The Teen Brain: Still Under Construction (link to NIMH brochure and personal musings)

The US National Institute of Mental Health has recently published an easy to read brochure which outlines brain changes in the still developing adolescent brain.  An understanding of these changes go a long way in explaining puzzling contradictions in teen behavior.

These sections of the brochure especially resonated with me. They essentially point to growing evidence that even up to their early 20’s, people are still maturing emotionally. They have not yet reached full capacity to think and reason.

“The (functional brain imaging) scans also suggest that different parts of the cortex mature at different rates. Areas involved in more basic functions mature first: those involved, for example, in the processing of information from the senses, and in controlling movement. The parts of the brain responsible for more “top-down control, controlling impulses, and planning ahead – the hallmarks of adult behavior- are among the last to mature.”

“Several lines of evidence suggests that the brain circuitry involved in emotional responses is changing during the teen years. Functional brain imaging studies, for example, suggest that the responses of teens to emotionally loaded images and situations are heightened relative to younger children and adults. The brain changes underlying these patterns involve brain centers and signaling molecules taht are part of the reward system with which the brain motivates behavior. These age-related changes shape how much different parts of the brain are activated in response to experience, and in terms of behavior, the urgency and intensity of emotional reactions.”

As adults, we have the responsibility to continue to nurture young adults, provide guidance, and fully respect them in the light of how they are able to reason, react emotionally, and learn.

These responsibilities we have as adults should resonate in the public sector.
For example, those who market and advertise should exercise caution with “emotionally laden images” when targeting teens and young adults to buy their products and services. To do otherwise is disrespectful.

In a similar vein, I believe that the recruitment of people under 21 into the armed services is not too farm removed from recruiting child soldiers. Again, it is easy to market with images appealing to the emotions involved with sense of adventure, being in a group of like minded individuals, patriotism, and fighting evil. But is the age group of 18-21 a good fit for the military? I think not.  Recruiting in this age group is taking advantage of the still developing, not fully developed  areas of the brain devoted to analyzing risks and self control. People in this age group should be guided and nurtured in environments in which risk taking and self control  are valued, not violence based or used against individuals or groups. I believe the military is violence based under the guise of words as protection, defense, and patriotism. The military is no place for a developing brain.

Related articles

• Teen Alcoholism and Drug Addiction (everydayhealth.com)
• In Adolescent Brain, Gray Matter is Lost from Past Abuse (psychcentral.com)
• Book on teen brains can help improve decision making (jfnet.wordpress.com)
• Insight on Brain Development (enfamil.com)
• Medical: Teen brains are a work in progress (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Brilliant, brazen, teenage brains (psychologytoday.com)
• Brilliant, brazen, teenage brains (my.psychologytoday.com)
• Why teens are wired for risk (cnn.com)
• When Teenagers Cut Themselves (everydayhealth.com)

Popular Baby Media May Not Actually Advance Learning

Popular Baby Media May Not Actually Advance Learning
Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:00:00 -0600

As science catches up to marketing, doubts arise about value, effectiveness

Source: HealthDay
Related MedlinePlus Pages: Infant and Newborn Development, Toddler Development

Seeing And Experiencing Violence Makes Aggression ‘Normal’ For Children

Seeing And Experiencing Violence Makes Aggression ‘Normal’ For Children

From a March 30 Medical News item

The more children are exposed to violence, the more they think it’s normal, according to a study in the current Social Psychological and Personality Science(published by SAGE). Unfortunately, the more they think violence is normal, the more likely they are to engage in aggression against others.

Researchers asked nearly 800 children, from 8 to 12 years old, about whether they had witnessed violence at school, in their neighborhood, at home, or on TV. They also asked the participants if they had been a victim of violence with questions like “How often has somebody hit you at home?” The survey also measured responses to whether aggression was appropriate, such as in the statement: “Sometimes you have to hit others because they deserve it.” The final section of the questionnaire measured how aggressive the child was, based both on their own report and what their classmates said about them.

Six months later, they surveyed the children again, asking the same questions. This allowed them to test whether witnessing violence – or being a victim of it – led to higher levels of aggression half a year later.

The schoolchildren who had witnessed violence were more aggressive. Witnessing violence also had a delayed effect – observing violence at the first phase of the study predicted more aggression six months later, over and above how aggressive the children were in the beginning.

The same effect occurred for being a victim of violence. Victimization at the first phase of the study was associated with more aggression six months later, even given the high levels of aggression at the study’s start.

The increased aggression was caused in part by a change in how the children thought that violence was normal. Seeing violence – at home, school, on TV, or as its victim – made it seem common, normal, and acceptable. Thinking that aggression is “normal” led to more of it.

“Exposure to violence can also increase aggression regardless of whether at home, at school, in or in the virtual world of TV, regardless of whether the person is a witness or a victim,” the authors wrote. “People exposed to a heavy diet of violence come to believe that aggression is a normal way to solve conflict and get what you want in life. These beliefs lower their inhibitions against aggression against others.”

