Earlier today we reported on new research that shows a link between a parent’s mental health and an increase in the likelihood of having a child develop autism. The research examined Swedish hospital records of children born between 1977 and 2003 who were diagnosed with autism and compared them with children who were not diagnosed […]

One of the long-standing concerns amongst professionals and parents alike is the possibility that early treatment of attention deficit disorder (ADHD) with stimulant medication (such as Ritalin or Adderall) could possibly lead to later problems. New research suggests these concerns are largely unfounded, with one possible exception.
The studies were published in the latest issue of […]

Well, maybe not all teens, but I mistakenly thought that something like 80% or 90% of teens were strongly into social networking sites like Myspace and such, given how much you hear about the two being connected.
So I was a little surprised with the release of the Pew Internet and American Life report last week […]

Furious Seasons brings us this advice column where a concerned parent is asking about her daughter’s desire to be diagnosed with ADHD to help her get into college:

[… Y]ou can imagine my surprise when she asked that I take her to the doctor to get a prescription for ADHD medication. I was blown away.
She says […]

The American Heart Association believes that children and teens with attention deficit disorder (ADHD) should get a careful heart evaluation, including an electrocardiogram (ECG), before they begin taking any of the stimulant drugs commonly prescribed to treated ADHD (such as Ritalin).
Children and teens with known or suspected heart conditions should be routinely monitored by their […]

Where would we be without economic researchers to tell us the price of things without context? Probably happier.
If you didn’t know what the average car cost and I try and sell you a Honda for $100,000, you might believe it’s worth it. If you learn most people drive a Honda costing around $20,000, then you […]

Is Prozac (fluoxetine) a good long-term treatment for children and teens grappling with depression to help prevent relapse?
According to a study published in this month’s American Journal of Psychiatry, the answer appears to be, “Yes.”
The researchers examined 168 children and adolescents ages 7 to 18. The study looked at whether or not a person relapsed, […]

Of no particular surprise to anyone, on April 3 attorneys representing Rebecca Riley’s estate filed a lawsuit against the psychiatrist and Tufts Medical Center, where the psychiatrist practiced. Rebecca Riley, if you’ll remember, was the 4-year-old who died from an overdose of psychiatric drugs. The lawsuit was filed by a court-appointed guardian overseeing Riley’s estate, […]

A recent study by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston concludes that chronic sleeplessness in adolescents is linked to many health problems, including those of a psychological nature. The study involved interviews with 3,134, 11 to 17 year old kids. More than twenty-five percent of the children had one or […]

Mind Hacks has a good entry today about U.K. psychologist Tanya Byron’s take on the effects of digital media — mainly the Internet and video games — on children (PDF). It’s a 226 page file, and I stopped about 10% of the way through it, but hope to finish reading it over the weekend. The […]

Keeping Kids Healthy is an award winning, long running public television program about pediatrics and parenting. Their archives feature lots of half-hour productions about mental illnesses and behavioural issues in children. One, about bipolar disorder in children, is the second most viewed video in my Vodpod collection, with hundreds of views compared to dozens for […]

We love B.F. Skinner.
The original behaviorist, Skinner was an American psychologist most famous for his work with operant conditioning — getting the desired behavior from a person or child through reinforcement, punishment and extinction.
But like Freud, Skinner’s time was in the 1950s and the 1960s, a time when behaviorism was a fresh and new […]