Reuters (6/18, Joelving) reports that, in a study published in the journal Pediatrics, Food and Drug Administration researchers found that while antibiotic usage has decreased among youths in the US, more children are taking medications for ADHD. Dr. Scott Benson, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and a spokesperson for the American Psychiatric Association, is quoted as saying, “What the article is suggesting is that the number of children that we are treating for attention deficit disorder has gone up.” According to Dr. Benson, “For the most part I think the overall increase reflects a reduction in the stigma,” as “it used to be, ‘You’re a bad parent if you can’t get your child to behave, and you’re a doubly bad parent if you put them on medicine.'”

MedPage Today (6/18, Phend) reports that researchers found that “outpatient contraceptive prescriptions jumped 93% from 2002 to 2010 among kids 17 and younger.” Meanwhile, “ADHD drug scripts rose 46% over the same period in the national analysis of prescription databases.” Altogether, “an estimated 263 million prescriptions were dispensed for the under 18 crowd in 2010, which was down 9% from 2002 after accounting for the shifting population size over that period.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. kids getting more ADHD drugs, fewer antibiotics,”Frederik Joelving , Reuters, June 18, 2012.

HealthDay (6/16, Goodwin) reported that “slamming doors, shouting and stony silences between mom and dad can really scar kids emotionally,” according to a study published in the journal Child Development. Investigators found that “Kindergarteners whose parents fought with each other frequently and harshly were more likely to grow into emotionally insecure older children who struggled with depression, anxiety and behavior issues by 7th grade.” However, “if parents refrained from harshly criticizing one other, stonewalling one another or being violent with one another, and instead managed to work out their problems in a constructive way, children weren’t terribly bothered by the conflicts.”

Related Links:

— “Parents’ Fighting May Have Long-Lasting Effect on Kids, “Jenifer Goodwin, HealthDay, June 15, 2012.

HealthDay (6/16, Dallas) reported that “although children with autism spectrum disorders [ASD] need more health care services, they have less access to specialized care than children with other conditions, such as asthma or diabetes, according to a new study” published in Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Investigators “examined previous studies that calculated the total health care costs paid by the families of children with autism spectrum disorders.” The researchers “found that children with autism, who are at risk for other conditions, such as seizures, sleep disturbances and gastrointestinal problems, paid more for the care they received than other kids with illnesses that required specialized care.”

Related Links:

— “Kids With Autism Face Health Care Disparities, Study Finds, “Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, June 15, 2012.

USA Today (6/15, Jayson) reports, “You may have felt it, but now a scientific analysis of stress over time offers some proof that there’s more stress in people’s lives today than 25 years ago.” Investigators who “analyzed data from more than 6,300 people” found that “stress increased 18% for women and 24% for men from 1983 to 2009.”

The CBS News (6/15, Castillo) “HealthPop” blog reports that the “study, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology…marks the first time scientists have been able to track the level of stress across the US over time.”

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (6/15, Stoxen) “Health Check” blog reports, “According to” the “new research, being young, a woman, having a low education level and/or having low income represent the most stressed individuals in the United States.”

Related Links:

— “Stress levels increased since 1983, new analysis shows,”Sharon Jayson, USA Today, June 14, 2012.

The AP (6/15) reports, “Although New York officials agree cyber bullying among youth is one of today’s biggest concerns, a political deal already struck by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders won’t make it a crime.” Instead the bill they agreed upon focuses “on public awareness starting with a legal definition of cyber bullying and requiring schools to report these incidents.”

Related Links:

— “Cuomo: New York bill won’t make cyber bullying a crime,Associated Press, June 14, 2012.