USA Today (3/1, Austin) reports on ways to address “fears and phobias” exacerbated by COVID-19. For example, both children and adults can be afraid of the dark. Approximately “11% of adults were already struggling with this fear before the pandemic, and experts say COVID has made matters worse.” Having “consistent bedtime routines” may be “helpful for anyone afraid of the dark.” In addition, “taking a bath or mindful breathing techniques can be helpful for adults and children alike, said” Mari Kurahashi, MD, MPH, “a director in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Stanford School of Medicine.” Dr. Kurahashi stated, “A predictable bedtime routine…helps condition the (person) to prepare for sleep by winding them down for bedtime.”

Related Links:

— “More Americans than ever are afraid of the dark, experts say. Here’s why. “Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, March 1, 2022

CNN (2/28, Rogers) reports research indicates that “adolescents ages 11 to 15 who” had obesity, “smoked cigarettes daily, or had a psychological disorder, such as anxiety, depression or” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, “biologically aged nearly three months faster every year than their peers.” Researchers arrived at this conclusion after using “data from 910 people who were part of the Dunedin Study, a long-term investigation that tracked the health and behavior of participants born between April 1972 and March 1973 in Dunedin, New Zealand, following” participants “from age three until they were 45 years old.” The findings were published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Having certain health conditions in adolescence may be linked with faster aging in adulthood, study says “Kristen Rogers, CNN, February 28, 2022

Healio (2/28, Gramigna) reports, “Brief social contact-based videos effectively reduced adolescent transphobia and depression-related stigma,” researchers concluded in a study that randomized “1,437 participants to one of four video-based conditions in a 2:2:1:1 ratio.” The findings of the “randomized clinical trial” were published online Feb. 25 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Brief video intervention may reduce adolescent transphobia “Joe Gramigna, Healio, February 28, 2022

Healio (2/28, Gramigna) reports, “Lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer people had higher exposure to all adverse childhood experiences compared with heterosexual adults,” researchers concluded after analyzing the “data of 61,871 adults, of whom 6.7% identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or queer.” The findings of the “cross-sectional study” were published online Feb. 23 in a research letter in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer adults have high rates of adverse childhood experiences “Joe Gramigna, Healio, February 28, 2022

HealthDay (2/28, Norton) reports, “First-time moms and new mothers of twins may be among those at greatest risk of postpartum depression symptoms,” researchers concluded in a survey study “based on responses from more than one million women in 138 countries who took an ‘after childbirth’ survey via smartphone app.” Of those women, “roughly 10% reported suffering depression symptoms since giving birth about 90 days prior to the survey.” The findings were published online ahead of print in the March issue of the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Related Links:

— “Which New Moms Are at Highest Risk for Postpartum Depression? “Amy Norton, HealthDay, February 28, 2022

The Washington Post (2/26) reported, “Systemic racism, lack of access to mental health” clinicians and “financial challenges are factors that may make the postpartum experiences of Black women all the more challenging.” What’s more, “challenges facing Black parents have been compounded by the pandemic and the uncertainty of raising a Black baby.” Recently, “the House of Representatives Black Maternal Health Caucus…introduced legislation to provide training for about 30,000 doulas and expand postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months, as part of its Momnibus Act.” While “portions of this legislation passed as part of the Build Back Better Act in the House in late November,” they “have yet to pass in the Senate.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Healio (2/25, Buzby) reported, “High depressive symptoms were associated with risk for incident HF among Black women, but not Black men,” investigators concluded after evaluating “2,651 Black participants in the Jackson Heart Study…with no HF at baseline.” The study revealed that “within the overall cohort, 20.3% of participants reported high depressive symptoms, 71% of whom were women,” and that “high depressive symptoms were associated with a 43% greater risk for incident HF compared with low depressive symptoms.” The findings were published online Feb. 22 ahead of print in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Related Links:

— “High levels of depressive symptoms tied to incident HF in Black women, not men “Scott Buzby, Healio, February 25, 2022

Healio (2/25, Weldon) reported, “Depression was common among adolescents even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, affecting around one in every five,” investigators concluded in a study examining “six years of surveillance data” from 2013 to 2019. The study also revealed that “one in 11 U.S. children aged three to 17 were diagnosed with anxiety or” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder “in the years before the pandemic.” The findings were published Feb. 25 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Related Links:

— “Depression common among adolescents even before pandemic, report finds “Rose Weldon, Healio, February 25, 2022

The Washington Post (2/27, Searing) reports, “Depression affects about 280 million people worldwide, including about five percent of all adults, according to data from the World Health Organization and a report from the World Psychiatric Association Commission,” which “describes depression as ‘one of the leading causes of avoidable suffering and premature mortality in the world’ and labels it a neglected global health crisis.” In the US alone, “an estimated 21 million adults, or about 8 percent of those 18 and older, are living with depression, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Drug Topics (2/24, Shryock) reports recent Ipsos data show “that health care workers are resilient after two years of working through a pandemic, but there are numerous warning signs about the long-term future of the workforce.” Nearly half of healthcare employees “surveyed said they are burned out, and almost a quarter are considering leaving the field in the future. Optimism declined compared to Spring 2021, as health care workers widely disapprove of how the rest of the country has handled the pandemic.”

Related Links:

— “Half of Health Care Workers Burned Out, Says Survey “Todd Shryock, Drug Topics, February 24, 2022