HealthDay (10/19, Dallas) reported that, according to a study published online in the journal Social Science Quarterly, “women who are the victims of stalkers are up to three times more likely than their peers to experience psychological distress.” Researchers arrived at this conclusion after examining data “compiled on over 8,100 women from three major surveys.” Notably, “the psychological effects were even more profound for women who were stalked when they were older.”

Related Links:

— “Stalking Can Take Mental Toll on Victims, Study Confirms, “Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, October 18, 2013.

The New York Times (10/21, Bakalar) “Well” blog reports that, according to a study published online Oct. 21 in the journal Pediatrics, spanking kids may “increase the risk of bad behavior.” For the study, investigators “interviewed 1,933 parents when their children were three years old and again at five, asking whether and how often they were spanked.” When the youngsters were nine, they underwent evaluation as to how aggressive they were and how often they broke rules. After adjusting for confounding factors, the study authors “found that maternal spanking at age five was significantly associated with greater aggression and rule-breaking…at age nine.” Reuters (10/21, Pittman) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Spanking’s Link to Bad Behavior, “Nicholas Bakalar, The New York Times, October 21, 2013.

The AP (10/21, Smith) reported that the Community Mental Health Act, signed Oct. 31, 1963 by President John F. Kennedy, “aimed to build mental health centers accessible to all Americans so that those with mental illnesses could be treated while working and living at home, rather than being kept in neglectful and often abusive state institutions.” Half a century later, President Kennedy’s nephew, former Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), pointed out that the US still has no “alternate policy to address the needs of” people with severe mental illnesses, many of whom are homeless or are incarcerated. This week in Boston at the Kennedy Forum, the former congressman is gathering mental health advocates to put together an agenda focusing on how to improve mental healthcare.

Related Links:

— “Kennedy’s Vision For Mental Health Never Realized, “Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press, October 20, 2013.

HealthDay (10/18, Dotinga) reports that a study, published Oct. 16 in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, looked at statistics from the Millennium Cohort Study regarding 19,000 children born in the UK between 2001 and 2001 to determine whether children born to teen mothers had an intellectual disadvantage. Though researchers did discover a difference in verbal skills of children born to teens and those born to mothers between the ages of 24 and 34, they did not find a difference in spatial and nonverbal skills between children born to the two groups.

Related Links:

— “Children of Teen Mothers Don’t Have Mental Disadvantage, Study Suggests, “Randy Dotinga, HealthDay, October 17, 2013.

USA Today (10/15, O’Donnell) reports that according to a National Council on Patient Information and Education study, “poor adherence to medications among patients with multiple chronic conditions has reached ‘crisis proportions’ in the US,” leading “to ‘unnecessary disease progression’ and complications and too many emergency room visits, hospitalizations and avoidable hospital re-admissions.” The coalition recommends “lowering or eliminating co-payments for medications used to treat the most common chronic diseases,” as well as “pushing pharmacies to better coordinate patients’ medications.”

Related Links:

— “Crisis: Patients not taking their medications, “Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today, October 15, 2013.