4 Troubled Teens Blog

A study of campus violence entitled "Campus Attacks," examined 272 incidents of "targeted violence," in which 281 people died and 247 were injured. Of these, 190 were students and 72 were college employees.

The definition of targeted violence is an incident in which an attacker selects a victim before hand or randomly chooses victims because they fit a predetermined profile or relationship. This definition excludes violence that breaks out spontaneously.

• Intimate relationships triggered one-third of the attacks, and academic stress was involved in 10 percent of them.
  
• Sixty percent of the perpetrators were students or former students, and guns were used in the majority of the incidents.
  
• Knives were used 20 percent of the time.
  
• Ninety percent of the attackers were male, and 75 percent of the time, the perpetrator specifically targeted one or more individuals.

The Campus Attacks report was released on the third anniversary of a shooting rampage at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, which left 33 students and faculty members dead. The FBI and the Education Department are currently studying factors such as past behaviors and mental illness of perpetrators of college violence.

Labels: causes, relationships, violence, stress

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Sexually active teenagers are three times more likely to get pregnant than sexually active adults, according to a new study from the Guttmacher Institute.

Dr. Lawrence Finer found that unintended pregnancy rates were higher for all age groups under 24 years old.

• Only 27 percent of teenagers 15 to 17 years old are sexually active, but their unintended pregnancy rate is 147 per 1000.
• Among those aged 18 to 19, the unintended pregnancy rate is 162 per 1000,
• Among sexually active adults, the rate of unintended pregnancy is 40 per 1000.

The study appeared in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Labels: sex, pregnancy

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A study out of British Columbia has found that there is equal risk for suicide among all teen users of antidepressants. The study results confirm the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's current requirement that all antidepressants include a "black box" warning on antidepressant medication regarding suicide risks.

The study followed 20,906 children in British Columbia between the ages of 10 and 18 who had been diagnosed with depression and prescribed an antidepressant over a nine-year period.

During the first year of antidepressant use, there were 266 attempted suicides and three suicides. Researchers found no significant difference in child and teen suicide risk among the five SSRI antidepressants studied. [Source: WebMD]

SSRI, which stands for "selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor," refers to the specific brain/chemical function targeted by these antidepressants.

Labels: antidepressants, suicide

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Teen depression is a prevalent problem that has been associated with a wide range of physical, emotional and behavioral challenges. Now, researchers indicate that allergies may be associated with depression.

An April 8 MSNBC article bylined "Rick Ansorge, Eric Metcalf and the editors of Prevention Health Books" provided the following details about the possible link between depression and allergies:

Scientists acknowledge that allergens can contribute to mood alterations. In a 3-year study of 36 people with allergies, Paul S. Marshall, PhD, a psychologist at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, found that 69 percent reported feeling more irritable when their allergies flared up; 63 percent reported more fatigue; 41 percent said that they had difficulty staying awake; and 31 percent reported feeling "sad."

So the idea that allergies might exacerbate mild depression in a few people who have other allergic symptoms isn't that far-fetched to some researchers.

"My guess is if there is a connection, it is not true for all people with allergies or all people with depression," says Marianne Wamboldt, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, both in Denver. "But for a small subset of individuals, it does appear that these conditions do seem to exacerbate each other."

Labels: depression, allergies, research

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A study of laboratory animals found that a gene mutation associated with schizophrenia breaks down communication between two areas of the brain responsible for memory.

Researchers at Columbia University in New York found that mice with the gene mutation were unable to synchronize their activity in order to negotiate a maze.

"This gene mutation hinders communication between the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus," said author Dr. Joshua Gordon writing in a report published in the journal Nature.

Labels: genetics, brain_function, schizophrenia

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According to the Centers for Disease Control, suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers. While depression is often the first sign that a teenager may be suicidal, there are other important signs, too.

In a March 31 article on www.connectwithkids.com, Emily Halevy reported that anger and aggression -- as well as a family history of drug and alcohol abuse -- may also put a child at higher risk of suicide:

"So a child that's sad more days than not, that loses interest in their normal activities, that isolates themselves, whose outward behavior changes, who stops being able to function in school and with friends, those are some pretty obvious signs," says Dr. Shannon Croft, a child psychiatrist with the Emory University School of Medicine.

But, experts say, sadness isn't the only sign of suicidal thoughts.

