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- Journal Highlights Effectiveness of Research Based Psychotherapies for Youth
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April 15, 2008
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Science Update
Reviews of the current research on psychosocial and behavioral therapies, or psychotherapies, for children and adolescents found a number of “well established” and “probably efficacious” treatments for many mental disorders. The results were published in a special issue of the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.
- Maintenance Treatment Crucial for Teens’ Recovery from Depression
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April 8, 2008
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Science Update
Long-term maintenance treatment is likely to sustain improvement and prevent recurrence among adolescents with major depression, according to an NIMH-funded study.
- Newly Awarded Autism Centers of Excellence to Further Autism Research
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April 1, 2008
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Press Release
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on March 24, 2008, the latest recipients of the Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) program. These grants will support studies covering a broad range of autism research areas, including early brain development and functioning, social interactions in infants, rare genetic variants and mutations, associations between autism-related genes and physical traits, possible environmental risk factors and biomarkers, and a potential new medication treatment.
- State Survey Finds FDA “Black Box” Warning Correlates with Curtailed Antidepressant Prescriptions
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March 14, 2008
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Science Update
After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a “black box” warning on antidepressant medications, Nebraskan doctors began prescribing fewer antidepressant medications to children and teens and referring more patients to specialists, according to a state survey.
- Teens with Treatment-resistant Depression More Likely to Get Better with Switch to Combination Therapy
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February 26, 2008
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Press Release
Teens with difficult-to-treat depression who do not respond to a first antidepressant medication are more likely to get well if they switch to another antidepressant medication and add psychotherapy rather than just switching to another antidepressant.
- Cold, Unfeeling Traits Linked to Distinctive Brain Patterns in Kids with Severe Conduct Problems
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February 20, 2008
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Science Update
The callous, unemotional characteristics of some children and adolescents who bully or steal or have other severely disruptive behavior problems may have partial roots in a brain area called the amygdala.
- Gene Variants Protect Against Adult Depression Triggered by Childhood Stress
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February 4, 2008
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Press Release
Certain variations in a gene that helps regulate response to stress tend to protect adults who were abused in childhood from developing depression. Adults who had been abused but didn’t have the variations in the gene had twice the symptoms of moderate to severe depression, compared to those with the protective variations.
- Autism Risk Higher in People with Gene Variant
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January 10, 2008
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Press Release
Scientists have found a variation in a gene that may raise the risk of developing autism, especially when the variant is inherited from mothers rather than fathers.
- Scientists Can Predict Psychotic Illness in up to 80 Percent of High-Risk Youth
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January 7, 2008
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Press Release
Youth who are going to develop psychosis can be identified before their illness becomes full-blown 35 percent of the time if they meet widely accepted criteria for risk, but that figure rises to 65 to 80 percent if they have certain combinations of risk factors, the largest study of its kind has shown.
- Ethnicity Predicts How Gene Variations Affect Response to Schizophrenia Medications
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January 2, 2008
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Science Update
Different variations in the same gene influence how well different ethnic groups, and people within the same ethnic group, respond to various antipsychotic medications, report NIMH-funded researchers. If confirmed, their findings could one day help clinicians predict which medication is most likely to help a patient, based on his or her genetic makeup.
