Child Psychology

Working moms: Looking for more than a paycheck - Tue, 24 Jan 2012
Working mothers may be busy, but they like it that way. A recent study of employed moms finds that most would work even if they didn’t have to, but they’re also looking for new ways to negotiate the demands of mothering and the pressures to be an “ideal” employee.

Children with autism have lower levels of HDL - Tue, 24 Jan 2012
Scientists looked at blood levels of lipids and fatty acids in two groups of South Korean children – one group of typically developing boys and another group of boys with an autism diagnosis. Even though there were no major differences in what these children ate, those with autism had a lower…

Children with autism have lower levels of HDL - Tue, 24 Jan 2012
Scientists looked at blood levels of lipids and fatty acids in two groups of South Korean children – one group of typically developing boys and another group of boys with an autism diagnosis. Even though there were no major differences in what these children ate, those with autism had a lower…

Dangerous choking ‘game’ prevalent among teens in Texas - Wed, 18 Jan 2012
Nearly one out of seven college students surveyed at a Texas university has participated in the ‘Choking Game,’ a dangerous behavior where blood flow is deliberately cut off to the brain in order to achieve a high, according to a new study.

Plugged into learning: Computers help students advance - Tue, 17 Jan 2012
Technology has grown by leaps and bounds, yet are computers helping students progress in their learning? Absolutely, says a 40-year retrospective on the impact of technology in classrooms.

Gene regulator in brain’s executive hub tracked across lifespan - Thu, 02 Feb 2012
Scientists have tracked the activity, across the lifespan, of an environmentally responsive regulatory mechanism that turns genes on and off in the brain’s executive hub. Genes implicated in schizophrenia and autism are among those in which regulatory activity peaks during an…

The complex relationship between memory and silence - Fri, 03 Feb 2012
People who suffer a traumatic experience often don’t talk about it, and many forget it over time. But not talking about something doesn’t always mean you’ll forget it; if you try to force yourself not to think about white bears, soon you’ll be imagining polar bears doing the polka. A group of…

Schooling protects refugee children from disease - Fri, 03 Feb 2012
Refugee children have scant access to medical care and are particularly vulnerable to disease. Fresh research results show that just a few hours of schooling a week may have a pronounced positive impact on their health not only in childhood but later in life when they achieve adulthood.

Sickle cell anemia stroke prevention efforts may have decreased racial disparities - Thu, 02 Feb 2012
The disparity in stroke-related deaths among black and white children dramatically narrowed after prevention strategies changed to include ultrasound screening and chronic blood transfusions for children with sickle cell anemia, according to new research.

Anesthesia Exposure Linked To ADHD In Children - Fri, 03 Feb 2012
A study by researchers at Mayo Clinic, Rochester Minn., and published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, reveals that children who have been under anesthesia many times when they are young have a greater risk of developing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). According to David Warner, M…

Young children exposed to anesthesia multiple times show elevated rates of ADHD - Thu, 02 Feb 2012
Researchers have found that multiple exposures to anesthesia at a young age are associated with higher rates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Here is what real commitment to your marriage means - Wed, 01 Feb 2012
What does being committed to your marriage really mean? A psychology professors answer this question in a new study based on their analysis of 172 married couples over the first 11 years of marriage.

Sleep deprivation tied to increased nighttime urination in preadolescence - Wed, 01 Feb 2012
A new study sheds light on why some children may need to urinate more often during the rest cycle. Researchers found sleep deprivation caused healthy children, ages 8-12, to urinate significantly more frequently, excrete more sodium in urine, have altered regulation of the hormones important for…

Infections in childhood linked to high risk of ischemic stroke - Wed, 01 Feb 2012
Common infections in children pose a high risk of ischemic stroke, according to new research. In a review of 2.5 million children, the researchers identified 126 childhood ischemic stroke cases and then randomly selected 378 age-matched controls from the remaining children without stroke. They…

Case Report Of Ganser Syndrome In A 14-year-old Girl: Another Face Of Depressive Disorder ? - Tue, 31 Jan 2012
The Ganser syndrome is rare in children and in adolescents. A case of Ganser syndrome in a 14-year-old girl, with three of the four essential features, is presented. After rapid resolution in two weeks, Ganser symptoms reappear seven months later accompanied, this second time, by previous…

Mom’s love good for child’s brain - Mon, 30 Jan 2012
School-age children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus, a key structure important to learning, memory and response to stress. The new research, by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists, is the first to show that changes in this critical region of…

Gene mutation in autism found to cause hyperconnectivity in brain’s hearing center - Tue, 31 Jan 2012
New research might help explain how a gene mutation found in some autistic individuals leads to difficulties in processing auditory cues and paying spatial attention to sound.

Surprisingly high number of adults with severe learning disabilities also have autism, UK research shows - Tue, 31 Jan 2012
New UK research on autism in adults has shown that adults with a more severe learning disability have a greater likelihood of having autism. This group, mostly living in private households, was previously ‘invisible’ in estimates of autism.

Special Editorial: The [Mis]Interpretation of Anti-Bullying Efforts - Tue, 31 Jan 2012
An article in the New York Times caught my eye last week.  Two first graders engaged in recess roughhousing and one classmate purportedly touched the upper thigh and/or groin of the other.  No witnesses.  The six year-old accused of the touching was promptly suspended from school for sexual…

Lifelong payoff for attentive kindergarten kids - Sun, 29 Jan 2012
Attentiveness in kindergarten accurately predicts the development of “work-oriented” skills in school children, according to a new study.