Reuters (11/15, Rapaport) reports that research suggests “women with a history of depression may have lower survival odds with breast cancer than patients without past mental health problems.” The study included approximately “45,000 women with early-stage breast malignancies.” Investigators found that “13 percent of patients previously treated with antidepressants died within five years of their cancer diagnosis, compared with 11 percent of women who hadn’t ever taken medication for depression.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Related Links:

— “Past depression tied to worse breast cancer survival odds,”Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, November 15, 2016.

HealthDay (11/15, Reinberg) reported that “the rate of diagnoses for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (AD/HD) “among US preschoolers has leveled off,” and the “prescribing rate of stimulant medications for these young patients has also stayed steady, a promising trend that researchers credit to treatment guidelines that were introduced” five years ago by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Those guidelines “called for a standardized approach to diagnosis, and recommended behavior therapy,” not medications, “as the first-line therapy for preschoolers.”

Medscape (11/15, Phillips) reports some “21, 558 visits from 143,881 children at 63 primary care practices” were included in the study, the findings of which were published online Nov. 15 in Pediatrics. The author of an accompanying editorialobserved, “This approach ‘is an innovative process that can provide more rigorous information about moving evidence into practice.’

Related Links:

— “Guidelines May Have Helped Curb ADHD Diagnoses in Preschoolers,” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, November 15, 2016.

Reuters (11/14, Rapaport) reports a study published in Pediatrics found that since 1988, “the proportion of middle-income mothers who think physical punishment is appropriate has dropped from 46 percent to 21 percent.” During the same time period, the “share of mothers endorsing time-out surged from 41 percent to 81 percent.” lead study author Rebecca Ryan, a psychology researcher at Georgetown University, explained, “Support for corporal punishment has been falling at least since the 1990s, in part due to social science research that suggests spanking is linked to negative outcomes for children like delinquency, antisocial behavior, psychological problems, and alcohol and drug abuse.” She added that there is “little evidence” to support that “spanking or other forms of physical discipline are effective in the long term at reducing unwanted child behaviors or encouraging children to internalize – to really believe in – parents’ rules.”

Related Links:

— “Fewer U.S. parents say they spank their kids,”Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, November 14, 2016.

Kaiser Health News (11/14, Luthra) reports on community paramedics who are trained to help “psychiatric patients in need of care avoid winding up in the emergency room, where they can get ‘boarded’ for days, until they are released or a bed frees up at an inpatient facility.” After being dispatched to a scene with a patient with a potential mental health crisis, paramedics talk to the patient about “what, precisely, the issue is, asking also about issues like a patient’s mental health history, drug use and insurance status.” The information is used to determine “the next steps for the patient — maybe it is a hospital or a psych facility, or maybe it is outpatient care.” The pilot program of specialized paramedics was launched in Modesto a year ago, and “similar projects are also underway in North Carolina, Minnesota, Texas, Colorado and Georgia.”

Related Links:

— “Community Paramedics Work To Link Patients With Mental Health Care,”Shefali Luthra, Kaiser Health News, November 14, 2016.

Reuters (11/14, Rapaport) reports a recent study published online Nov. 14 in the journal Pediatrics suggests the number of US teenagers and young adults with untreated depression is increasing. The study found the prevalence of depression in youth ages 12 to 17 increased from 8.7 percent in 2005 to 11.3 percent in 2014. The prevalence of depression among adults aged 18 to 25 increased from 8.8 percent to 9.6 percent during the time span. Yet the study also found “there hasn’t been much change in the proportion of teens and young adults seeking mental health treatment.”

CNN (11/14, Howard) reports Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and a co-author of the study, said, “The new study highlights that most adolescents with depression do not receive treatment for their symptoms and underscores the need for increased attention to this condition.” Using data from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, researchers “discovered that the prevalence of major depressive episodes over a 12-month period increased among girls from about 13% in 2005 to about 17% in 2014.” Comparatively, depression in boys increased from about 4 percent in 2005 to 6 percent in 2014. Cyberbullying and interpersonal stress are cited as reasons why girls are at a greater risk for depression.

HealthDay (11/14, Mozes) reports that in an editorial accompanying the study, Dr. Anne Glowinski, director of child and adolescent psychiatry education and training at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, wrote, “There are many stressors which impact our youth….These stressors are not limited to social media and/or cyberbullying.” These may include economic factors, anxiety about the future, neighborhood violence, and, “yes, one of those things could be social media or even something not on the radar, like an increase in sleep deprivation related to excessive Internet use,” according to Glowinski.

Related Links:

— “Depression becoming more common among U.S. teens,”Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, November 14, 2016.