New research by Weill Cornell Medical College researchers looks at the specific ways parents and peers influence teenagers to smoke, drink and use marijuana in combination. Among their findings: attitudes toward smoking influenced teenagers’ use of multiple drugs (smoking, drinking and marijuana), and that this manifested itself differently in boys and girls. [continue reading…]
Adolescent Health
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It might be obvious to many, and reading this particular press release my first reaction was …OK… it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that adolescent depression and anxiety disorders are two distinct psychiatric disorders and are classified thus in the revised fourth edition of the DSM-IV. However it has been suggested that these two disorders be given a join classification in the DSM-V. Dr. William W. Hale III(a researcher of the Langeveld Institute for the Study of Education and Development in Childhood and Adolescence at Utrecht University) and his colleagues completed a five-year study which concluded that while adolescent anxiety and depression were strongly related to one another, adolescent depression and anxiety disorder symptoms are in fact best classified as two distinct disorders.As such Hale argues that the classification of adolescent depression and anxiety disorders be preserved in the DSM-V
This publication will appear in the October issue of The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and can be found online at : http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgibin/fulltext/122473904/PDFSTART
Police say text messaging while driving is one of the most dangerous distractions for teens on the road. As crazy as it may seem to many adults texting while driving seems impossible; but many teens still do it. Recently a graphic British video made by the police department in Gwent, Wales, last summer for $20,000 was posted on YouTube and highlights in graphic details the dangers of texting while driving.
According to a British study motorists who send text messages while driving are “significantly more impaired” than those who drive drunk, even at the minimum legal limit for alcohol. We’d love to hear what you think.Â
Teenagers who have minor depression are at a higher risk of mental health problems later in life.The BBC reports on a study from Columbia University.
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The British Journal of Psychiatry report said further research was needed to unpick the reasons for the link. continue reading
Source: BBC News
Related: Prevention of depression in adolescents
