Publications - Parenting/Caregiver Advice and Support

Drinking in pregnancy tied to subtle changes in babies’ faces, by Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, Jun 9 2017.

“Women who drink even a little bit of alcohol during pregnancy may be more likely than other mothers to have babies with slight facial abnormalities that have been linked to developmental problems, a recent study suggests...'We are surprised to see these differences in facial shape with low doses of alcohol exposure, which in our study was defined as two standard drinks on any one occasion and no more than seven in a week,' said lead study author Evelyne Muggli of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne in Australia. 'This means that any level of alcohol contributes to the way the face is formed and raises questions about the possible impact on brain development, which is the subject of further research,' Muggli said by email. ”

Having adult heart risk factors in childhood tied to mental decline later, by Madeline Kennedy, Reuters, May 4 2017.

“Teens and even children with heart risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking may face midlife declines in memory and learning that are akin to an extra six years of aging, according to a Finnish study...Researchers found that people with high blood pressure and high cholesterol in their youth were likely to have worse visual memory, memory of life events and visual learning when they reached middle age. Smoking during adolescence and young adulthood was also linked to worse memory and learning in midlife. ”

Just Like Burnout at Work, It’s Possible to Burn Out on Parenting, by Sarah Watts, New York Magazine, Apr 19 2017.

“Parenting is stressful. I don’t need a study to tell me that. But sometimes, it feels more than stressful — it feels like total exhaustion. It feels like burnout. And it’s not just me. In a survey of more than 2,000 parents recently published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, researchers from the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium confirmed what I definitely already knew: Much like working professionals can burn out on their jobs, so too can moms and dads experience 'parental burnout.' ”

How To Raise Confident Multiracial Children, Bicultural Familia , Mar 20 2017.

“While our nation is increasingly diverse, there are still factors that can leave kids feeling less than confident about their heritage and wondering where they fit in.  This can cause them to feel marginalized on both sides or like they have to identify with one ethnicity over the other. Now, through the growth of the internet, nearly unlimited resources are available to modern parents who want to educate their children in a variety of cultures.   ”

As They Dig Deeper Into Parenting, Fathers Seek Community, Support, Feb 21 2017.

“Today's dads are participating in aspects of parenting that their own fathers may have neglected, and because of this cultural shift they are less likely to turn to their dads for parenting advice.  According to research conducted by the Fatherhood Initiative, a nonprofit organization that creates fatherhood education programs for community organizations, 50 percent of fathers don't feel prepared for parenthood. ”

Hospice Caregivers at Risk for Depression, by Rick Nauert, PhD, Psych Central, Feb 13 2017.

“A new University of Missouri study discovered that nearly one-quarter of hospice caregivers were moderately or severely depressed and nearly one-third had moderate or severe anxiety...Researchers recommend that health providers remember to treat the whole family, providing ongoing screening to family caregivers to identify early signs of depression and anxiety. ”

Friends may influence children's fear and anxiety, by Lisa Rapaport , Reuters, Jan 16 2017.

“Parents may have a lot to do with how children react to scary things, but a new study suggests kids’ response to fear may also be heavily influenced by their friends. In an experiment, researchers gave kids 7 to 10 years old information about scary-looking animals. They assessed how children felt on their own, and again after kids discussed their perceptions with friends. After speaking to friends, children tended to shift their opinions to match how their friends felt about the animals, the study found. ”

PTSD can persist for years in kids, but parents may not see it, by Kathryn Doyle, Reuters, Nov 8 2016.

“After a car crash, children can experience post-traumatic stress disorder for months or years afterward although parents may have trouble recognizing it, according to a new U.K. study. 'What these results stress I think is that we need to take the reactions of young children to these sorts of events seriously – their reactions can persist for years in some cases,' lead author Dr. Richard Meiser-Stedman of the University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School told Reuters Health by email.  Among children aged 8 years and over, roughly 10 to 30 percent of those in motor vehicle collisions experience PTSD, he said. ”

Can Mental Illness Be Prevented In The Womb?, by Bret Stetka , NPR, Oct 22 2016.

“Questions about whether ADHD might arise a few years down the road or whether schizophrenia could crop up in young adulthood tend to be overshadowed by more immediate parental anxieties. As a friend with a newborn daughter recently fretted over lunch, "I'm just trying not to drop her!"  Yet much as pediatricians administer childhood vaccines to guard against future infections, some psychiatrists now are thinking about how to shift their treatment-centric discipline toward one that also deals in early prevention. ”

Violence, Drugs, Mental Illness May Account for Half of Maternal Deaths, by Janice Wood, Psych Central, Oct 16 2016.

“Intimate partner violence, substance use and mental illness may be as threatening to health and survival during pregnancy as medical issues, according to a new study...Although substance use, serious mental illness and intimate partner violence may also be exacerbated by pregnancy and are known to worsen perinatal outcomes, deaths specifically due to these causes are not included in current definitions of U.S. maternal mortality, the researchers noted. ”

Study links antidepressants in pregnancy with language disorders, by Susan Scutti, CNN, Oct 12 2016.

“Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, known as SSRIs, are the most common type of antidepressants prescribed to pregnant women. Yet a new study indicates that when taken during pregnancy, the drugs are associated with a higher risk of language disorders, including dyslexia, in offspring. The children of women who took SSRIs while pregnant have a 37% greater risk of speech or language disorders compared with the children of depressed but unmedicated mothers, the researchers say. ”

New Data Shows Parents’ Age May Influence Risk of Autism, Not Schizophrenia, by Rick Nauert PhD, Psych Central, Oct 4 2016.

“The debate as to whether children of older parents have a higher risk for autism or schizophrenia has been going on for more than 30 years, and a new study from Denmark adds relevant and rigorous data to the question. Their analysis suggests parents who reproduce later in life are more likely to have children who develop autism disorders. Having children later in life was not, however, associated with increased risk for schizophrenia in offspring. ”

How our anxiety impacts our kids, by Kelly Wallace, CNN, Jul 15 2016.

“You feel anxious so you check with your child, 'Do you feel anxious? Do you feel anxious?' Sooner or later, probably sooner, they will start to feel anxious.' Dr. Gail Saltz, associate professor of psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, believes it's natural for parents to feel some anxiety, especially after a tragedy like a terror attack or a mass shooting, but what parents might not realize is how often children, beginning at the youngest ages, adopt coping mechanisms from watching us. ”

Early Bedtime For Preschoolers Might Help Reduce Obesity Risk Later, by Carolyn Beans, NPR, Jul 14 2016.

“For parents concerned that their preschoolers may one day gain excess weight, a study published Thursday suggests one strategy for keeping the little ones on track that isn't related to food: Tuck them in earlier. Scientists reporting online in The Journal of Pediatrics found, in a study of not quite a thousand U.S. children, that preschoolers who got to bed by 8 p.m. were about half as likely as those who turned in after 9 p.m. to develop obesity in their teenage years. ”

How Parents Can Help Their Underage Kids Resist Alcohol, by Aimee Cunningham , NPR, Jul 6 2016.

“Two recent studies provide guidance for parents. One finds that parents who set limits in a warm and supportive environment reduced the risk that their adolescent children would binge drink. The other study reports on the potential of a home-based program that educates parents and children about alcohol prevention. The stakes are high. About 1 in 6 teens drank alcohol before turning 13, and about the same proportion of high school kids has binged on alcohol, according to the latest biannual Youth Risk Behavior Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overall, a third of teenagers drink — down from about half of teens 25 years ago, but still a problem. ”