The Los Angeles Times (7/24, Zarembo) reports in “Science Now” that according to a study published online July 23 in JAMA Psychiatry, “in America’s all-volunteer military, men who enlist are about twice as likely to have had troubled childhoods.”

The AP (7/24) reports that included in the study were “nearly 10,000 current and former service members,” the majority of whom were men, as well as some 51,000 civilians. The study indicated that the “disparities were most striking among men during the volunteer era: More than 25 percent had experienced at least four childhood traumas, versus about 13 percent of civilian men.”

The Stars And Stripes (DC) (7/24, Vandiver) reports that the study findings “suggest that the military could serve as a refuge for those seeking to escape troubled home lives.” In addition, the study, “which was a secondary analysis of data from a 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey,” may “provide the military with added insight into its struggle to curb suicide in the ranks, as people who have experienced severe childhood abuse are at a higher risk of attempting suicide.”

Related Links:

— “Study: Men with troubled childhoods may seek refuge in the military,” , Los Angeles Times, July 23, 2014.

HealthDay (7/23, Thompson) reports that according to a study published online July 21 and to appear in the August print issue of the journal Pediatrics, the “stressed-out parents” of children with autism may “benefit from treatments designed specifically for them.” The 243-participant study revealed that moms of kids with autism “who took part in a coping skills program found they connected better with their child and felt less stress, anxiety and depression.”

Related Links:

— “Parents of Children With Autism Need Help, Too,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, July 22, 2014.

Vox (7/23, Kliff) reports on a study published in the American Journal of Managed Care that detailed the “unintended consequences when medicaid tries to save money on anti-psychotic medications,” including the fact that “prior authorization policies in Medicaid programs have significantly higher rates of severe mental illness in their prison populations.”

Related Links:

— “States that deny anti-psychotics to the poor have lots of mentally ill people behind bars,” Sarah Kliff, Vox, July 22, 2014.

In a 3,270-word article on its front page, USA Today (7/22, A1, Johnson) reports from Newport, RI, where 40% “of all calls to police involve people who are mentally ill or have behavioral problems,” a number that “only begins to assess how an overwhelmed criminal justice system has become the de facto caretaker of Americans who are mentally ill and emotionally disturbed.” USA Today notes that from police departments and prisons to courthouses and jails nationwide, “the care of those who are mentally ill weighs heaviest on law enforcement authorities, many of whom readily acknowledge that they lack both resources and expertise to deal with the crushing responsibility.”

Related Links:

— “Mental illness cases swamp criminal justice system,” , USA Today, July 21, 2014.

HealthDay (7/22, Dotinga) reports that according to a study published online July 21 in the journal Pediatrics, children born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy are more likely to develop attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). “The new study also hints – but doesn’t prove – that nicotine-replacement products used during pregnancy, such as patches and gum, could pose the same risk to children.” After examining almost 85,000 children’s medical records, researchers found AD/HD signs in over 2,000 youngsters. While 1.8% of children with nonsmoking parents were diagnosed with AD/HD, the disorder was also found in 2% of children in households where the mother quit and the father did not smoke and in 4.2% of households where both parents smoked.

Related Links:

— “Smoking While Pregnant Linked to ADHD in Children,” Randy Dotinga, HealthDay, July 21, 2014.

The Deseret (UT) News (7/22, Hales) reports a recent survey released by the World Health Organization indicates that depression is the leading cause of adolescent illness and disability worldwide and is increasing in teenagers. While the article is primarily about teen depression, it also notes that “a study from the National Institutes of Health found that media portrayals of body image and the ‘ideal’ life create unrealistic expectations for teenagers, disrupting their ‘normal identity development’ and leading to depression.” Specifically, “the NIH study found that violent or graphic media augments depressive tendencies by creating an idea that the world is worse than it is.”

Related Links:

— “Understanding and responding to the increase in teen depression,” Emily Hales, Deseret News, July 21, 2014.

Medscape (7/19, Melville) reported that “among the wide-ranging comorbidities associated with diabetes, mental-health issues are probably among the most overlooked, despite their potential to compromise self-management and increase the risk for serious complications, according to a new viewpoint published online…in the Journal of the American Medical Association.” The authors wrote, “Despite the potential adverse effects of mental-health problems on diabetes outcomes and healthcare expenditures, only about one-third of patients with these coexisting conditions receive a diagnosis and treatment.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (7/21, Preidt) reports that according to a study published July 20 in Nature Genetics, “most of the genetic risk for autism appears to come from common gene variants rather than spontaneous gene mutations.” After studying some 3,000 Swedes without and with autism, researchers “found that about 52 percent of autism was linked to common gene variants and rare inherited variations.” In a news release pertaining to the study, National Institute of Mental Health director Thomas Insel, MD, said, “Common variation may be more important than we thought.”

Related Links:

— “Common Genes Implicated in Autism Study,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, July 21, 2014.

Reuters (7/18, Lehman) reports that research published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests that depression in older men prior to a diagnosis of prostate cancer may be linked to more aggressive cancer, a lower likelihood of receiving recommended treatments, and a higher risk of death. Investigators came to this conclusion after analyzing data on more than 40,000 patients with localized prostate cancer.

Related Links:

— “Depression may keep some men from fighting prostate cancer,” Shereen Lehman, Reuters, July 17, 2014.

TIME (7/18, Sifferlin) reports that research (7/18) published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research suggests “that when people drink alcohol with energy drinks they have a stronger desire to keep drinking compared to people who just drank a vodka soda.” In the study, investigators “assigned 75 participants between the ages 18 and 30 to either just drink alcohol, or drink an alcohol and energy drink combination.”

Newsweek (7/18, Mejia) reports that study “participants were asked to take an Alcohol Urge Questionnaire 20 minutes before and after imbibing the libation to indicate how strong their desire was to continue drinking.” Individuals “who drank the alcohol and energy drink combo reported a greater increase in the urge to continue drinking alcohol than the group drinking only vodka.” Additionally, “the energy drink consumers…reported liking the cocktail more and wanting to drink more of it than those who only drank the vodka cocktail.”

Related Links:

— “Alcohol Plus Energy Drinks Makes You Want to Drink More, Study Says,” Alexandra Sifferlin, Time, July 17, 2014.