HealthDay (4/12, Preidt) reported that according to a study published April 7 in the journal Psychology of Violence, “domestic violence witnessed by American children often goes unreported or unpunished, but causes fear and anxiety among the youngsters.” The study “included 517 children, of whom 75 percent witnessed domestic violence.” Investigators found that “children came to physical harm in one in 75 incidents, but suffered fear and anxiety in many more cases.”

Related Links:

— “Study Outlines Emotional Impact of Domestic Violence on Kids,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, April 11, 2014.

Reuters (4/11, Bond) reported that according to a study published online March 15 in the journal Addictive Behaviors, families in which the father had a problem with alcohol appeared to experience increased levels of conflict. However, treating men for alcoholism may result in an improved home life for their children. Researchers arrived at these conclusions after studying 145 couples in Massachusetts with children. Of those couples, 67 had a male partner who was undergoing alcoholism treatment.

Related Links:

— “Kids see less conflict at home when dads quit drinking,”Allison Bond, Reuters, April 11, 2014.

USA Today (4/14, Healy) reports that a study published online in Pediatrics “finds that the first five years of parenthood – key attachment and bonding years for a child – may be the riskiest for young dads when it comes to developing depression.” Craig Garfield, an associate professor in pediatrics and medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of the study, said, “There’s been a significant body of literature describing the effect of mother’s depression on child development, and the health care system has tried to rise to the challenge of identifying mothers with depression. Fathers have not been on the radar screen until recently. Now we know that … right around the time of the birth is an important time to try and capture and screen those dads.”

Related Links:

— “Depression risks increase for young dads,”Michelle Healy, USA Today, April 14, 2014.

HealthDay (4/11, Preidt) reports that according to a study published in the April 10 issue of the Journal of Head Trauma, “serious head injuries may be linked to children’s lack of ability to interact with others.” After examining youngsters “who had suffered a traumatic brain injury three years earlier, most often in car crashes,” researchers found that children “with lingering damage in the brain’s frontal lobes had lower-quality social lives.”

Related Links:

— “Social Skills a Casualty of Childhood Head Injury, Study Suggests,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, April 10, 2014.

The Today Show Online (4/11, Alexander) reports, “Fixating on the bikini selfies and duck faced-photos of Facebook friends can make a young woman feel worse about her own body than comparing herself to the most beautiful celebrities and models in fashion magazines,” according to a study that “supports other recent findings that social media can create damaging effects on young women.”

HealthDay (4/11, Goodman) reports that the results of the study of 881 college students were presented at the International Communication Association’s annual conference. BBC News (4/11, Briggs) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Does Facebook Make Women Feel Bad About Their Bodies?,”Brenda Goodman, HealthDay, April 10, 2014.

Medscape (4/11, Brauser) reported, “Experts are taking action to address the growing mental health crisis on US college campuses,” involving mental illness, substance abuse and high levels of stress. Philip R. Muskin, MD, who chairs “the scientific program committee for the 2014 and 2015 American Psychiatric Association (APA) Annual Meeting, agreed that there is often a ‘perfect storm’ of things that can hit students soon after arriving on campus.” Dr. Muskin said, “So schools themselves, not just counseling services, need to set policies about drinking and about underage drinking. And they need to set up active programs for mental health care that are ongoing.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (4/11, Preidt) reports that according to a study recently published in the journal Social Psychology Quarterly, “mental health problems are common among civilians who work for the US military in war zones.” Researchers found that “workers who experienced a higher number of life-threatening events had more frequent symptoms of mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and anger.” In addition, the study revealed that “civilian workers’ mental health became progressively worse as they faced an increasing number of threats.”

Related Links:

— “Civilians in War Zones Also Suffer Mental Health Problems: Study,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, April 10, 2014.

The Hill (4/11, Wong) “Defcon Hill” blog reports that on March 27, a group of Democratic and Republican legislators “introduced a bill calling for mental health screening for recruits before they can join the military,” which they hope may help prevent shooting sprees on military bases in the future. The measure, which is called “The Medical Evaluation Parity for Service Members Act,” will “institute a preliminary mental health assessment at the time recruits are first joining the military.” On April 9, a companion measure was introduced in the Senate.

Related Links:

— “Mental health screening for soldiers picks up steam,”Kristina Wong, The Hill, April 10, 2014.

Reuters (4/10, Jegtvig) reports that according to the results of a 2,257-patient study published online April 7 in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, women with a history of binge eating, anorexia nervosa or bulimia appeared to have an increased risk of complications related to their pregnancies. For example, expectant mothers with anorexia may become anemic and deliver babies with a low birth weight, while mothers with bulimia may deliver babies with a low Apgar score. Babies born to mothers who binge eat may be large, and the women themselves may have an increased likelihood of hypertension during pregnancy. The study authors recommended that such women be monitored more closely during pregnancy.

Related Links:

— “Women with eating disorders may have more pregnancy complications,”Shereen Jegtvit, Reuters, April 9, 2014.

HealthDay (4/10, Salamon) reports that research published online in Neurology suggests that individuals “with declining memory and thinking skills may be significantly less likely to die from cancer.” Researchers looked at data on “more than 2,600 Spaniards over the age of 65.” The investigators “found that people experiencing the fastest decline in mental skills were about one-third less likely to die of cancer over an average of 13 years.”

Related Links:

— “A Failing Mind May Mean Lower Cancer Death Risk, Study Suggests,” Maureen Salamon, HealthDay, April 9, 2014.