(Press-News.org) Nearly one-third of the nation’s K-12 U.S. public schools mandate mental health screening for students, with most offering in-person treatment or referral to a community mental health professional if a student is identified as having depression or anxiety, according to a new study.
About 40% of principals surveyed said it was very hard or somewhat hard to ensure that students receive appropriate care, while 38% said it was easy or very easy to find adequate care for students. The findings are published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
“Our results suggest that there are multiple barriers to mental health screening in schools, including a lack of resources and knowledge of screening mechanics, as well as concerns about increased workload of identifying students,” said Jonathan Cantor, the study’s lead author and a policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.
In 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General declared a youth mental health emergency. Researchers say that public schools are strategic resources for screening, treatment and referral for mental health services for young people who face barriers in other settings.
Researchers wanted to understand screening for mental health at U.S. public schools, given increased concerns about youth mental health following the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In October 2024, the RAND study surveyed 1,019 principals who participate in the RAND American School Leader panel, a nationally representative sample of K-12 public school principals.
They were asked whether their school mandated screening for mental health issues, what steps are taken if a student is identified as having depression or anxiety, and how easy or difficult it is to ensure that such students received adequate services.
Researchers found that 30.5% of responding principals said their school required screening of students with mental health problems, with nearly 80% reporting that parents typically are notified if students screen positive for depression or anxiety.
More than 70% of principals reported that their school offers in-person treatment for students who screen positive, while 53% of principals said they may refer a student to a community mental health care professional.
The study found higher rates of mental health screenings in schools with 450 or more students and in districts with mostly racial and ethnic minority groups as the student populations.
“Policies that promote federal and state funding for school mental health, reimbursement for school-based mental health screening, and adequate school mental health staff ratios may increase screening rates and increase the likelihood of successfully connecting the student to treatment,” Cantor said.
Support for the study was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health.
Other authors of the study are Ryan K. McBain, Aaron Kofner, Joshua Breslau and Bradley D. Stein, all of RAND; Jacquelin Rankine of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; Fang Zhang, Hao Yu and Alyssa Burnett, all of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute; and Ateev Mehrotra of the Brown University School of Public Health.
RAND Health Care promotes healthier societies by improving health care systems in the United States and other countries.
END
One-third of U.S. public schools screen students for mental health issues
Principals say providing proper care often is hard to achieve
2025-07-18
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
GLP-1 RA use and survival among older adults with cancer and type 2 diabetes
2025-07-18
About The Study: In older patients with cancer and type 2 diabetes, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) use was associated with lower all-cause mortality compared with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP4i) use, with no significant difference relative to sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor. The survival benefit over DPP4i persisted across age, sex, non-Hispanic white race, obesity status, and several cancer types (colorectal, lung, and breast).
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Jingchuan Guo, MD, PhD, email guoj1@ufl.edu.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.21887)
Editor’s ...
Trends in physician exit from fee-for-service Medicare
2025-07-18
About The Study: Over time, physician exit from traditional Medicare has increased. This result is consistent with earlier findings, but exits remained high even after the pandemic, which likely accelerated some physicians’ exit. The findings may reflect multiple factors, including the greater burden of new communication methods (e.g., portal messages) and demands for clinical documentation.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Hannah T. Neprash, PhD, email hneprash@umn.edu.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.2267)
Editor’s ...
Systematic investigation of tumor microenvironment and antitumor immunity with IOBR
2025-07-18
Over the past decade, the advent of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy has transformed cancer treatment. Unlike conventional cytotoxic and targeted therapies, immunotherapy leverages both the innate and adaptive immune systems to target and eradicate tumors within the tumor microenvironment (TME). The TME is a highly organized ecosystem shaped by the intricate interactions between its diverse cellular and non-cellular components, which include tumor cells, immune cells, microbiota, endothelial cells, fibroblasts, and the extracellular matrix. Consequently, gaining a thorough ...
Common feature between forest fires and neural networks reveals the universal framework underneath
2025-07-18
Researchers from the University of Tokyo in collaboration with Aisin Corporation have demonstrated that universal scaling laws, which describe how the properties of a system change with size and scale, apply to deep neural networks that exhibit absorbing phase transition behavior, a phenomenon typically observed in physical systems. The discovery not only provides a framework describing deep neural networks but also helps predict their trainability or generalizability. The findings were published in the journal Physical Review Research.
In recent years, it seems no matter where we look, we come across artificial intelligence ...
New R package revolutionizes gene set enrichment analysis visualization for biomedical research
2025-07-18
Scientists at China Pharmaceutical University have launched GseaVis, a groundbreaking R package designed to transform how researchers visualize and interpret Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) results in biomedical research.
Gene Set Enrichment Analysis is a powerful computational method widely used to determine whether predefined sets of genes show statistically significant differences between biological states, such as healthy versus diseased conditions. However, effective visualization of GSEA results ...
