Psychiatric News (6/13) reports, “Individuals exposed to a greater number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) – for example, violence, abuse, and neglect early in life – may age more rapidly than those with fewer of these experiences early in life,” researchers concluded in a study that examined “data collected from more than 850 middle-aged adults at two time points.” The study revealed that “participants who reported four or more ACEs were likely to have molecular biomarkers that suggested they were older than their chronological ages.” The findings were published online June 12 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Adverse Childhood Experiences Found to Accelerate Aging,” Psychiatric News, June 13, 2023

CNN (6/13, Christensen) reports that “adults who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual are more likely than those who identify as straight to have serious thoughts of suicide and mental health conditions including major depressive episodes, and they are more likely to misuse substances like alcohol or drugs, according to a new US government report.” According to CNN, “The data in the report, which focuses on LGB adults,” come “from 2021 and 2022.”

Related Links:

— “People who are gay, lesbian or bi have more mental health and substance use problems, survey finds,” Jen Christensen, CNN, June 13, 2023

Healio (6/13, VanDewater) reports, “From 2017 to 2021, people seeking treatment for opioid use disorder” (OUD) “increasingly tested positive for fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine at presentation,” but “over one year of methadone treatment for” OUD, “heroin and fentanyl positivity decreased,” investigators concluded in a study that analyzed 194,333 urine “specimens from 16,386 patients in 10 states.” The findings were published online May 9 in the journal Addiction.

Related Links:

— “Patients seeking opioid use treatment increasingly test positive for illicit drug co-use,” Kalie VanDewater, Healio, June 13, 2023

HealthDay (6/13, Mundell) reports, “About one in every seven American kids aged five to 17 underwent some form of mental health treatment in 2021, the latest year for which statistics are available,” according to CDC research that “pegs the percentage of kids who got mental health care in 2021 at 14.9%.” The data also revealed that “rates of mental health care were higher among older kids (aged 12 to 17), nearly 19% of whom received treatment over the prior year, than they were for children aged 5 to 11 (just over 11%).” The findings were published online June 13 in the CDC’s NCHS Data Brief 472.

Related Links:

— “Nearly 15% of School-Age Children in U.S. Have Received Mental Health Treatment,” Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, June 13, 2023

MedPage Today (6/12, Henderson) reports, “Parents of children in palliative care placed the highest value on the child’s quality of life (QoL), but with considerable individual-level variation and substantial change over time, researchers found.” Data from a cohort study of 680 parents of 603 patients show that “QoL garnered the highest mean importance score among the five goals of care assessed at initiation of care.” Next highest importance “to parents was pursuit of health, followed by pursuit of comfort, disease modification, and life extension.” The findings were published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)