HealthDay (6/23, Thompson ) reports a study found that fewer than one in five children with autism or intellectual disability covered by Medicaid “are receiving recommended genetic testing, even though guidelines urge such tests.” The researchers “analyzed claims data for more than 240,000 children 7 to 17 enrolled in either Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program from 2008 to 2016.” They observed that “genetic testing rates were highest among children with both autism and intellectual disabilities, reaching 26%. But they were just 17% for kids with autism and 13% for those with intellectual disability, results show.” Researchers noted that “rates remained low even as newer and less expensive genetic testing methods gained traction after 2013.” In addition, the study “found that Black children were less likely to receive genetic testing compared with white kids.” The study was published in Genetics in Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Genetic Tests For Autism, Intellectual Disability Not Being Done On Medicaid Kids,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, June 23, 2025

Psychiatric News (6/23) reports a new APA Health Minds poll found that 55% of adults “believe climate change is impacting Americans’ mental health, while four in 10 adults say they have personally experienced effects on their mental health.” According to the poll, 35% of respondents “worry about climate change on a weekly basis, indicating that for many, this is a persistent source of stress.” Meanwhile, 18% of respondents “said climate change was having a significant impact on their mental health, with 26% saying it was having somewhat of an impact.” The data also “highlighted generational and parental divides in perceptions of climate change’s mental health impact. Younger adults ages 18 to 34 were significantly more likely than those 65 or older to report that climate change is affecting their personal mental health (65% versus 30%). Parents (52%) were significantly more likely than non-parents (42%) to report climate change is currently impacting their mental health.”

Related Links:

— “Climate Change Significantly Affects Mental Health, Especially Among Younger Adults,” Psychiatric News, June 23, 2025

HealthDay (6/20, Solomon) reported a study found that “there are substantial racial and ethnic differences in U.S. adolescents’ use of mental health services.” The researchers analyzed “data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2022 to 2023) to estimate racial and ethnic differences in mental health service.” They found that “the percentage of adolescents receiving any mental health visit was 31.7 percent among non-Hispanic White adolescents but was significantly lower among participants of racial and ethnic minority groups, ranging from 21.9 percent for non-Hispanic Black adolescents to 25.6 percent for Hispanic adolescents. There were also significant differences seen in prescription medication use and receipt of care in outpatient, school, and telemental health settings.” Furthermore, researchers noted “few to no racial or ethnic differences for receipt of mental health services from support groups, peer support specialists or recovery coaches, inpatient or residential settings, or emergency departments.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Racial, Ethnic Differences Seen in Teens’ Use of Mental Health Services,” Lori Solomon, HealthDay, June 20, 2025

The AP (6/18, Shastri ) reports the 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will no longer provide “tailored support options to LGBTQ+ youth and young adults on July 17, according to a statement on a federal agency’s website.” The action “preempts the Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposal to cut funding for 988’s LGBTQ+ youth and young adult services, and is raising alarm bells among LGBTQ+ advocates.” SAMHSA said in a Tuesday statement on its website that the decision was made to “no longer silo” the services and “to focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option.” Federal data indicate “the LGBTQ+ youth program has served nearly 1.3 million callers since it started in September 2022.”

Reuters (6/18) adds that the Trevor Project, “a non-profit that provides free, specialized support to LGBT youth, said on Wednesday that its hotline would soon close as a result of the funding not being renewed.” A spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget “said funding would continue for 988 Lifeline, a wider suicide prevention hotline.”

Related Links:

— “Trump administration removing 988 hotline service tailored to LGBTQ+ youth in July,” Devi Shastri, Associated Press, June 18, 2025

The New York Times (6/18, Barry ) reports that a study published in JAMA found that “longer screen time at age 10 was not associated with higher rates of suicidal behavior four years later.” Instead, researchers observed that “children at higher risk for suicidal behaviors were those who told researchers their use of technology had become ‘addictive’ – that they had trouble putting it down, or felt the need to use it more and more.” They found that “by age 14, children with high or increasing addictive behavior were two to three times as likely as other children to have thoughts of suicide or to harm themselves.” It also “found higher levels of addictive use of social media, video games and mobile phones among Black and Hispanic adolescents,” and that “for nearly half of the children in the study, addictive phone use was consistently high from age 11; another 25 percent began with low addictive use, which increased steeply.”

