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Stimulant medications may harm sleep for kids with ADHD

By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) – Taking stimulant medications may decrease quantity and quality of sleep for kids with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to an analysis of existing studies. “Some researchers note that stimulants may improve sleep, because they reduce bedtime-resistant behaviors,” said lead author Katherine M. Kidwell, a psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Nebraska. “However, our study shows that stimulant medications impair sleep in children,” Kidwell told Reuters Health by email.

Early life adversity and later depression for teens

By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) – Tough experiences before age six, like family instability or abuse, are tied to changes in brain structure and to a higher risk of anxiety or depression, according to a study of mother-son pairs in England. “Early adversity increases later symptoms of depression or anxiety, which, in turn, can associate with variation in cortical structure,” said senior author Edward D. Barker of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King’s College London. “Most children will experience a degree of adversity, but this is not necessarily harmful,” Barker told Reuters Health by email.

Stable childhood may lead to healthy adult heart

By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) – In Finland, kids who have a “stable, healthy” childhood grow up to have better heart health as adults. In a long-term study of more than 1,000 men and women, those who had a higher socioeconomic status, positive emotional factors, better parental health behaviors, fewer stressful events and better social adjustment from age three to 18 had more ‘ideal cardiovascular heath’ 27 years later, well into adulthood. The idea that psychosocial factors are associated with health outcomes isn’t new. …

Teen contraband cigarette use linked to other drugs

By Kathryn Doyle Reuters Health – Compared to those who don’t smoke illicit tobacco, kids who do are more likely to try other illegal drugs like cocaine, heroin and amphetamines, according to a recent Canadian study. The researchers used survey data from one point in time, so they can’t say that smoking illegal cigarettes leads to drug use, only that the two often coincide and that’s enough to warrant stronger tobacco control policies. “The concern for us is that contraband tobacco may be a gateway to other drugs, but we cannot infer causality,” said coauthor Mesbah F. …