Healio (8/13, Gramigna) reported, “College students had significantly higher alcohol and cannabis use, depressive symptoms and anger during the COVID-19 lockdown compared with before it,” researchers concluded in a 4,749-participant survey study, the findings of which were published online ahead of print in the October issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Related Links:

— “Alcohol, cannabis use higher among college students after COVID-19 lockdowns “Joe Gramigna, Healio, August 13, 2021

HealthDay (8/13, Preidt) reported, “Young Americans from low-income homes are more likely than those whose families are better off to be unhappy with the way they look and to have an eating disorder,” investigators concluded after examining “2010-18 data from Project EAT, a long-running study tracking the general health and well-being of teens as they move into adulthood.” The study revealed that “high body dissatisfaction and unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals were more common among low-income girls.” The findings were published in the August issue of the journal Eating Behaviors.

Related Links:

— “Odds for an Eating Disorder May Vary by Income ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 13, 2021

Psychiatric News (8/12) reports, “Older adults who were physically active reported significantly slower cognitive decline compared with sedentary adults,” investigators concluded after examining “data from 1,159 participants (63% women and 60% African American) in the Chicago Health and Aging Project, a population-based cohort study that followed adults over 65 years of age from four Chicago communities between 1993 and 2012.” The study also revealed that “the association between physical activity and cognitive function was most dramatic among adults who had elevated levels of the Alzheimer’s-associated tau protein in their blood.” The findings were published online Aug. 11 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Physical Activity Linked to Slower Cognitive Decline in Adults With Elevated Tau Levels, Psychiatric News, August 12, 2021

HealthDay (8/12, Preidt) reports research indicates that “death, injuries, abuse and mental health disorders are among the many harms faced by children whose parents are heavy drinkers.” Investigators arrived at this conclusion after reviewing “91 studies of hospital and other centralized records to provide a more accurate assessment of how a family member’s drinking can affect children.” The scoping review “identified several consequences among kids whose parents drank heavily – including death during infancy or childhood, mental health disorders and criminal convictions later in life.” In addition, these youngsters “more likely to do poorly in school, to suffer abuse and/or neglect, to wind up in foster care and be hospitalized for physical illness and injury.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Related Links:

— “Kids of Heavy Drinkers Face Multiple Threats to Health “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 12, 2021

Healio (8/12, Gramigna) reports research indicates that “suicidal behaviors were common among U.S. veterans, especially among young veterans,” and that “nearly two-thirds of veterans who had current suicidal ideation were not receiving mental health treatment.” Investigators arrived at both conclusions after analyzing “data of 4,069 U.S. veterans who participated in the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, a representative survey conducted between 2019 and 2020.” In their “analyses, the researchers estimated the prevalence of current suicidal ideation, lifetime suicide plans and lifetime suicide attempts; pinpointed related sociodemographic, military, DSM-5 psychiatric and other risk correlates; and assessed mental health treatment utilization among veterans with suicidal ideation, suicide plans or suicide attempts.” The findings were published online Aug. 10 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Suicidal behaviors common in U.S. veterans, yet most receive no mental health care “Joe Gramigna, Healio, August 12, 2021

Healio (8/11, Downey) reports, “Preterm and early term birth were associated with a significantly increased risk for autism spectrum disorder [ASD] in both boys and girls in a study that included more than four million children born over a 40-year period in Sweden.” The study revealed that ASD prevalence “was 2.1% for all preterm births, 1.6% for early term births and in 1.4% for term births.” The findings were published online in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “ “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, August 11, 2021

Healio (8/11, Gramigna) reports, “Individuals with schizophrenia had lower COVID-19 vaccination rates than the general population despite having higher hospitalization and mortality risk,” research indicated.

MedPage Today (8/11, Grant) reports investigators arrived at this conclusion after examining data from “Clalit Health Services, a large Israeli healthcare system, amassing a large sample of 51,078 participants – 25,539 with schizophrenia and 25,539 controls.” The findings of the longitudinal cohort study were published online Aug. 5 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “COVID-19 vaccination rates lower among those with schizophrenia despite increased risks “Joe Gramigna, Healio, August 11, 2021

The Washington Post (8/11, Kornfield) reports that naloxone, “an affordable antidote for opioid overdoses, has become more difficult to obtain amid a fatal epidemic.” According to the Post, “after a manufacturing issue halted Pfizer’s production of the single-dose injectable naloxone in April, groups that distribute a significant amount of the lifesaving medicine say they are facing an unprecedented obstacle to reverse drug overdoses as they reach an all-time high.” What’s more, “organizers say the insufficient supply has been felt unequally across the” US. For its part, drugmaker “Pfizer, which offers naloxone at a discount to a national buyer’s club made up of harm prevention programs, said it may take until February before it can meet demand again.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (8/10) reports, “Adults aged 65 years and older who are suicidal appear to report higher levels of intent compared with younger adults who are suicidal, but they are less likely to meet the criteria for major depression and several other mental disorders,” investigators concluded in a study involving “a total of 683 participants…divided into three age groups: younger (18 to 44), middle-aged (45 to 64), and older (65 and older) adults.” The findings were published online Aug. 9 in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Older Adults Less Likely Than Younger to Report Psychiatric Symptoms After Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric News, August 10, 2021

In a lengthy investigatory piece, the Marshall Project (8/10, Schwartzapfel) reports that three years ago, “Congress passed the First Step Act, a wide-ranging prison reform legislation that, among other things, required the federal prison system to expand access to medications for people addicted to opioids.” Currently, however, the combination of “bureaucratic inertia and outdated thinking about addiction treatment means the federal program is still serving only a tiny fraction of those eligible, The Marshall Project has learned.” As of last month, “the Bureau of Prisons [BOP] had only 268 people on medications to treat opioid dependence, according to Jeffrey A. Burkett, who helps oversee the rollout of the program as the National Health Services Administrator for the BOP.” This figure represents “less than 2% of the more than 15,000 people the bureau itself estimated were eligible, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report.”

Related Links:

— “Drugs that treat opioid addiction and overdoses not widely available in federal prisons “Beth Schwartzapfel, The Marshall Project, August 10, 2021