NBC News (3/8) reports on how TV news stories about the coronavirus vaccination effort “are all illustrated with footage of needles sinking into exposed upper arms,” and “more than causing squeamish people to look away or change the channel, researchers say such illustrations could hamper efforts to get a broad swath of U.S. residents vaccinated.” APA President Jeffrey Geller said, “Some people avoid needles because of fear of pain, some from fear of fainting. And some people do faint.” Meanwhile, “Public health messaging should avoid drawings that exaggerate the size of needles or syringes, ‘which are not helpful,’ said Geller, noting that the covid vaccinations involve ‘a small syringe and needle.’”

Related Links:

— “Fear of needles may keep many people away from Covid vaccines “Julie Appleby, NBC News, March 8, 2021

HealthDay (3/4, Preidt) reports researchers followed “1,670 students at 11 public high schools in central and northeastern Ohio…for two years” and found that “overall, the students’ motivation to learn improved during the study period.” During the study period, “the percentage of students who had no motivation to do well in school fell from nearly 3% in the first year to about 2% in the second year,” and “the percentage of students who were self-motivated to learn rose from 8% in the first year to over 11% in the second year.” The findings were published in the Journal of Educational Psychology.

Related Links:

— “Is Your Teen Unmotivated at School? That Might Change “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 4, 2021

HCPlive (3/4, Alicea) reports, “A cohort study of” 502 “patients with psoriasis found that discordance in physician and patient disease severity assessments was associated with poorer mental health status.” The study revealed that patients “who were considered positive for depression or anxiety were more likely to overestimate their psoriasis severity compared with their physician.” The findings were published online in JAMA Dermatology.

Related Links:

— “Anxiety, Depression Linked to Patient Overestimation of Psoriasis Severity “Jonathan Alicea, HCPlive, March 4, 2021

HealthDay (3/4, Preidt) reports, “A new study that followed 1,100 recovering opioid users reveals that their risks are different” when it comes to relapse after treatment for opioid addiction. After following “the men and women for one year after treatment at more than 100 substance-use treatment facilities across the United States,” investigators found that “for women, the greatest risk factors for opioid relapse were depression, more severe withdrawal and post-traumatic stress disorder.” In contrast, “the strongest risk factors” for men “included use of multiple substances and a history of conduct disorder.” For both genders, “younger age was also a relapse risk, the findings showed.” The findings were published online Jan. 6 in the journal Addiction.

Related Links:

— “Opioid Addiction Relapse May Be Different for Men, Women “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 4, 2021

Healio (3/3, Gramigna) reports researchers found that “alcohol withdrawal rates have increased among hospitalized patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.” The findings were published in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

MedPage Today (3/3, Grant) reports the researchers found that “compared with 2019, rates of alcohol withdrawal increased by nearly 34% during March-September 2020.” In addition, “the rate of alcohol withdrawal was consistently higher in 2020 compared with both 2019 and the average of 2018 and 2019, although the difference was larger in the period after the stay-at-home order.”

Related Links:

— “COVID-19 pandemic linked to increase in alcohol withdrawal rates for hospitalized patients “Joe Gramigna, Healio , March 3, 2021

HealthDay (3/3, Norton) reports, “College students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (AD/HD) appear to “have a harder time making it to graduation than their peers do,” investigators concluded. In the study, “researchers found that of 400 students they followed, those with” AD/HD “had a lower grade-point average (GPA) – about half a grade lower – than students without the disorder.” What’s more, “students with” AD/HD “were less likely to make it through four years,” the study revealed. The findings were published online in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology.

Related Links:

— “College Students With ADHD Have Lower Grades, Higher Dropout Rates “Amy Norton, HealthDay, March 3, 2021

HealthDay (3/3, Preidt) reports researchers examined data on media use and binge-eating in children and concluded that “each additional hour that children spent on social media was associated with a 62% higher risk of binge-eating disorder one year later, and each extra hour spent watching or streaming television or movies was linked with a 39% higher risk of binge-eating disorder one year later.” The findings were published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Related Links:

— “Social Media, Binge Eating Often Go Together for Kids “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 3, 2021

Healio (3/3, Downey) reports researchers found in a meta-analysis that “children and adolescents who bully their peers have a higher risk for drug, alcohol and tobacco use later in life.” The review study was published in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Children And Adolescents Who Bully Peers Have Higher Risk For Substance Use Later In Life, Review Study Indicates “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, March 3, 2021

Healio (3/2, Michael) reports, “Increased incarceration rates in counties across the U.S. were linked to increased risk for mortality from infectious diseases, chronic lower respiratory disease, substance abuse, suicide and multiple other causes,” researchers concluded after conducting “a retrospective, longitudinal study using data on U.S. county-level incarceration from 1987 to 2017 from the Vera Institute of Justice, and data on cause-specific mortality in people aged younger than 75 years from 1988 to 2018 collected from the U.S. National Vital Statistics System.” The findings were published online Feb. 23 in The Lancet Public Health.

Related Links:

— “Incarceration rates linked to elevated risk for premature death “Erin Michael, Healio, March 2, 2021

MedPage Today (3/2, Fiore) reports that for much of 2020, “teens’ mental health services accounted for a much greater proportion of all their medical claims than in the past,” according to a paper (PDF) from FAIR Health. MedPage Today adds, “Mental health claims essentially doubled as a percentage of all medical claims for individuals age 13-18 in March (+97%) and April (+103.5%) of 2020 compared with the same periods a year earlier,” according to the paper.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)