Healio (12/20, Oldt) reports that “a recent literature review identified several mental health screening tools validated for Spanish and use in individuals with limited English proficiency.” In order to evaluate “Spanish-language validity and implementation of Bright Futures pre-visit mental health screening tools and models of care for Latino children, researchers reviewed studies published between 2005 and 2015 that reported screening results for Latino or Spanish-speaking population.” After their assessment, the study authors recommended use of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist, including pictorial versions (PSC-35), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) “as they are validated in Spanish and freely accessible.” The review’s findings were published online Nov. 23 in Clinical Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Review indicates reliable mental health screening tools for Latino children,”Amanda Oldt, Healio, December 20, 2016.

Healio (12/19) reports in a piece exploring the bidirectional relationship of infectious disease and mental health, Marshall Forstein, MD, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and vice chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s council on medical education and lifelong learning, said, “We don’t pay enough attention to mental function in any part of medicine, frankly.” And, “according to [Dr.] Forstein, patients with a serious mental illness often have difficulties with impulse control and judgment and rarely have stable living conditions because of homelessness or inconsistent relationships with their families, leading to situations that may put them at risk for acquiring an infectious disease.”

Related Links:

— “ID, mental health share complicated relationship, Healio, December 19, 2016.

HealthDay (12/19, Reinberg) reports, “The traumatic effects of child abuse and neglect can persist for decades, often with substantial economic consequences,” investigators found after examining “data on more than 8,000 British children born in 1958,” then following those youngsters “up to age 16.” The study revealed that “physical, social or emotional abuse in childhood was linked at midlife to a greater risk of time off from work due to long-term sickness,” the study published online Dec. 19 in Pediatrics reveals.

MedPage Today (12/19, Bachert) reports the authors of an accompanying editorialobserved, “We should all work toward effective, evidence-based policies to address child health, and that begins by not collapsing the full spectrum of social determinants of health under one umbrella term: child maltreatment.”

Related Links:

— “The Impact of Child Abuse Can Last a Lifetime,”Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, December 19, 2016.

Medical Daily (12/19, Dovey) reports that “long-term, heavy chronic marijuana use tends to worsen the symptoms of depression and anxiety, not reverse them,” researchers found. The findings of the study were published online Dec. 8 in PeerJ.

Related Links:

— “Does Marijuana Treat Anxiety And Depression? Short-Term Relief Vs. Long-Term Effects, New Research,”Dana Dovey, Medical Daily, December 19, 2016.

Healio (12/19, Oldt) reports, “Fear circuitry and dysphoric PTSD symptoms became more strongly connected as time passed after traumatic injury,” researchers concluded after conducting “a prospective cohort study of 1,138 individuals recently admitted with traumatic injury to major trauma hospitals across Australia.” The findings were published online Dec. 14 in JAMA Psychiatry. The author of an accompanying editorial observed, “Intrusions and physiological reactivity to reminders of the trauma scored high on centrality metrics, indicating that activation of these two symptoms are especially likely to activate other symptoms in the network,” whereas “successful early intervention targeting these symptoms would likely prevent the full syndrome of PTSD from emerging.”

Related Links:

— “Links between fear circuitry, PTSD symptoms strengthen over time,”Amanda Oldt, Healio, December 19, 2016.

Healio (12/16, Oldt) reported emergency department (ED) “visits for attempted suicide were most common among women, individuals aged 15 to 19 years and during late spring, particularly May,” researchers found after analyzing data on some “3,567,084 suicide attempt-related ED visits.” The findings were published online Nov. 17 in Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences.

Related Links:

— “Suicide attempts more common in women, teens,”Amanda Oldt, Healio, December 16, 2016.

In the Washington Post (12/15, Lane) “PostPartisan” blog, Washington Post editorial writer Charles Lane writes, “This past weekend, the American Psychiatric Association gave final approval to a policy statement declaring its ethical opposition to psychiatric participation in assisted suicide or euthanasia for a non-terminal patient.” The statement reads, “The American Psychiatric Association, in concert with the American Medical Association’s position on Medical Euthanasia, holds that a psychiatrist should not prescribe or administer any intervention to a non-terminally ill person for the purpose of causing death.”

Related Links:

— “At last, American psychiatrists speak out on euthanasia,”Charles Lane, The Washington Post, December 15, 2016.

In a front-page story, the Wall Street Journal (12/15, A1, Whalen, Subscription Publication) reports that as opioid abuse has pushed US overdose rates to record levels, it has left thousands of traumatized children in its wake. Many states have seen the number of children in foster care skyrocket, and hospitals are treating dozens of opioid-addicted newborns each year. According to social workers, the problem is greater than anything seen during the crack cocaine and methamphetamine crises.

Related Links:

— “The Children of the Opioid Crisis,”Jeanne Whalen, The Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2016.

CNN (12/14, Scutti) reports a recent study found hundreds of commercial pilots “may be clinically depressed.” Researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health warned that many depressed pilots “may decline seeking treatment due to fears of negative career consequences, such as being grounded.” Out of about 1,848 participants who answered questions about mental health, 233 pilots, or 16 percent, met the criteria for likely depression, while 75 pilots, or 4.1 percent, “reported having suicidal thoughts within the previous two weeks.”

Reuters (12/14, Rapaport) reports senior study author Joseph Allen said that with about 140,000 active pilots flying more than 3 billion people globally each year, “the survey results should put the airline industry on notice that many pilots need better access to mental health screening and treatment.” The findings notably come “a year and a half after a Germanwings co-pilot who suffered from depression deliberately crashed a plane into the French Alps, killing 150 people.”

Related Links:

— “Airline pilots anonymously report suicidal thoughts, study finds,”Susan Scutti, CNN, December 14, 2016.

A study published online Dec. 14 in JAMA Psychiatry “undermines” the claim that “terminating pregnancy causes women to experience emotional and psychological trauma,” the New York Times (12/14, A3, Belluck, Subscription Publication) reports. The study, which is “considered to be the most rigorous to look at the question in the” US, followed “nearly 1,000 women who sought abortions nationwide for five years and found that those who had the procedure did not experience more depression, anxiety, low self-esteem or dissatisfaction with life than those who were denied it.” In addition, the study “found psychological symptoms increased only in women who sought abortions but were not allowed to have the procedure because their pregnancies were further along than the cutoff time at the clinic they visited.”

Related Links:

— “Women’s Mental Health and Well-being 5 Years After Receiving or Being Denied an Abortion
A Prospective, Longitudinal Cohort Study,”M. Antonia Biggs, JAMA Psychiatry, December 14, 2016.