"The majority of the time it only presents with anger and aggression," says adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Saaid Khojasteh with Washington University in St. Louis. "That by itself is a red flag."

Experts say other factors that put teens at risk are family history... and drug and alcohol use.

"If you suspect that your teenager is using alcohol or drugs," says Dr. Croft, "anything that effects somebody's ability to accurately think about themselves and their life and may change their mood- that's a real serious risk factor."

Labels: suicide, aggression, angry

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Concerns about teens and drugs are prompting a Philadelphia suburb to consider employing drug-sniffing dogs to search local schools. The Hatboro-Horsham school board is contemplating the move, after acknowledging that locker searches havent help stem the tide of drug use among adolescents.

[Curtis] Griffin and [Dennis] Williams proposed that Hatboro-Horsham hire a private company to conduct random dog searches of students lockers, backpacks and cars at least four times per year. Williams said he would provide the company with days that would be off-limits, like PSSA testing days. [Source: The Intelligencer]

The dogs would search for alcohol, illegal drugs, and even gun powder and explosives. Local police would be present during the searches, but only to collect any evidence that might be found. Theres currently no time table to implementing the new searches.

Labels: drugs, schools

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Teens who are bullies or victims of bullying are likely to be depressed and at higher risk for suicide, according to a new study from Columbia University.

Dr. Madelyn Gould, professor of Clinical Epidemiology in Psychiatry at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons, said that depression, not bullying, causes people to commit suicide, but there is a clear association between bullying, depression, and suicidal thoughts and attempts. 

• Nearly one in three victims of bullies are depressed, and 11 percent have suicidal thoughts. 
• About 19 percent of those who participate in bullying told Dr. Gould and her colleagues that they experience depression, and 8 percent have had suicidal thoughts.
•  Among students who are not involved in bullying incidents, only 7 percent report depression and 3 percent have suicidal thoughts.
•  Boys have twice the rate of bullying incidents than girls do.

Dr. Gould advises parents to tell their children not to react to bullies, because the bully's goal is to incite reactions from his victims.

"Defend yourself, not by getting into a fight, but by showing that you have resilience," she said.  "Find other friends, join other groups, find another social network that is not going to do that to you."  She also noted that her newest unpublished studies show that the majority of those who were bullied in high school are not suicidal, depressed or at risk for suicide as adults.
 

Labels: bullying

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

Very premature babies are at risk for psychiatric conditions such as Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), emotional problems, and autism, according to a new study from Great Britain.

The British researchers evaluated data  on 219 babies who had been born after 26 weeks or less of gestation. Almost one in four had a psychiatric problem at age 11.

"Clinically, the findings suggest that much greater emphasis should be placed on early cognitive and psychological monitoring of extremely preterm children for emerging neuropsychiatric and emotional disorders," the authors wrote in their report, which appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

 

Labels: psychiatric_illness

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

If a parent commits suicide when a child is under 18 years old, the child has a three-fold risk for taking his or her own life too, according to a new study from Sweden. There was no increased risk if a parent committed suicide when the child was a young adult, age 18 to 25 years old.

"The disruption associated with parental suicide, we think, is greater when someone loses a parent during childhood and adolescence," said author Holly Wilcox of the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

• Researchers reviewed the records of more than 500,000 Swedish children, teens and young adults whose parents had died because of suicide, accidents or illness. 
• They then compared these children to four million children the same ages with living parents.
• Not only did they find an increased risk for suicide among children whose parents had committed suicide, the researchers also found that a child's risk of becoming a violent criminal increased after the death of a parent.

A previous study found that suicide attempts run in families, and sometimes it is the children who attempt suicide before their parents do.  There may be a hereditary factor for depression , that accounts for the results of these studies.

The newest study appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Labels: parental_involvement, suicide, pain-killers

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

Self-discovery is the most important aspect of adolescence. As teens become more self-aware they start trying to figure out who they are, and they need some help from mom and dad.

“Parents can support their teens’ quest for identity by giving them the time and space to explore their options, roles and personalities. Some of the phases will be undesirable from the standpoint of the parents. Stay calm and wait for the phase to pass. Watch in wonder – and with patience – as your child’s new sense of self emerges.” [Source: The Oakland (CA) Tribune]

It’s important to note that, while some phases will be “undesirable” for parents, they also have the right (and responsibility) to intervene if a phase is dangerous or destructive.

 

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