(Press-News.org) Philadelphia, June 4, 2021--ADHD medications may lower suicide risk in children with hyperactivity, oppositional defiance and other behavioral disorders, according to new research from the Lifespan Brain Institute (LiBI) of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the University of Pennsylvania. The findings, published today in JAMA Network Open, address a significant knowledge gap in childhood suicide risk and could inform suicide prevention strategies at a time when suicide among children is on the rise.
"This study is an important step in the much-needed effort of childhood suicide prevention, as it leverages data collected from approximately 12,000 U.S. children to identify an actionable target to reduce childhood suicides," said senior author Ran Barzilay, MD, PhD, an assistant professor at LiBI. "Early diagnosis and treatment of behavioral symptoms with ADHD medication, particularly among children with severe externalizing symptoms, may serve not only to improve learning and behavior problems, but also to decrease suicidality risk."
Suicide rates among children have been steadily rising. According to the CDC, suicide was the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 and 24 in 2018. Yet the rates are still relatively low in preadolescent children, making it difficult to identify factors that may lead to or prevent suicidal tendencies in this age range. Additionally, there are ethical limitations in enrolling potentially suicidal youth in placebo-controlled randomized clinical trials.
"In an ideal world, we want to test a medication effect on suicidality with a randomized prospective trial," Barzilay said. "But given the challenges of conducting such studies, we are obligated as a society and as scientists to generate clinical insights using data collected in large-scale observational studies of children."
The LiBI researchers, in concert with Gal Shoval, MD of Tel Aviv University, circumvented this barrier by leveraging data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. As the largest long-term study of brain development and health in the country, the ABCD Study sample includes a cohort of 11,878 children between the ages of 9 and 10 who were recruited through school systems. The cohort spans 21 sites across the United States, encompassing more than 20% of the U.S. population in this age group, and includes comprehensive data on child development, including data on mental, social, and emotional health. The magnitude and breadth of data collected in the ABCD study allowed the research team to control for multiple confounders and to dissect specifically the association of ADHD medications with suicidal tendencies.
Performing a secondary analysis of the ABCD Study data, the LiBI researchers found that of the 11,878 children in the study, 8.5% were treated with ADHD medication, such as methylphenidate, Adderall or clonidine, and 8.8% reported past or current suicidality. The researchers found that children expressing suicidal tendencies had more externalizing symptoms and were more likely to receive ADHD medication than non-suicidal children. However, among children who demonstrated significant externalizing behaviors, those taking ADHD medications had lesser odds for suicidality, suggesting a moderating role for ADHD medications in these children.
To study whether this effect endured, the researchers analyzed data from participants' one-year follow-up assessments. They found that children with high externalizing symptoms who were treated with ADHD medications at baseline were less likely to be suicidal one year later. Children who were not receiving ADHD medications at baseline but had high externalizing symptoms were more likely to be suicidal at the one-year follow up.
"Given the connection between childhood suicidality and poor adult mental health, these findings emphasize the importance of better and more thorough screening of school-aged children for externalizing behavioral symptoms," Barzilay said. "These symptoms are treatable, and addressing them early has the strong potential to prevent and mitigate serious mental health issues later in life."
INFORMATION:
Shoval et al. "Evaluation of ADHD medications, externalizing symptoms, and suicidality in children," JAMA Network Open, online June 4, 2021, DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.11342
About Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 595-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu
What The Study Did: This survey study in California assesses what the public knows about extreme risk protection orders and if people are willing to use them to prevent firearm-related harm, both in general and when a family member is at risk, and if not, why not. The orders temporarily suspend firearm and ammunition access by individuals a judge has deemed to be at substantial risk of harming themselves or others.
Authors: Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the University of California Davis School of Medicine in Sacramento, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.0975)
Editor's Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please ...
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- Extreme risk protection orders, also known as END ...
The cost of offsetting corporate carbon emissions needs to increase ten-fold to drive meaningful climate action, says a landmark report by Trove Research and UCL.
