Reuters (9/24) reports that the American Psychiatric Association recently told regulators that mergers of major health insurers could reduce access to mental healthcare.

Related Links:

— “U.S. insurance mega mergers could hurt care: psychiatric group,” Caroline Humer, Reuters, September 24, 2015.

The Huffington Post (9/24) reports that research suggests that “white men are more likely to face depression associated with stressful life events than black men or women of any race.” The study included nearly 6,000 adults.

Related Links:

— “White Men Have Less Life Stress, But Are More Prone To Depression Because Of It,” Erin Schumaker, Huffington Post, September 23, 2015.

The Chicago Tribune (9/23) and Forbes report that the study, published online in American Journal of Preventive Medicine, used data from the United Kingdom Women’s Cohort Study, following 12,778 women age 37 to 78 over a 12-year period. The women were divided into three groups based on self-assessments of their fidgeting habits: low, middle, or high. Among the women who did not fidget, the researchers “found that women who sat for seven or more hours daily had a 30 percent increased risk of dying from any cause,” compared to those who sat less than five hours a day. Meanwhile, “middle or high fidgeters saw no increased risk.”

Related Links:

— “Fidget While You Work: It May Be Good For Your Health,” Alice G. Walton, Forbes, September 23, 2015.

Medscape (9/22, Brooks) reports that “a ‘sizable’ number of US children with mental disorders who are from low-income households do not receive federal benefits under the Social Security Administration’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.” But, “the number of these children who are receiving SSI funds is growing at a pace consistent with the mental health trends in the general population, the report indicates.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Reuters (9/21, Harding) reports that a study published online Sept. 21 in Pediatrics found that girls who enter puberty early are far more likely to abuse alcohol as teens if their parents don’t supervise them. Dr. Brett Laursen of Florida Atlantic University in Fort Lauderdale and colleagues followed 957 girls from a Swedish town over a four-year period.

They found that while alcohol abuse increased among all girls as they grew older, the levels of autonomy granted by parents among on-time and late-maturing girls did not correlate with the rates of alcohol abuse. However, for the early-maturing group, the latitude of autonomy was significant.

The study found that early-maturing girls with strict parents had an 84 percent increase in alcohol abuse from seventh to tenth grade, while alcohol abuse increased by 234 percent among girls given the most autonomy.

Related Links:

— “Watchful parents help early-maturing girls avoid alcohol abuse,” Anne Harding, Reuters, September 21, 2015.