Benign uterine tumor resembling cancer highlights diagnostic challenges
2025-07-18
“This case highlights that lipoleiomyomas can present many years after attaining menopause.”
BUFFALO, NY — July 18, 2025 — A new case report was published in Volume 12 of Oncoscience on July 2, 2025, titled “Navigating diagnostic complexity: A case report on uterine lipoleiomyoma, unveiling its benign nature amidst characteristics resembling liposarcoma.”
In this report, Seetu Palo, first corresponding author Mishu Mangla and colleagues from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences describe a rare case where a benign uterine tumor closely resembles a malignant tumor in an elderly patient. ...
Diagnostic performance of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy in discriminating normal breast tissue and breast tumors
2025-07-18
Background and objectives
Histopathology is the gold standard in cancer diagnosis. However, attenuated total reflectance (ATR)-Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has shown diagnostic potential in other settings. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the sensitivity and specificity of the ATR-FTIR spectroscopy in evaluating breast lesions.
Methods
This study was conducted on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded biopsy blocks received at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital between ...
Recent advancements in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration
2025-07-18
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) remains a leading cause of vision loss globally, with significant advancements in treatment options for both dry and wet AMD. As highlighted by Huang and colleagues, "Current therapies for dry AMD have limited effectiveness in halting the progression of geographic atrophy (GA), underscoring the need for innovative approaches".
One of the most notable breakthroughs is the FDA approval of pegcetacoplan and avacincaptad pegol, targeting the complement system to slow GA progression. Pegcetacoplan, a C3 inhibitor, reduced GA lesion growth by 19–22% ...
Comprehensive multi-omics integration reveals B cell-derived ELL2 as a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in sepsis
2025-07-18
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by organ dysfunction resulting from the body's dysregulated response to infection. Annually, sepsis affects more than 31 million people worldwide, with a mortality rate of approximately 30%. The disease is characterized by rapid progression, poor prognosis, and high mortality, posing significant challenges in critical care medicine. Early diagnosis and intervention are crucial for improving patient outcomes. In a study published in the journal "Med Research," a team of researchers ...
How tumor microbes shape cancer: New insights into microbial diversity in the tumor microenvironment
2025-07-18
Intratumoral microbiota—the microbial populations residing within solid tumors—have emerged as pivotal components of the tumor microenvironment (TME), influencing tumor initiation, progression, and therapeutic outcomes. In a comprehensive review published in Med Research, researchers from Southern Medical University and collaborating institutions systematically examine the heterogeneity of these microorganisms and their multifaceted roles in cancer biology.
The authors categorize microbial heterogeneity at three distinct levels: among different ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
UMass Amherst-led team finds rapidly changing river patterns in High-mountain Asia pose a challenge for region’s energy future
New compound disrupts survival pathways in aromatase inhibitor-resistant breast cancer cells
Arabic and Czech translations, more than 4,000 new concepts boost global interoperability in latest LOINC® release
New treatment eliminates bladder cancer in 82% of patients
Finding the shadows in a fusion system faster with AI
Weekend habits linked to new sleep disorder trend: ‘Social Apnea’
FAU lands $700,000 U.S. EPA grant to monitor water quality in Lake Okeechobee
WSU team unlocks biological process underlying coho die-offs
Chungnam National University researchers develop next-gen zinc batteries: artificial polymer nanolayers improve zinc battery stability
$500 million fundraising goal surpassed by The University of Texas at San Antonio two years early
Illinois team updates state threatened, endangered plant species rankings
AASM is accepting abstracts and award entries for Sleep Medicine Disruptors 2025
Researchers re-engineer AI language model to target previously ‘undruggable’ disease proteins
Gaia’s variable stars: a new map of the stellar life cycle
AI web browser assistants raise serious privacy concerns
AI-enhanced infrared thermography for reliable detection of temperature patterns in calves
Now you see me, now you don’t: how subtle ‘sponsored content’ on social media tricks us into viewing ads
New method loads mRNA into exosomes in 10 minutes—just mix and go
Concerns about sexual function persist well beyond midlife
Can grapevines help slow the plastic waste problem?
People disregard advice when making tough decisions
Study reveals how small changes in walking technique may help treat knee osteoarthritis
Reciprocal links likely between certain groups of gut bacteria and insomnia risk
Taste and price, not calories, key drivers for online takeaway orders, survey suggests
Patients still view doctor’s white coat as symbol of professionalism and trust
The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology: Routine AI assistance may lead to loss of skills in health professionals who perform colonoscopies, study suggests
Obese surgical patients’ medication lifeline can reduce risk - study
How to relieve arthritic knee pain without drugs or surgery
Mental health care needs urgent reform to include lifestyle interventions
Understanding readers’ imaginations could enhance mental health therapies
[Press-News.org] One-third of U.S. public schools screen students for mental health issuesPrincipals say providing proper care often is hard to achieve