MedPage Today (9/21, Lopilato) reports, “Maternal depressive symptoms were associated with an increase in the number of unhealthy adolescent behaviors,” researchers concluded in a 213-participant, “15-year longitudinal study,” the findings of which were published online Sept. 21 in the journal Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (9/21, DePeau-Wilson) reports, “Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are often treated for symptoms of the condition before ever receiving a formal diagnosis,” investigators concluded in “a retrospective analysis” that “identified 26,306 adult patients in the IBM MarketScan Commercial Subset database who were diagnosed with and treated for PTSD from 2015 to 2020,” and then analyzed “data for each patient in the six months before and the 24 months after diagnosis.” The findings were presented in a poster at the Psych Congress 2022.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

According to CNN (9/20, McPhillips), not only have “overdose deaths in the United States increased sharply throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching record levels in 2021,” but “the burden on different racial and ethnic groups has changed,” researchers concluded in findings published online Sept. 20 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open. After analyzing data “from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Vital Statistics System” that “compared semiannual drug overdose deaths between the months of March to August for 2018, 2020 and 2021,” researchers found that overdose death rates appeared to be highest among American Indian and middle-aged Black men.

Related Links:

— “Drug overdose death rates highest among American Indian people and middle-age Black men, study shows “Deidre McPhillips, CNN, September 20, 2022

Bloomberg Law (9/20, Subscription Publication) reports, “The Office of Minority Health has awarded more than $3 million in grants to eight organizations as part of a three-year initiative surrounding Black youth mental health policies, the Department of Health and Human Services” announced on Sept. 20. The project period of this initiative “begins Sept. 30, the HHS said.”

Related Links:

— “HHS Grants $3 Million for Black Youth Mental Health Initiative Bloomberg Law, September 20, 2022

The New York Times (9/20, Baumgaertner) reports, “A panel of medical experts on Tuesday recommended for the first time that doctors screen all adult patients under 65 for anxiety, guidance that highlights the extraordinary stress levels that have plagued the United States since the start of the” COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Washington Post (9/20, Zimmerman), the purpose of the US Preventive Services Task Force’s (USPSTF) draft recommendation statement is to help “primary care clinicians identify early signs of anxiety during routine care, using questionnaires and other screening tools.”

The AP (9/20, Tanner) reports, “The proposal is open for public comment until Oct. 17, but the group usually affirms its draft guidance.” The task force’s “recommendations are based on a review that began before the COVID-19 pandemic, evaluating studies showing potential benefits and risks from screening.”

CNN (9/20, Thomas) reports, “The task force defines anxiety disorders as ‘characterized by greater duration or intensity of a stress response over everyday events.’” Types of anxiety recognized “include generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder and agoraphobia.” Additionally, the draft “recommend[s] screening for major depressive disorder in adults, consistent with recommendations for depression screening published in 2016.”

Related Links:

— “Health Panel Recommends Anxiety Screening for All Adults Under 65 ” Emily Baumgaertner, The New York Times, September 20, 2022