HealthDay (7/13, Mann) reports investigators examining “how anxiety was passed down among parents to same-sex kids among 398 kids from 221 mothers and 237 fathers” found that “anxious moms are more likely to have anxious daughters, and anxious dads are more likely to have anxious sons.”

MedPage Today (7/13, Kneisel) reports the study revealed that “the odds of a lifetime anxiety disorder diagnosis in offspring increased proportionately to the number of parents with anxiety disorders – specifically, anxiety occurred in about 24% of those whose parents were not affected, in 28% of children with one affected parent, and in 41% of those with both parents affected.” The findings were published online July 12 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Can Anxiety Disorders Pass From Parent to Child? “Denise Mann, HealthDay, July 13, 2022

Healio (7/8, VanDewater) reports, “In middle-aged women, PTSD was associated with a quicker decline in cognitive function, according to a prospective analysis of the Nurses’ Health Study II” that “assessed 12,270 women (mean age, 61.1 years; 95.9% non-Hispanic white) who had experienced trauma and were enrolled in a sub-study of the Nurses’ Health Study II focused on PTSD and had completed between one and five cognitive assessments from March 1, 2008, to July 30, 2019.” The findings were published online June 30 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Middle-aged women with PTSD experience accelerated cognitive decline “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, July 8, 2022

The New York Times (7/12, Blum) reports that beginning Saturday, anyone in the US “can text or call 988 to reach trained counselors who can help them cope with a mental health emergency, and direct them to additional resources for mental health and substance use treatment.” The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s “existing 1-800 number still works, but the service has gotten a makeover and will now be more able to address general mental health concerns and emotional distress, as well as suicide crises.” American Psychiatric Association Council on Healthcare Systems and Financing Chair Robert Trestman, MD, PhD, said, “Having an anonymous opportunity to speak to someone who knows what they’re talking about, who won’t be scared when you say, ‘I don’t know what to do, I’m thinking of hurting myself’ – this is an extraordinary option.”

Politico (7/12, Messerly, Owermohle) reports, “State health officials, unsure they have the money or staff to respond to an expected flood of calls to 988…are tempering expectations just days ahead of its launch.” Federal health officials “worry that most states are ill-prepared to meet the hotline’s long-term needs.”

Related Links:

— “What to Know About 988, the New Mental Health Crisis Hotline “Dani Blum, The New York Times, July 12, 2022

MedPage Today (7/12) reports, “While use of pharmacogenomic testing reduced antidepressant prescriptions with known” medication-gene “interactions in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), the effects on remission did not persist over time,” researchers concluded. The randomized trial revealed that “among over 1,900 patients, those in the pharmacogenomic-testing group were significantly less likely to be prescribed antidepressants with moderate (30% vs 54.6% in usual care) or substantial (10.7% vs 19.7%)” medication-gene interactions. The findings were published online July 12 in JAMA.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (7/11) reports gardening may help people “reap mental health benefits, even for first-time gardeners.” In the 32-woman study, “the activity was linked to decreased stress, anxiety and depression in healthy women who attended twice-weekly gardening classes.” The findings were published online July 6 in the journal PLOS One.

Related Links:

— “Gardening Can Blossom Into Better Mental Health “Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, HealthDay, July 11, 2022

Psychiatric News (7/11) reports, “A safety planning framework that focuses on one’s strengths can improve the outcomes of patients admitted to an emergency department (ED) with psychiatric distress,” according to findings published online July 7 in the journal Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Planning Around Patient Strengths Can Reduce Emergency Department Stays for Psychiatric Problems, Psychiatric News, July 11, 2022

CNN (7/11, LaMotte) reports, “Drinking alone during adolescence and young adulthood can strongly increase the risk for alcohol abuse later in life, especially if you are a woman, a…study finds.” Researchers “analyzed data from the Monitoring the Future study, an ongoing investigation of 4,500 teens who were asked about their drinking habits while high school seniors.” The findings were published online in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

The Hill (7/11, Barnes) reports, “Young people who drank alone at age 18 were 35 percent more likely to report symptoms of alcohol use disorder, while people who reported drinking by themselves in their early twenties were 60 percent more likely to report these symptoms.”

Related Links:

— “Drinking alone when younger linked to alcoholism in mid-30s “Sandee LaMotte, CNN, July 11, 2022

Healio (7/8, Weldon) reported, “Researchers estimated that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, among children and adolescents in the United States was 3.14% in 2019 and 2020 overall, up from 2.24% in 2014.” The researchers “found that 410 of 12,554 children and adolescents between the ages of 3 and 17 years were reported to have a diagnosis of ASD, with a higher prevalence in boys than in girls and a higher incidence in poverty-stricken families.” These findings were published in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Prevalence of autism among US children, teens on the rise “Rose Weldon, Healio, July 8, 2022

Kaiser Health News (7/8, Meyer) reported, “Research suggests therapy delivered online can be effective,” but “the rapid proliferation of the online commercial therapy industry worries some traditional mental health professionals who have raised concerns about aggressive advertising for online services and whether patient care is compromised by inadequate training and pay for therapists working at some digital companies.” John Torous, MD, MBI, who chairs the American Psychiatric Association’s Health Information Technology Committee, said, “There are fundamental questions about what these companies are doing and whether they are reaching people who really need help.” Dr. Torous added, “They may be doing wonderful work, but it’s hard to know when we don’t have that data.”

Related Links:

— “Digital Mental Health Companies Draw Scrutiny and Growing Concerns “Harris Meyer, Kaiser Health News, July 8, 2022

Healio (7/8, Herpen) reported, “Those with first-episode psychosis [FEP] demonstrated more suicidal behavior compared with healthy controls, while perceived stress and emotional abuse were linked to an increase in suicidal ideation and risk,” investigators concluded in the PROFEP study, which “included 95 participants (29 women, 66 men) aged 13 to 46 years, diagnosed with FEP, alongside 92 healthy control participants.” The findings were published online ahead of print in the September issue of the journal Psychiatry Research.

Related Links:

— “First-episode psychosis, stress and abuse linked to increase of suicidal behaviors “Robert Herpen, Healio, July 8, 2022