The New York Times (8/12, Saint Louis) “Well” blog reports that according to a study published in the September issue of Pediatrics, youngsters “with chronic stomach pains are at high risk for anxiety disorders in adolescence and young adulthood.”

On its website, NBC News (8/12, Carroll) reports that of those adults who had suffered from “abdominal pain as children, 51 percent had experienced an anxiety disorder during their lives, compared to 20 percent of those who didn’t experience” stomach pain in childhood. What’s more, “as adults, a full 30 percent of the childhood abdominal pain sufferers were still coping with some kind of anxiety disorder, compared to 12 percent” of those who had experienced no abdominal pain during childhood.

Related Links:

— “Risk of Adult Anxiety Seen in Children’s Stomachaches, “Catherine Saint Louis, The New York Times, August 12, 2013.

On its front page, the Wall Street Journal (8/12, A1, Lagnado, Subscription Publication) reports that the office of the inspector general at the US Department of Health and Human Services has launched an investigation into the use of antipsychotic medications in youngsters within the Medicaid system. In addition, HHS agencies are now asking officials in each state to clamp down on prescription oversight of these medications in kids and teens on Medicaid. Currently, youngsters on Medicaid receive prescriptions for antipsychotic medications at a rate four times that of children with private health insurance. Some newer antipsychotics, which have received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of autism-associated irritability and bipolar disorder in youngsters, as well as schizophrenia, are being inappropriately used to treat behavioral problems in troubled kids, according to some physicians and policy analysts.

Related Links:

— “U.S. Probes Use of Antipsychotic Drugs on Children, The Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2013.

The Kansas City (MO) Star (8/10) reported that recently, “the American Psychiatric Association…recommended further research into a condition it labeled Internet Gaming Disorder.” In the fifth edition of the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), “the group pointed to warning signs in Asia, where too much gaming has landed kids in hospitals.” However, the “mental health community is far from sold that the Web itself is fueling addiction.” After all, pornography and gambling have been problematic long before the Internet existed.

Related Links:

— “Digital addiction: Is it real or a symptom of other problems?, “Rick Montgomery, The Kansas City Star, August 10, 2013.

On its website, NBC News (8/6, Linn) reports that according to a study published online Aug. 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, some mothers “reacted to the recession that ran from 2007 to 2009 by yelling at their kids more, and perhaps even doing more physically aggressive things like grabbing or spanking their children.” Interestingly, harsh parenting was not limited to those mothers who had been personally affected by the recession. Instead, the study found that overall, certain “moms became harsher parents once the general economy started to deteriorate.”

Related Links:

— “The Great Recession made some moms scream at their kids more, “Allison Linn, NBC News, August 5, 2013.

Reuters (8/6, Seaman) reports that children who were born into families with an inherent cigarette smoking culture, are more likely to take up smoking themselves during pre-adolescence or adolescence, according to a study published online Aug. 5 in the journal Pediatrics. The researchers from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, analyzed 23 years of smoking pattern data and found that 23 percent of the children whose parents had smoked as adolescents became smokers themselves, regardless of whether their parents ultimately quit or reduced their smoking habits.

On its website, CBS News (8/6, Castillo) adds that the study also found that among families in which the “oldest child smoked, younger siblings were six times more likely” to take up smoking; and the older siblings were “15 times more likely to smoke if they were in a household where one of their parents smoked compared to a home where no parent smoked.”

Related Links:

— “Parental smoking tied to kids’ risk of lighting up, “Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, August 5, 2013.