“Popularity: What is it made of? How does a person get to be popular with lots of people and get a few close friends, too?” Zeroing in on a group of teens trying to navigate the social landscape of a 1940s high school, we learn the answers to these questions. While some girls, like Ginny, think they might have the key to popularity — parking in cars with boys — that doesn’t translate: “No, girls who park in cars are not really popular — not even with the boys they park with.” We follow Carolyn, Wally, and their friends while they help out with the school play, learning how to cultivate respectable relationships.
Ferris Jabr discusses research that finds how looking at a picture of a loved one can dull physical pain.
Many mothers offer their young children a hand to squeeze as they brave a vaccination in the doctor’s office. We instinctively know that contact with a loved one can help mitigate pain—and the scientific evidence concurs. Now two recent studies show that a mere reminder of an absent beloved—a photograph—can deliver the same relief. Curious? Continue reading
Adolescence can herald the onset of major depression and the associated short- and long-term consequences including developmental and social impairment. Research that focuses on access to treatment for adolescents with depression can shine a bright light on the persistent disparities based on race and ethnicity. Unfortunately such research reinforces the fact that equitable mental health care across all individuals and communities has yet to be achieved.</p> <p>In a study in the February 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), researchers from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory in Atlanta, Georgia analyzed five years of data (2004-2008) collected from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The study evaluated a national representative sample of 7,704 adolescents, from 12 to 17 years of age, who were diagnosed with major depression within the past year. Researchers studied the differences in treatment for depression across four racial/ethnic groups of adolescents with major depression (i.e., non-Hispanic whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians). [continue reading…]
In the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, a group of German investigators presents new data on role of treatment preferences in the outcome of depression.
This study demonstrates that patients’ relative preference for medication versus psychotherapy should be considered when offering a treatment to depressed patients because receiving the preferred treatment conveys an additional and clinically relevant benefit in outcome.
Little is known about the influence of depressed patients’ preferences and expectations about treatments upon treatment outcome. In this study the researchers investigated whether better clinical outcome in depressed primary care patients is associated with receiving their preferred treatment. [continue reading…]