Current prices of carbon offsets are unsustainably low and need to increase significantly to encourage greater investment in new projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere.
If prices stay low companies could be accused of greenwashing their emissions, as real emissions reduction and carbon removals are more costly than today's prices.
Prices of carbon credits used by companies to offset their emissions are currently low, due to an excess of supply built up over several years, together with issues over whether payments for credits really result in additional reductions ...
Details:
Peripersonal space (PPS) is defined as the space near the body within which we can reach external objects and be reached by others. It has the special function of multisensory facilitation. A research team at Toyohashi University of Technology, in collaboration with researchers at Keio University and the University of Tokyo, investigated PPS representation in the front, rear, left, and right directions by audio-tactile multisensory integration using tactile detection with task-irrelevant approaching and receding sounds. They found that the tactile stimulus was detected faster near the body space than far from it when sound approached from any direction, but not when it receded. Thus, peripersonal representations exist with approaching sound, irrespective ...
Proteins are the key players in our cellular processes. Their generation follows principles called transcription and translation. First, DNA copies its genetic information to messenger RNA (mRNA), which then determines the sequence in a chain of amino acids, which finally fold into a protein. The reality, however, is more complex: More than 90 per cent of our genes do not result in only one mRNA and then one protein, but a process called alternative splicing produces several mRNA variants, only some of which are then translated into a specific protein isoform in a specific cell at a given time. Conventional techniques to detect alternative splicing are mostly single time-point measurements that are work-intense and cannot reliably ...
Since the era of meteorological satellites began in the 1950s, continuous remote sensing instrument improvements have elevated Earth science and have significantly increased available atmospheric observations. Likewise, scientists have made considerable advancements in understanding Earth's atmosphere, climate, and environment. Furthering growth of atmospheric science within the last 20 years, satellite-based infrared (IR) sounders onboard low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites have provided high spectral (or hyperspectral) IR radiances. These sounders can determine ...
The first evidence of a genetic link explaining why some people who catch Covid-19 don't become sick has been discovered
A scientific and medical team led by Newcastle University, UK, has demonstrated that the gene, HLA-DRB1*04:01, is found three times as often in people who are asymptomatic. This suggests that people with this gene have some level of protection from severe Covid.
The study, funded by Innovate UK, the UK's innovation agency, compared asymptomatic people to patients from the same community who developed severe Covid but had no underlying illnesses, and is published in the HLA journal.
The study team believe this is the first clear evidence of genetic ...
They recently published their findings in the renowned journal "Advanced Materials". Cells are not only our biological building blocks, but also highly dynamic, active systems. The research group led by Professor Käs has succeeded in significantly reducing these dynamics with heavy water, without damaging the cells.
"Generally, a lot of people know heavy water for its important technical use in nuclear power plants. We took a different approach here and were able to show that for cells, time - or, more specifically, their dynamics - can be significantly slowed down in the presence of heavy ...
Graphene may be among the most exciting scientific discoveries of the last century. While it is strikingly familiar to us--graphene is considered an allotrope of carbon, meaning that it essentially the same substance as graphite but in a different atomic structure--graphene also opened up a new world of possibilities for designing and building new technologies.
The material is two-dimensional, meaning that each "sheet" of graphene is only 1 atom thick, but its bonds make it as strong as some of the world's hardest metal alloys while remaining lightweight and flexible. This valuable, unique mix of properties have piqued the interest of scientists from a wide range of fields, leading to research in using graphene for next-generation ...
Engaged listening techniques such as eye contact, nodding and using key words to praise openness helps teenagers when they admit bad behaviour and share hurt feelings with their parents, a new study has shown.
University of Reading and Haifa researchers asked 1001 13 to 16-year-olds to watch a staged conversation between a parent and teenager about a difficult situation, with the parent adopting different body language and listening behaviour in different versions.
The participants who watched the versions where the parent was visibly attentive stated that they would have felt better about themselves as the teenager and would be more likely to open up about their ...