Psychiatric News (6/18) reports the researchers used “data from 4,285 youth enrolled in the longitudinal Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study.” They found that “nearly half of the participants had high addictive use scores for mobile phones throughout the follow-up, and more than 40% had a high addictive use trajectory for video games. Only 10% of participants had a high addictive use trajectory for social media, but another 31% had addictive use scores that increased over time; 25% of participants also reported an increasing addictive use trajectory for mobile phones.”

Related Links:

— “Screentime Addictive Behaviors in Children Common, Tied to Later Suicidality,” Psychiatric News, June 18, 2025

HCPlive (6/17, Brooks ) reports a study found that among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), “depression and anxiety had reduced odds of achieving remission, although anxiety lost significance in adjusted analyses.” The study highlights “the negative impact of depressive symptoms during the first 2 years after disease diagnosis.” Researchers noted that “remission was less frequently achieved after 1 and 2 years of follow-up in both RA and PsA patients with depression or anxiety at baseline. Further analysis revealed depression and anxiety were associated with reduced odds of achieving remission in both RA and PsA. Of note, after adjustment for depression in the analyses of anxiety and vice versa, only depression remained associated with a lower likelihood of achieving remission.” The study was published in Rheumatology

Related Links:

— “Depression Reduces Remission Likelihood in Rheumatoid, Psoriatic Arthritis,” Abigail Brooks, MA, HCPLive, June 17, 2025

HealthDay (6/17, Thompson ) reports a systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 previous studies suggests that “electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) lowered the risk of death by suicide 34% among patients with severe depression.” They noted that “depression patients receiving ECT also had a 30% lower risk of death from any cause,” and these “benefits might be even greater than reflected, given that ECT has improved as a psychiatric treatment.” With that said, “because the studies were observational and not clinical trials, they cannot draw a direct cause-and-effect link between ECT and lowered suicide risk.” The study was published in the journal Neuroscience Applied.

Related Links:

— “Electroshock Therapy Appears To Reduce Suicide Risk Among People With Depression,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, June 17, 2025

MedPage Today (6/17, Monaco ) reports the FDA has “eliminated clozapine’s risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) program, with all REMS operations stopped as of June 13.” The announcement comes months after “joint FDA advisory committee voted to eliminate the REMS program for clozapine that was put in place due to the risk for severe neutropenia associated with the drug, which is used to treat schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.” With the program eliminated, “clozapine prescribers don’t need to submit patients’ absolute neutrophil count (ANC) results and pharmacies no longer need to obtain a REMS Dispense Authorization prior to dispensing clozapine.” The FDA continues to recommend “that prescribers monitor patients’ ANC according to the monitoring frequencies listed on the drug label.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The Washington Post (6/16, Docter-Loeb) reports that a study published in Tobacco Control reveals that “around 1 in 7 U.S. adults who smoke might have some degree of disability.” The researchers analyzed “data from the 2019-2023 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for about 150,000 people.” They determined that “14.1 percent of adults who currently smoked had a disability, and estimates for any kind of disability were significantly higher for current or former adult smokers.” Researchers found that “the prevalence of vision, hearing, mobility and cognitive disability was two to 2.4 times higher among those who currently smoked.” According to the study, “about 16.5 percent of women who smoke and 12.1 percent of men who smoke have a disability.” In addition, “19 percent of non-Hispanic smokers had a disability vs. 11 percent of Hispanic smokers.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (6/16) reports a study found that “legalization of cannabis was associated with small but significant increases in opioid use disorder (OUD) between 2005 and 2022 among patients receiving care in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).” Researchers found that in states that enacted medical cannabis laws (MCLs) but not recreational cannabis laws (RCLs), “OUD prevalence increased among VHA patients from 1.13% in 2005 to 1.19% in 2022, while OUD prevalence decreased from 1.12% to 1.06% in states without cannabis laws. OUD prevalence remained stable in states that enacted an MCL and then an RCL. Among patients with chronic pain, MCL and RCL enactment was associated with a 0.08% and 0.13% increase in OUD prevalence, respectively.” They noted the “largest change in OUD prevalence was seen among adults ages 65 to 75 years with chronic pain following RCL enactment – a 0.23% increase.” The study was published in JAMA Health Forum.

Related Links:

— “Cannabis Legalization Associated With Increase in Opioid Use Disorder,” Psychiatric News, June 16, 2025