The Mental Health Social Worker

Difference in Gene Appears to Pose More Risk When Inherited from Mothers

Scientists have found a variation in a gene that may raise the risk of developing autism, especially when the variant is inherited from mothers rather than fathers.  The research was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Inheriting the gene variant does not mean that a child will inevitably develop autism.  It means that a child may be more vulnerable to developing the disease than are children without the variation.  (more…)

More residents affected by Hurricane Katrina are enduring mental disorders than was initially determined a few months after the storm, according to a study published online January 8, 2008, in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.  The trend runs counter to the typical pattern of recovery after a natural disaster, in which the prevalence of mental disorders among the survivors gradually decreases and fades out after about two years. (more…)

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—-Eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders across the country are continuing to show a gradual decline in the proportions reporting use of illicit drugs, according to the 33rd national survey in the Monitoring the Future (MTF) series conducted by scientists at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.

“The cumulative declines since recent peak levels of drug involvement in the mid-1990s are quite substantial, especially among the youngest students,” said U-M Distinguished Research Scientist Lloyd Johnston, the principal investigator of the MTF study. (more…)

Findings knock down stereotype that gay relationships are not as healthy and secure as heterosexual marriages

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WASHINGTON – Same-sex couples are just as committed in their romantic relationships as heterosexual couples, say researchers who have studied the quality of adult relationships and healthy development. Their finding disputes the stereotype that couples in same-sex relationships are not as committed as their heterosexual counterparts and are therefore not as psychologically healthy. (more…)

10-Year Study of Women Helps Establish Bisexuality as Distinct Sexual Orientation; Debunks Stereotype that Bisexual Women Can’t Commit To Long-Term Relationships

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Washington — Bisexuality in women appears to be a distinctive sexual orientation and not an experimental or transitional stage that some women adopt “on their way” to lesbianism, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. (more…)

News is often about human behavior, thus there’s a natural role for psychologists and other mental health professionals to work with the news media to help people understand behavior and other mental health issues. Bringing their knowledge to the millions of media consumers can help demystify mental health issues and give valuable mental health advice to people who might not otherwise seek or have access to such care. However, there are also professional and ethical obligations for psychologists doing media work. (more…)

Arlington, Va.- The American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) today renewed their call for a mandatory public registry for clinical trials in light of a study that shows medical research is published selectively, effectively suppressing and misrepresenting studies deemed negative. (more…)

Arlington, Va. - Managed care health plans for Medicaid patients with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses may result in lower costs to the Medicaid system, but lead to greater personal expenditures and higher caregiver burden for patients and their families, new research indicates. This cost pattern was revealed in an analysis of total societal costs for 628 patients in the Tampa Bay area, to be published online Jan. 15 by The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP) (http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/pap.dtl), the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association. (more…)

A family-centered program that improves parent-child dynamics and family functioning is more effective at discouraging Hispanic youth from engaging in risky behavior than programs that target specific behaviors, according to a study published in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Hispanic adolescents are at higher risk for substance abuse and risky sexual behavior than other ethnic groups, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And while they represent 14 percent of the U.S. population, they account for a disproportionate 18 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases in the nation.¹ (more…)

A new study shows that the intellectual boost associated with breast milk is only attained if a child has inherited one of two versions of a specific gene. The NIMH funded research is among the first to provide evidence of a specific genetic-environment interaction involved in complex mental functioning.

NIMH grantees Avshalom Caspi, Ph.D, and Terrie Moffitt, Ph.D., Duke University, and colleagues report on their findings online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, November 5, 2007. (more…)

Proposed Medications also May Reveal Treatments for Autism

A new NIMH grant is enabling scientists to begin testing safety and effectiveness of potential medications for fragile-X syndrome, the most common inherited form of mental retardation. No effective medications are available for the disorder. The animal studies currently underway are designed to lay the groundwork for the first human clinical trials in subsequent phases of the research. (more…)

Forms of a gene known to increase risk for schizophrenia may create an imbalance in brain pathways for dopamine, suggests a recent study by NIMH scientists. The findings could help explain how this key chemical messenger goes awry in the disorder, which affects about one percent of adults.

It has long been known that dopamine is overactive in schizophrenia and that some antipsychotic medications work by blocking the D2 subtype of dopamine receptor on neurons. (more…)