Analysis Finds Competitive and Individual-Type Learning Lead to Lower Achievement, Poorer Social Interaction WASHINGTON—Students competing for resources in the classroom while discounting each others’ success are less likely to earn top grades than students who work together toward goals and share their success, according to an analysis of 80 years of research. Competitive environments can [...]
Multiple Genetic Glitches Disrupt Pathways Critical for Brain Development People with schizophrenia have high rates of rare genetic deletions and duplications that likely disrupt the developing brain, according to studies funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. These tiny anomalies were found in 15 percent of adult onset schizophrenia patients and 20 percent [...]
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports that on an average day in 2006, US youth used the following substances for the first time: 7,970 drank alcohol 4,348 used an illicit drug 4,082 smoked cigarettes 3,577 used marijuana 2,517 used pain relievers non-medically Counselors may wish to access a practical guide to [...]
Research conducted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network has found harassment and bullying as a result of family structure to be a significant concern for children in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) families. The report, “Gay…Families and Education,” also suggests that LGBT parents exhibit a greater involvement in their children’s education. Details…
Four teams of scientists, using resources supported in part by NIMH, have pinpointed two different sites in the genome, each conferring a different type of genetic risk for autism. At one site, risk genes appear to be inherited. At the other, risk stems from spontaneous mutations, not seen in the genetics of the parents. In [...]
Combined Factors May Change Biology of Stress-response System as it Develops A traumatic event is much more likely to result in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults who experienced trauma in childhood – but certain gene variations raise the risk considerably if the childhood trauma involved physical or sexual abuse, scientists have found. The research [...]
Five Organizations Receive APA’s Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards, Nine Honored for Best Practices Washington—Feeling overworked, underpaid, worried about job security and making ends meet, three-fourths of Americans say they are stressed about work and money. But workplaces that invest in the well-being of employees reap rewards for employer and employees alike, including benefits such as [...]
WASHINGTON—Workplace bullying, such as belittling comments, persistent criticism of work and withholding resources, appears to inflict more harm on employees than sexual harassment, say researchers who presented their findings at a conference today. “As sexual harassment becomes less acceptable in society, organizations may be more attuned to helping victims, who may therefore find it easier [...]
After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a “black box” warning on antidepressant medications, Nebraskan doctors began prescribing fewer antidepressant medications to children and teens and referring more patients to specialists, according to a state survey. The study, which involved NIMH-funded researchers, was published in the February 2008 issue of the Journal of [...]
The Pew Public Safety Performance Project tells us that for the first time in U.S. history, more than one in 100 adults are now confined in a jail or prison. These steadily increasing numbers are placing enormous restraints on available human and fiscal resources in states and communities and the increase seems to be having [...]
On March 5th the House of Representatives passed landmark comprehensive legislation requiring private health insurance plans to use the same treatment limitations and financial requirements for mental health and addictive disorder coverage as is used for other covered services. H.R. 1424, the “Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007,” introduced by Representatives [...]
ARLINGTON, Va. (March 13, 2008) – The American Psychiatric Association applauds recent Congressional efforts led by Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., to improve treatment for the large number of people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders who are currently incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons. The U.S. Senate passed the Second Chance Act (H.R. 1593) [...]
Study shows when kids’ actions reflect their awareness that some outcomes are worth chasing more than others WASHINGTON—Hang on, parents. After the terrible twos come the goal-oriented threes. Kids seem to grow into the ability to act in pursuit of goals outside of what they can immediately sense sometime around that age, according to a [...]
Internet Offenders Target Teens, not Young Children—Rarely Use Force, Abduction or Deception WASHINGTON—Contrary to stereotype, most Internet sex offenders are not adults who target young children by posing as another youth, luring children to meetings, and then abducting or forcibly raping them, according to researchers who have studied the nature of Internet-initiated sex crimes. Rather, [...]
Dr. Dorothy I. Height Joined U.S. Congressmen Ed Towns and Chris Shays Today to Seek Support for H.R. 5447, The Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Dorothy I. Height, Dr. Elizabeth J Clark, PhD, ACSW WASHINGTON—Congress is being asked to help [...]
Teens with difficult-to-treat depression who do not respond to a first antidepressant medication are more likely to get well if they switch to another antidepressant medication and add psychotherapy rather than just switching to another antidepressant, according to a large, multi-site trial funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). [...]
A 20-week group therapy program focusing on cognitive behavioral and skills training, when used in conjunction with usual care, helped reduce symptoms of borderline personality disorder and improve overall functioning, reported NIMH-funded researchers. Their findings were published online February 15, 2008 in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Borderline personality disorder is a serious mental illness [...]
Doctors spend little time discussing mental health issues with their older patients and rarely refer them to a mental health specialist even if they show symptoms of severe depression, according to an NIMH-funded study published December 2007 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. People age 65 and older represent 12 percent of the [...]
People with major depression accompanied by high levels of anxiety are significantly less likely to benefit from antidepressant medication than those without anxiety, according to a study based on data from the NIMH-funded Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study. The study was published online ahead of print in January 2008, in the American [...]
Brain’s Amygdala Region Less Responsive to Other People’s Distress Signals The callous, unemotional characteristics of some children and adolescents who bully or steal or have other severely disruptive behavior problems may have partial roots in a brain area called the amygdala. The amygdala responds to distress cues from other people; cues that normally would elicit [...]