According to USA Today (1/29, O’Donnell, Quarshie), “witnessing abuse carries the same risk of harm to children’s mental health and learning as being abused directly,” research indicated. Investigators “who followed 1,420 children in North Carolina from age nine to 30 found that exposure to domestic violence in the home had the same serious and life-changing effects as experiencing the abuse directly.” The findings were published online Nov. 9 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “The startling toll on children who witness domestic violence is just now being understood, “Jayne O’Donnell and Mabinty Quarshie, USA Today, January 29, 2019

MedPage Today (1/29, Walker) reports researchers found that counties with “higher long-term unemployment rates and a” shortage of mental health clinicians had “higher rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).” The findings were published in JAMA. Katy B. Kozhimannil, PhD, of the University of Minnesota, and Lindsay K. Admon, MD, of the University of Michigan, wrote in an accompanying editorial that the link between shortages of mental health clinicians and NAS was a “key finding.”

HealthDay (1/29, Preidt) reports the researchers examined “6.3 million births between 2009 and 2015 in 580 counties in Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Tennessee and Washington,” and found that “in counties with high, long-term unemployment, 20 of every 1,000 newborns were exposed to opioids” in utero, compared to only “7.8 per 1,000 births in counties with the lowest unemployment.”

Related Links:

— “Opioid Danger to Newborns Varies By Region, “Robert Preidt, Healthday, January 29, 2019

The CBS Evening News (1/28, story 9, 1:50, Glor) reported, “A new study finds lowering blood pressure could rut the risk of developing a brain disorder that can lead the Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.”

The New York Times (1/28, Belluck) reports researchers “found that people with hypertension who received intensive treatment to lower their blood pressure were less likely than those receiving standard blood pressure treatment to develop minor memory and thinking problems that often progress to dementia.” The findings were published online in JAMA.

Medscape (1/28, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reports that in the 9,361-patient, “Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial Memory and Cognition in Decreased Hypertension (SPRINT MIND)” study, investigators found that “targeting systolic blood pressure (SBP) to 120 mmHg lowered the risk for” mild cognitive impairment (MCI) “by 19% compared with targeting to 140 mmHg.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Reuters (1/28, Rapaport) reports, “Children and adolescents who suffer from depression or behavior problems may be more likely to play potentially fatal ‘choking games’ to achieve a euphoric high than young people who don’t have mental health issues,” research indicated.

HealthDay (1/28, Gordon) reports that the research focused on a particular choking game, where investigators “found that nearly 10 percent of the almost 1,800 middle schoolers surveyed had tried it,” and youngsters “who had participated were about twice as likely to be depressed or to have a conduct disorder.” The findings were published online Jan. 28 in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Depressed kids more likely to play choking game, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, January 28, 2019

Healio (1/28, Demko) reports, “The risk for death by suicide in people with autism spectrum disorder [ASD] from Utah – especially females – increased over time and was greater than in those without ASD between 2013 and 2017,” researchers concluded. The findings of the “20-year, population-based study” were published online in the journal Autism Research.

Related Links:

— “Suicide risk among people with ASD increases over 20 years in Utah, “Savannah Demko, Healio, January 28, 2019