Investigators report that there was no association between oral contraceptive use and depressive symptom severity in the entire population they studied (ages 16 through 25). However, they found that 16-year-old girls reported higher depressive symptom severity compared with 16-year-old girls not using oral contraceptives.
Read moreAlthough reduced physical activity during the day is widely seen as a harbinger of mortality in older people, fragmentation of physical activity — spreading daily activity across more episodes of brief activity — may be an earlier indicator of mortality risk than total amount of daily activity, according to a new study.
Read moreResearchers have uncovered sex-based differences in the development of the hippocampus and amygdala. These brain areas have been implicated in the biology of several mental disorders that impact males and females differently. The findings may help researchers better understand sex-based differences in the emergence of mental disorders during adolescence and early adulthood.
Read morePolitical events can take a serious toll on mental health, a doctor has warned, after treating a man with a brief episode of acute psychosis, triggered by the 2016 Referendum on Brexit — the process of the UK leaving the European Union (EU).
Read moreIn the wake of the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001 (9/11), researchers defined the 'traumatically bereaved' as those who experienced the loss of a mother, father, sister, brother, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, other family member, friend, and/or someone else after 9/11 happened. A new study reports that this disorder warrants separate clinical attention.
Read moreWhen e-cigarettes hit the US market in 2007, they were promoted as a safer, healthier alternative to traditional, combustible cigarettes. The unintended consequence of vaping devices and e-cigarettes, however, is a new generation of vapers — teenagers — becoming addicted to nicotine. This study examines how schools influence e-cigarette use in adolescence, outlining various prevention strategies as well to hopefully decrease the trend of teenage vapers.
Read moreInsomnia is a driver of suicide, and particularly people with severe insomnia may safely benefit from taking a sedative to help address their sleep problems as it reduces their suicidal thoughts, investigators report.
Read moreEarly life stress from racial discrimination puts African Americans at greater risk for accelerated aging, a marker for premature development of serious health problems and perhaps a shorter life expectancy, according to a new study.
Read moreAfrican Americans suffer asthma more often and more severely than Caucasian patients. However, clinical trials that have shaped treatment guidelines have included few African Americans. A new report demonstrates a shortcoming of that history. Researchers report that African American children respond differently than African American adults and Caucasian adults and children to step-up therapies for inadequately controlled asthma.
Read moreThe powerhouse of the cell, the mitochondria, provides energy for cellular functions. But those activities can become disturbed when chronic stress leads to anxiety symptoms in mice and humans.
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