National Association of Social Workers Releases Report on Workplace, Skills and Support Challenges WASHINGTON, D.C. //March 31, 2011// Every day a child in the U.S. dies from child abuse and neglect. In many instances, these horrific deaths could be prevented. Every day, public child welfare employees, many of whom are professional social workers, witness some [...]
Children with epilepsy are more likely than other kids to have psychiatric problems, researchers say. The risk is greater for boys, they report. In a population-based study, nearly 38 percent of children with epilepsy had psychiatric symptoms, compared with 17 percent of those who did not have the condition. Girls with epilepsy were more than [...]
Even mild stress can cause long-term disability that prevents people from working, new research suggests. Researchers evaluated over 17,000 employed adults in Stockholm, Sweden, assessing their mental health and stress levels over five years. During a follow-up period, 649 of the participants began receiving disability benefits-203 for mental health issues and the remainder for general [...]
African-American and Asian/Pacific Islander women have double the risk than others of becoming depressed before giving birth, according to a new study. Researchers, who reported their findings in General Hospital Psychiatry, evaluated 1,997 women, average age 31, receiving prenatal care at one university-based hospital. The researchers used a screening tool to reach a diagnosis of [...]
The stigma of mental illness, poor communication with physicians and the underuse of antidepressants all play a major part in delaying the recovery of Latinos from depression, a new study finds. Researchers followed the recovery of 220 Latinos who screened positive for depression at two clinics in Los Angeles County over 30 months. Reporting in [...]
Social media websites such as Facebook can be beneficial to children but may also harm their mental and overall health, a new study reports. The American Academy of Pediatrics says these sites and other media tools can be useful and enhance creativity and the development of technical skills. But the group says they can also [...]
New federal rules published last week on what qualifies as a disability for the purpose of job discrimination are expected to make it easier for employees to win workplace accommodations. Congress passed legislation in 2008 to ensure a broader definition of disability. Under the new regulations, impairment can qualify as a disability even if it [...]
Early examination of data from the U.S. Army’s Total Army Injury and Health Outcomes Database (TAIHOD) has revealed potential predictors of risk for suicide among soldiers. Preliminary results were provided by researchers leading the ongoing Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS). Army STARRS, a partnership between NIMH and the U.S. [...]
Having a bad, short-term or poorly paid job can harm one’s mental health as much as having no job, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed data from more than 7,000 people Australians. Those who were unemployed had poorer mental health overall than those with jobs, the researchers report in the journal Occupational and Environmental [...]
Stroke survivors who are depressed may be more likely to be dependent on others for help, a new study suggests. Researchers analyzed data from 367 stroke survivors, average age 62, who had no severe language or thinking skill impairments. Of those patients, 174 were diagnosed with depression one month after their stroke. Stroke survivors were [...]
The suicide rate for female soldiers triples when they go to war, according to Army data provided to USA Today. According to the findings, the suicide rate rises from five per 100,000 to 15 per 100,000 among female soldiers at war. The suicide rate for female soldiers is still lower than for men serving next [...]
Experts say the psychological wounds of the disasters in Japan are likely to last for years-and perhaps decades. And it will take a long and concerted effort on the part of mental health care workers in Japan, and most likely those abroad as well, to meet the psychological needs of the survivors. More in depth [...]
ARLINGTON, Va. (March 15, 2011) — Children of mothers with major depressive disorder showed improvement in their own psychiatric symptoms in the year after their mothers’ depression responded to treatment, according to a study appearing in the online edition of The American Journal of Psychiatry. Since the children of parents with major depression are also [...]
Social Work Bills in the House and Senate are Reintroduced on World Social Work Day WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns (NY-10), with the support of other professional Social Workers in Congress and national organization leaders, launched a Congressional Social Work Caucus, and reintroduced the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work [...]
Fathers of young children who are depressed are more likely to spank their one year olds, according to a new study. Researchers, who reported their findings in the journal Pediatrics, analyzed data on 1,746 fathers from a nationally representative survey in 16 large U.S. cities, conducted in 1999-2000. About 7 percent of those surveyed were [...]
Children who attend classrooms with inadequate materials and who are taught by teachers who feel they are not respected by colleagues exhibit more mental health problems than students in classrooms without these issues, a new study finds. The study, reported in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, used a nationally representative sample of approximately [...]
Colorado legislators are seeking to limit the number of inmates with mental illness who can be placed into solitary confinement. The legislation would require state prisons to have a physician evaluate inmates with such illnesses as bipolar mood disorders or paranoid schizophrenia before they’re placed in solitary confinement. A state report found that the percentage [...]
The unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is over 20 percent, and mental health issues are one of the factors preventing many vets from finding jobs. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said veterans have told her they take their military experience off their resumes because they fear a potential employer will decide they’re at risk [...]
A Massachusetts law requiring doctors to offer routine mental health screening to all children in the state’s Medicaid program has resulted in an increase in the rates of those screened, according to a study of the program. From 2008 to the first quarter of 2000, the percentage of children screened increased from 17 percent to [...]
The United States has the highest lifetime rate of bipolar disorder, an 11 nation study finds. About 4.4 percent of Americans have been diagnosed with the condition at some point in their lifetime, researchers report in the Archives of General Psychiatry. That compares to 2.4 percent of people around the world. India had the lowest [...]