HealthDay (3/27, Reinberg) reports that for children with depression or anxiety, “taking melatonin may afford a good night’s sleep and, as a result, lower the odds they will harm themselves, new research suggests.” The study “[found that] the risk of self-harm increased before melatonin was prescribed and decreased by about half after kids started taking the supplement,” and that “teen girls suffering from depression or anxiety were the most likely to benefit.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Could Melatonin Ease Self-Harm in Kids? “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay , March 27, 2023

HCPlive (3/25, Walter) reported, “Several risk factors for drug-induced parkinsonism” (DIP) have “emerged for patients with schizophrenia, including age and cognition status,” according to a “cross-sectional analysis of a multicenter, observational, real-world, prospective cohort” that “examined 969 patients with a baseline assessment between 2012-2018 from four mental health centers in Shanghai.” The findings were published online March 3 in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology.
“ From this study, we learned that age, treatment with high D2 receptor antagonistic antipsychotics, and the valproate dose are the main risk factors for DIP. DIP was significantly correlated with psychiatric symptoms and social dysfunction in Chinese schizophrenia patients. ”

Related Links:

— “Investigators Identify Risk Factors for Drug-Induced Parkinsonism for Schizophrenia Patients “Kenny Walter, HCPlive, March 25, 2023

Kaiser Health News (3/25, Zionts) reported, “Some adults who take prescription medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (AD/HD) “are required to have their urine tested for drugs several times a year,” whereas “others never are tested.” Several physicians “told KHN there are varying opinions and no national standards on the role of urine testing to monitor adults who take” medications for AD/HD, “so patients face dramatically different requirements, depending on their clinics’ and health insurers’ policies.”

Related Links:

— “Some ADHD patients are drug-tested often, while others are never asked “Arielle Zionts, Kaiser Health News , March 25, 2023

HealthDay (3/23) reports, “Teens who report better relationships with their moms and dads are healthier both mentally and physically and less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol as young adults, according to researchers.” The study also reveals that these teens “reported lower levels of stress and depression, as well as lower use of nicotine, alcohol, cannabis and other drugs.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Close Bond With Your Teen Can Keep Them Physically Healthy, Too: Study “Denise Mann, HealthDay, March 23, 2023

Medscape (3/23, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reports, “Substance use disorders (SUDs), including alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, or opioids, appear to share a common genetic signature,” researchers concluded in a “genome-wide association study” that “looked for variations in the genome that were closely associated with SUDs in more than one million people of European ancestry and 92,630 people of African ancestry.” The findings were published online March 22 in the journal Nature Mental Health.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

According to the AP (3/23, Stobbe), “lawmakers in Colorado, California, Texas, New York and elsewhere are taking big, legislative swings at the eating disorder crisis.” Proposed legislation from “across the U.S.” includes “restricting social media algorithms from promoting potentially harmful content; prohibiting the sale of weight loss pills to minors; and adding eating disorder prevention into middle and high school curriculums.” The proposals follow “a spike in eating disorder cases as pandemic lockdowns pushed youth into long bouts of isolation.”

Related Links:

— “Surge in eating disorders spurs state legislative action “Jesse Bedayn, AP, March 23, 2023

According to HealthDay (3/23, Mozes), “a broad new” scoping “review of 50 recent studies across 17 countries finds that relentless online exposure to largely unattainable physical ideals may be driving up the risk for eating disorders, particularly among young girls.” The findings were published online March 22 in the journal PLOS Global Public Health.

Related Links:

— “Too Much Social Media Could Raise Risk for Eating Disorders “Alan Mozes, HealthDay, March 23, 2023

The New York Times (3/23, Anthes) reports, “The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder” (ASD) in US “children rose between 2018 and 2020, continuing a long-running trend, according to a” CDC study published online March 24 in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The study revealed that “in 2020, an estimated one in 36 eight-year-olds had autism, up from one in 44 in 2018,” with rates appearing to rise faster for Black and Hispanic youngsters than for white children. What’s more, “an accompanying study, also published on” March 24, indicates that “the pandemic may have disrupted or delayed the detection of autism in younger children.” The findings from both studies “are based on data from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, which has used health and education records to track autism in communities across the United States since 2000.”

The AP (3/23, Slevin, Bedayn) reports, “To estimate how common autism is, the CDC checks health and school records in 11 states and focuses on eight-year-olds, because most cases are diagnosed by that age.” While “other researchers have their own estimates…experts say the CDC’s estimate is the most rigorous and is considered the gold standard.”

According to Reuters (3/23, Steenhuysen), the second study “focused on early intervention, researchers compared the rates of autism identification of four-year-olds in 2020 to what eight-year-olds had received four years earlier.” The study found that “during the first three months of 2020, four-year-olds were getting many more evaluations and services for autism,” but “when the pandemic hit in March 2020, ‘there was a very striking drop-off in those autism identification services being received,’ study author Kelly Shaw of the CDC said in an interview.”

Also covering the story are Healio (3/23, Weldon) and HealthDay (3/23, Murez).

Related Links:

— “Autism Prevalence Rises Again, Study Finds “Emily Anthes, The New York Times, March 23, 2023

NBC News (3/22, Shabad, Tsirkin) reports, “Children’s medication, antibiotics and treatment for ADHD are among a number of drugs that have been in short supply in recent months – and these shortages of critical medications are only rising, according to a new report” prepared “by Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.”

According to the New York Times (3/22, Jewett), the report “found that drug shortages increased by nearly 30 percent last year compared with 2021, with an average shortage lasting 18 months and some spanning 15 years.”

Related Links:

— “Drug shortages are rising and pose a national security risk, new report warns ” Rebecca Shabad and Julie Tsirkin, NBC News, March 22, 2023

Psychiatric News (3/22) reports, “College students are far more likely to report having experienced an eating disorder, depression, or suicidal ideation compared with what parents report knowing about their children’s experiences with mental illness, according to” the 2022 College Student Behavioral Health Report (PDF), published March 22 by United Healthcare. The report, which “was conducted by YouGov, an international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm,” surveyed “1,034 participants, 506 of whom were current college students, and 528 of whom were the parents of college students.”

Related Links:

— “Parents May Underestimate Frequency of Mental Health Concerns Among College Students, Psychiatric News, March 22, 2023