4 Troubled Teens Blog

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) in children can predict later anxiety disorders and depression in young adulthood, according to a new study in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry. The study also found that adolescent depression predicts young adult depression.

• Researchers studied data from the Great Smoky Mountains study, a longitudinal study of the development of psychiatric disorders in rural and urban youth.
• Participants were assessed at age 9 to 12 years old, again at ages 13 to 16 years old, and still again at ages 19 to 21 years old.
• Substance use disorders, antisocial personality disorders, and anxiety disorders predicted similar problems in adulthood.

This study was conducted by researchers with Duke University Medical Center and the University of North Carolina.

Labels: depresion, anxiety, oopositional defiant disorder

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 0 Comments

Cognitive behavioral therapy can be an effective treatment for depression, according to a new study from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. The study also found that depressive symptoms do not worsen if a patient has to wait months for therapy.

Researchers followed 174 people who completed 18 months of therapy at the University clinic. Most had to wait at least five months or more to enter treatment.

"On completion of therapy, patients reported significantly fewer symptoms than on commencement ," wrote Dr. Amrei Schindler, lead author of the study.

Cognitive behavioral therapy has already proved to be effective in a variety of treatment environments, including residential treatment for eating disorders.

Labels: therapy, depresion, cognitive behavioral therapy

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Teenagers who use the Internet too much are more likely to be depressed, especially if they surf the Net as entertainment, according to a new study from China.

Researchers from the Chinese Education Ministry studied the Internet habits of 1401 teenagers, and found that about 6 percent were using the Internet in "pathological" ways. When the researchers followed up nine months later, the teens addicted to the web were one and a half times more likely to feel or develop depression.

"The results suggest that young people who are initially free of mental health problems, but use the Internet pathologically could develop depression as a consequence," the authors wrote in a report published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

The teens in this study most likely to be addicted to the Internet were more likely to use it for entertainment rather than for studying or gathering information.
 

Labels: mental_health, internet, depresion, online_safety

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 1 Comment

A study of college students and mental illness found that more students are coming to campus with pre-existing conditions such as bipolar disorder and depression. Although these are serious illnesses, the research indicates that better treatments may be enabling more of them to overcome their illnesses and succeed at college.

• Researchers from Hofstra University in New York studied the records of 3256 college students who used counseling services between 1997 and 2009.
• In 1998, 93% of the students had at least one mental disorder, but by 2009, that had increased to 96%.
• The number of students on psychiatric medicines increased by ten percentage points in the 12-year period.

"The percentage of students with moderate to severe depression has gone up from 34% to 41%," said Dr. John Guthman, lead author. "These outliers often require significantly more resources and may contribute greatly to the misperception that the average student is in distress."

One positive finding was that the number of students who thought about suicide declined by more than half.

The study was presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association.
 

Labels: bipolar, mental_health, depresion, college

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments