2010 InfoMedLinks Health - Environment and Learning Archives
2009 Health - Environment and Learning:
Featured Child Health and Learning Archives
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Learning Disabilities In Males: Nine New X Chromosome Genes Linked To Learning Disabilities “Estimates suggest that the prevalence of learning disability is 2-3%. Learning disability is significantly more common in males than in females and genetic causes have long been sought on the X chromosome: males have only one X chromosome and so a gene mutation on the X is more likely to have an effect in males than in females.”
Misbehaving teens may be at risk for major adulthood problems “People who displayed behavioral problems as teenagers were likely to develop mental or personal problems in adulthood, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal.But the period from age 14 to 26 is when people are at the greatest risk for psychiatric disease, he said. On the whole, the results of the study are not surprising, he said. …"Certainly there is a relationship between how you behave in adolescence, and as it's left uncorrected and unchecked by your environment, you're going to continue to engage in those behaviors because those behaviors get reinforced," he said. “
New Tactics To Tackle Bystander’s Role In Bullying
Outcomes of conduct problems in adolescence: 40 year follow-up of national cohort. (BMJ. 2009) “CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents who exhibit externalising behaviour experience multiple social and health impairments that adversely affect them, their families, and society throughout adult life.”
Over Half Of Kids Born Very Early Need Extra Help At Mainstream Schools
Primary education 'too narrow' “These aims would be achieved through eight "domains", rather than a small number of subjects. The domains would be: arts and creativity; citizenship and ethics; faith and belief; language, oracy and literacy; mathematics; physical and emotional health; place and time (geography and history); science and technology. Prof Alexander said there had always been a problem in primary schools with striking the right balance between the basic skills, such as numeracy and literacy, and other areas, such as history. "All of them should be taught to the highest possible standard, raising the quality of educational experience across the board," he said.“
Structure More Effective In High School Science Classes, Study Reveals “Data show that "autonomy doesn't seem to hurt students who are strong in math and may, in fact, have a positive influence on their attitude toward science" Tai said. However, "Students with a weak math background who engaged in self-structured learning practices in high school may do as much as a full letter grade poorer in college science," he said.”
Students Benefit From Depth, Rather Than Breadth, In High School Science Courses “"As a former high school teacher, I always worried about whether it was better to teach less in greater depth or more with no real depth. This study offers evidence that teaching fewer topics in greater depth is a better way to prepare students for success in college science," Tai said. "These results are based on the performance of thousands of college science students from across the United States."“
Tourette Syndrome And ADHD Frequently Occur Together “The most disabling aspect of Tourette syndrome is that in 90% of cases, it exists in conjunction with another disorder. The most frequent co-occurring condition in people with Tourette is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), though the cause of this association is uncertain. Having one disorder can be disabling enough, but having two means coping with more than twice the disability. … Tourette syndrome has a great spectrum of severity. People with Tourette have motor and vocal tics -- rapid, repetitive, meaningless movements and sounds. Common motor tics include forceful blinking, opening the eyes wide, head shaking and grimacing, while the most common vocal tics are sniffing, throat clearing and grunting. Some people are very mildly affected, while others have more severe symptoms which make the disorder more noticeable and disabling. It is believed that Tourette syndrome affects about 1 in 100 people; however, many people do not seek medical attention for the disorder because the symptoms are so mild. "There are a lot of misconceptions out there about people who suffer from Tourette. The images we see on TV and movies are completely false. I have some patients who have severe tics, but less than 10% of patients with Tourette syndrome swear. It's uncommon," says Pringsheim.”
What can we do about cyber-bullying?
Adolescents Involved With Music Do Better In School “A new study in the journal Social Science Quarterly reveals that music participation, defined as music lessons taken in or out of school and parents attending concerts with their children, has a positive effect on reading and mathematic achievement in early childhood and adolescence.”
Anti-social Behavior In Girls Predicts Adolescent Depression Seven Years Later “"When all the risk factors were analyzed, anti-social behavior and anxiety were the most predictive of later depression. It just may be that they are more prevalent in the early elementary school years than depression." He noted that depression and anxiety share a number of symptoms. Mazza said that early adolescence is when the first episode of depression typically occurs and that's when it has been noted that gender difference occur, with more girls than boys experiencing depressive symptoms. Children can be assessed at 6 and 7 years of age, but depression is not often recognized or diagnosed until the middle school years. … "One finding from this study that is a mind-grabber is that young children can identify themselves as being anxious and depressed," said Mazza. "When they had scores that were elevated we were a bit surprised because we thought they would say, 'My life is fun and I play a lot.' But they are able to understand and report feeling depressed or anxious, and tell us so. This suggests giving health surveys in early elementary school is a good idea and we should talk to kids in the first and second grades because they can give us valuable information."“
Being Bullied: Associated Factors in Children and Adolescents 8 to 18 Years Old in 11 European Countries (PEDIATRICS 2009) “RESULTS. The percentage of children being bullied was 20.6% for the entire sample, ranging from 10.5% in Hungary to 29.6% in the United Kingdom. In almost all countries the factors most strongly associated with being bullied were younger age, having probable mental health problems, having a low score on the Kidscreen-52 moods and emotions dimensions, and poor social support. Using the grand mean for all countries as the reference category, there was an above-average likelihood of children or adolescents reporting that they had been victims of bullying in 5 countries (Austria, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), and a below-average likelihood in 3 countries (France, Greece, Hungary).”
Bullying Doubles Risk for Psychosomatic Ills in Kids “Psychosomatic complaints included headache, stomachache, backache, abdominal pain, dizziness, sleeping problems, poor appetite, bedwetting, skin problems, vomiting, feeling tired, or feeling tense. … However, Dr. Weihs is more cautious than the authors about what conclusions to draw from that association. ''The term psychosomatic makes the assumption that the bullying caused the somatic complaints of these children — even though the data do not support this conclusion. It would be more appropriate to describe these symptoms as somatic complaints or somatic symptoms, until the causal association is demonstrated in prospective studies," Dr. Weihs told Medscape Psychiatry. "It is likely that bullying has adverse health effects that are physiologically compromising to children, such as elevated stress hormones and the associated increase in risk of hypertension and heart disease," Dr. Weihs added. "This should also be mentioned as a needed area for future research." Meanwhile, she agrees with Dr. Gini that children with apparently psychosomatic symptoms should be questioned about bullying, "If bullying is present, an intervention to stop the child from being victimized should be undertaken," Dr. Weihs said.”
Children With Hypertension Have Trouble With Thinking, Memory “Children with high blood pressure are not as good at complicated, goal-directed tasks, have more working memory problems and are not as adept at planning as their peers without hypertension, according to recent research. If they are both hypertensive and obese, they are also more likely to have anxiety and depression.”
Early Conduct and Emotional Problems Predict Suicidal Behavior in Males “Impulsive or aggressive behavior combined with emotional problems in young boys is a strong predictor of later suicidal behavior, according to a new study. The study found that 1 in 20 boys with comorbid conduct and emotional problems at the age of 8 years killed themselves or seriously attempted to, whereas only 1 in 250 males who did not exhibit these early psychiatric problems did. As well, the study showed that almost 80% of males demonstrating suicidal behavior exhibited signs of psychiatric illness early in life.”
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