Healio (1/4, Weldon) reports, “Support from parents and other important adults was crucial in staving off depression and anxiety among students during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic,” investigators concluded in “a sample of more than 14,000 students in grades 6 through 12 from 49 schools during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The study revealed that “overall, rates of clinically significant depression and anxiety were lower during distance learning in 2020 compared with parallel rates documented during 2019.” The findings were published online Dec. 20 in a “Social Policy Report from the Society for Research in Child Development.”

Related Links:

— “Adult support crucial to student mental health in pandemic, study finds “Rose Weldon, Healio, January 4, 2022

Psychiatric News (1/4) reports, “Developing tailored strategies that encourage staff at oncology clinics to routinely screen patients with breast cancer for depression can help increase the number of patients connected with behavioral health services, suggests a” new study. The findings were published in JAMA.

Related Links:

— “Breast Cancer Patients Benefit From Tailored Approach to Depression Screening, Psychiatric News, January 4, 2022

HCPlive (1/3, Walter) reports, “Preterm birth and family history result in an increased risk of developing a psychiatric disorder by age 15, with many also suffering from two or three disorders, mainly anxiety,” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, “and major depression,” investigators concluded in a 670-child study that “evaluated the prevalence, co-occurrence, sex differences, and functional correlates of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) psychiatric disorders in 15-year-old adolescents born extremely preterm.” The findings were published online Dec. 28 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Extremely Preterm Births Linked to Increase Risk of Psychiatric Disorders “Kenny Walter, HCPlive, January 3, 2022

Healio (1/3, VanDewater) reports, “Negative mental health effects and increased substance use caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were more common in the LGBTQ community,” researchers concluded in a “repeated cross-sectional monitoring survey” to which “2,984 people responded in round one, conducted from May 14, 2020, to May 19, 2020, and 3,009 people responded in round two, conducted from Sept. 14, 2020, to Sept. 21, 2020.” The findings were published in the January issue of the journal Psychiatry Research.

Related Links:

— “Mental health impacts of substance use during pandemic greater in LGBTQ community “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, January 3, 2022

HealthDay (12/30, Norton) reported, “The percentage of older Americans reporting serious problems with memory and thinking has declined in recent years – and higher education levels may be part of the reason,” researchers concluded in a study “based on 10 years of data from an annual Census Bureau survey,” namely 2008 to 2017. Overall, included were “5.4 million Americans age 65 and older.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Related Links:

— “More U.S. Seniors, Especially Women, Are Retaining Healthy Brains: Study ” Amy Norton, HealthDay, December 30, 2021

Healio (12/30, Lawrence) reported, “Patients with cancer who resided in low-income and rural areas appeared at higher risk for suicide than those in high-income and urban areas, according to a retrospective, population-based study.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Residents of low-income, rural areas at higher risk for suicide after cancer diagnosis “Ryan Lawrence, Healio, December 30, 2021

Psychiatric News (12/30) reported, “More than one in five fathers have symptoms of depression and anxiety at some point during the first year after their children are born,” researchers concluded in a survey study that included “2,544 fathers” who “provided data for at least one time point during the first year postpartum, and 2,442 fathers” who “provided data during the second year.” The findings were published online Dec. 28 in the journal Depression and Anxiety.

Related Links:

— “Comorbid Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety Common in Fathers After Their Children Are Born, Psychiatric News, December 30, 2021

mHealth Intelligence (12/29, Vaidya) reports “close to a third of older Americans remain concerned about the efficacy of telehealth visits as compared with in-person care, according to a” poll (PDF) “conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and funded by the SCAN Foundation” of “1,000 adults, aged 50 years and older, between Nov. 12 and 15.” Respondents “cited concerns regarding not having a personal relationship with their doctor (29 percent), the security of health information (17 percent) and running into technical issues (16 percent).”

Related Links:

— “31% of Older Americans Worry Telehealth Not as Effective as In-person Care “Anuja Vaidya, mHealth Intelligence, December 29, 2021

Modern Healthcare (12/29, Devereaux, Subscription Publication) reports, “Supporting telehealth companies is nothing new for insurers, but a COVID-19 windfall and an explosion in demand for mental healthcare during the pandemic have led payers toward virtual therapy platforms as a way to reduce costs and provide better benefits.” This year, “large insurers’ investing arms contributed to significantly more funding rounds for ‘telebehavioral’ health companies than during previous years.”

Related Links:

— “Insurers test the waters with ‘telebehavioral’ health platforms “Mari Devereaux, Modern Healthcare, December 29, 2021

Healio (12/29, Weldon) reports, “School environments play a role in early adolescents’ mental health,” researchers concluded in the 26,885-student “My Resilience in Adolescence (MYRIAD) study, a collaborative survey between various universities in the United Kingdom.” The study revealed that even though “schools explained only small amounts of variation in mental health, school climate was nonetheless associated with mental health.” Additionally, the study revealed that “children who attended schools with a higher proportion of white pupils had poorer mental health than children in schools with more ethnically diverse student bodies.” The findings were published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Schools play role in adolescent mental health, study finds “Rose Weldon, Healio, December 29, 2021