service utilization and treatment increased substantially between 2007 and 2017 among college students in the United States.

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, Michelle Forcier, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics and assistant dean of medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, discusses the AAP’s recent policy statement supporting the need for “gender-affirming care” for youth.