MedPage Today (12/22, Walker) reports that according to a study published online in the journal Pediatrics, teens appear to be “more likely to engage in substance use and risky behavior if they were exposed to symptoms of maternal depression during their middle childhood years.” The study, which involved “2,910 mother-youth pairs,” revealed that “adolescents who had been exposed to ‘high symptoms’ of maternal depression from ages four to eight, and ‘decreasing symptoms’ as they got older were more likely to engage in ‘nonviolent delinquent behaviors’ (P=0.03) as teenagers than adolescents exposed to a ‘lower level of maternal depressive symptoms.’” Such behaviors could include staying out all night, destroying property or “running away.”

Related Links:

— “Do Depressed Moms Predispose Kids to Behavorial Problems?,” Molly Walker, MedPage Today, December 22, 2014.

In a 1,880-word story titled “Substance Abuse Treatment Often Impossible to Find,” USA Today (12/19, Copeland) reported in its ongoing series called “Mental Illness: The Cost of Not Caring,” that research suggests that “about two-thirds of people who have a substance abuse condition also have a mental health condition, says Ron Manderscheid, executive director of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors.”

Many substance abusers cannot conquer addiction until they seek professional help for underlying mental illness. Unfortunately, “the lack of treatment options for people with substance addictions and mental illness ‘remains a huge problem in the United States,’ says Frances Levin, chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Addiction Psychiatry.”

Dr. Levin added, “Programs need to be set up to recognize general mental health issues as well as attending to substance abuse problems.”

Related Links:

— “Substance abuse treatment often impossible to find,” Larry Copeland, USA Today, December 19, 2014.

The Kansas Health Institute (12/19, Smith) reports that in an article published in the Journal of Special Education, Jason Travers, an assistant professor in the special education department at the University of Kansas, “demonstrates that Hispanic and black children are diagnosed with autism at lower rates than white children.” Instead, many of these children may be diagnosed with “adjustment disorder” or having some sort of “intellectual disability.” Currently, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of every 68 youngsters in the US has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.

Related Links:

— “KU researcher questions lower autism diagnoses among minority children,” Alex Smith, Kansas Health Institute, December 18, 2014.

The Huffington Post (12/18, Maltby) reports that use of medications to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder “is rising rapidly” among women, according to “a groundbreaking report released earlier this year by the prescription management company Express Scripts.” The report also found that “the number of adults in the United States taking AD/HD medications…rose 53 percent from 2008 to 2012.” Additionally, “women are using AD/HD medication at notably higher rates than girls, with those in the 26-to-34 age range posting a staggering 85 percent jump in the use of such drugs in just five years.”

Related Links:

— “The New ADHD Debate Every Woman Should Know About,” Anna Maltby, Huffington Post, December 17, 2014.

Reuters (12/18, Begley) reports that a study conducted by scientists at Harvard School of Public Health and published in the online journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that children whose mothers were exposed to high levels of fine particulate pollution in late pregnancy have as much as twice the risk of developing autism. The study, which involved 116,430 women, found no correlation between autism and fine particulate pollution before, during early pregnancy, or after the child was born. High levels of exposure during the third trimester, however, doubled the risk of autism.

Related Links:

— “Autism risk linked to particulate air pollution,” Sharon Begley, Chicago Tribune, December 17, 2014.