HealthDay (8/6, Gray) reports that according to a study presented at a psychology meeting, “helping teens learn to count their blessings can actually play an important role in positive mental health.” The study, which “involved 700 students living in New York, aged 10 to 14,” revealed that “as gratitude increases, so do life satisfaction, happiness, positive attitudes, hope and even academic performance.”

Related Links:

— “Grateful Teens May Have Less Risk for Depression, Other Problems, “Barbara Bronson Gray, HealthDay, August 05, 2012.

MedPage Today (8/4, Petrochko) reported, “Whether or not a child maintains a treatment for mental health may depend on parents’ perceived benefits of that treatment,” according to a 573-participant study published in the August issue of the journal Psychiatric Services. Specifically, the “cohort study of parents and guardians of children receiving outpatient mental health services found those who saw treatment as providing ‘a lot’ of benefit (versus some or no benefit) to their child were significantly more likely to continue treatment at six-month follow-up, at an adjusted odds ratio of 1.96 (95% CI 1.19 to 3.21, P=0.008),” researchers reported. Notably, “medication with or without therapy was perceived as more beneficial than therapy alone and that perceived benefit was strongly related to continued use of treatment.”

Related Links:

— “Parental Approval Key to Keeping Kids on Psych Tx, “Cole Petrochko, MedPage Today, August 03, 2012.

NBC Nightly News (8/2, story 7, 0:25, Williams) reported, “The FDA has approved a kind of attachment for all types of pills, a tiny, harmless transmitter that will electronically register if you’ve taken your pill or not. It mixes with stomach acids and sends out a signal you’ve taken the pill.”

Medscape (8/3, Lowry) reports, “A questionnaire for parents is a promising tool for identifying 12-month-old infants who are at risk for an eventual diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD),” according to a 699-patient study published online July 10 in Autism: The International Journal of Research & Practice. The “study showed that 31% of children identified by the inventory as being at risk for ASD at 12 months had a confirmed diagnosis by age three years.” What’s more, “85% of the children identified at 12 months had a developmental disability or concern by age three,” researchers reported.

MedPage Today (8/2, Smith) reports that “teens who expected to die young were more likely to indulge in risky behavior, including substance abuse and attempting suicide,” according to a study published online in the journal PLoS One. In addition, “the expectation of poor survival at the beginning of the study…was associated with an increase in the risk of dying in young adulthood, with those who had a low expectation of surviving to age 35 having death rates that were double those experienced by respondents saying they were ‘almost certain’ to reach that age,” researchers reported. The study’s “findings come from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative survey that began with 20,745 adolescents in grades 7 through 12 during the 1994-1995 school year.”

Related Links:

— “Teens’ Gloomy Outlook Predicts Bleak Future, “Michael Smith, MedPage Today, August 1, 2012.