Notes:

The research team was headed by Izaskun Orue of University of Deusto in Spain, and included Brad Bushman of Ohio State University, and researchers from The Netherlands and Germany.

The article “Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Hurt: Longitudinal Effects of Exposure to Violence on Children’s Aggressive Behavior” in Social Psychological and Personality Science is available free for a limited time here.

Source:
Ashley Wrye
SAGE Publications

 

 

Related Articles

• Is Someone You Know Being Abused? (john1513.wordpress.com)
• Advertising and Male Violence (asm4m1.wordpress.com)
• Parenting Solutions: Bullying (education.com)
• How to Protect Your Child From Bullying Entourage (socyberty.com)
• Coping With a Very Aggressive Child (everydayhealth.com)

Relationships With Friends May Hinge On How Well You Know Them

Relationships With Friends May Hinge On How Well You Know Them

From a March 26, 2011 Medical News Today item

How does your best friend feel when people act needy? Or, about people being dishonest? What do they think when others seem uncomfortable in social situations? According to an upcoming study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, if you don’t know – your relationship may pay a price. There are lots of ways to know someone’s personality. You can say “she’s an extrovert” or “she’s usually happy.” You may also know how he or she reacts to different situations and other people’s behavior…

For information on how to get this article for free or at low cost, click here.
Or contact me through this blog

Related article

Social Rejection And Physical Pain

[Medical News Today] March 29, 2011 4:00:00 AM EDT Share

Physical pain and intense feelings of social rejection “hurt” in the same way, a new study shows. The study demonstrates that the same regions of the brain that become active in response to painful sensory experiences are activated during intense experiences of social rejection. “These results give new meaning to the idea that social rejection ‘hurts’,” said University of Michigan social psychologist Ethan Kross, lead author of the article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…

• Psychological Problems In Childhood Have Long-Term Economic And Social Impact, Study Finds

From a Medical News Today March 29, 2011 item

Psychological problems experienced during childhood can have a long-lasting impact on an individual’s life course, reducing people’s earnings and decreasing the chances of establishing long-lasting relationships, according to a new study. Analyzing information about large group of British residents followed for five decades from the week of their birth, researchers found that family income was about one-fourth lower on average by age 50 among those who experienced serious psychological problems during childhood than among those who did not experience such problems…

Child Trends – Research and Resources

Child Trends

From a Scout Report summary by KMG

 

Child Trends is a non-profit, non-partisan research center, and is the “nation’s only independent research and policy center focused exclusively on improving outcomes for children.”

Research  topics include “Child Poverty,” “Fatherhood & Parenting,” “Youth Development,” and “Health.” In each section, the research focus on that topic is explained in a brief introduction, followed by resources that include research briefs, executive summaries and full reports, fact sheets, and a publications archive of materials over three years old.

A feature that visitors shouldn’t miss is “What Works/LINKS,” which can be accessed via the left side menu. The data in this section is about “programs that work -or don’t- to enhance children’s development”. There are effectiveness charts, “Lifecourse Interventions that Work,” and a continually updated database on programs that work (or don’t).

Visitors who are “Program Providers” in policy, education, or the media will find the “Information for…” heading on the left side of the homepage useful for fulfilling their specific needs.

Processed, Fatty Foods May Dumb Down Your Kids: Study

Processed, Fatty Foods May Dumb Down Your Kids: Study
But healthful diet for toddlers can boost intelligence later on, researchers say

From a February 8, 2011 Health Day news item

MONDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) — Feeding children lots of fatty, sugary and processed foods may lower their IQ, while a diet rich in vitamins and nutrients appears to boost it, British researchers say.

This is particularly true during the first three years of life when the brain is developing rapidly, the study authors explained. They speculate that good nutrition may promote brain growth and cognitive development.

“We have found some evidence to suggest that a diet associated with increasing consumption of foods that are high in fat, sugar and processed foods in early childhood is associated with small reductions in IQ in later childhood,” said lead researcher Kate Northstone, a research fellow in the department of social medicine at the University of Bristol.

A more health-conscious diet was associated with small increases in IQ, she said.

Children should be encouraged to eat healthy foods from an early age, she said. “We know this is important for physical growth and development, but it may also be important for mental ability,” she added.

For the study, published online Feb. 7 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Northstone’s team collected data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children on 3,966 children born in 1991 and 1992.

The children’s parents had answered questions about their kids’ diets at age 3, 4, 7 and 8.5 years. The children’s IQs were measured using the standard Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children when they were 8.5 years old.

The researchers identified three basic diets: “processed,” crammed with fats, sugar and convenience foods; a “traditional” diet high in meats and vegetables; and a “health conscious” diet with lots of fruit, vegetables, salads, fish, rice and pasta.

Children who ate a diet high in processed foods at age 3 had a lower IQ at 8.5 years than kids with a healthy diet. For every one point increase in processed foods consumption, they lost 1.67 points in IQ. Conversely, every one point increase in healthy eating translated into a 1.2 point increase in IQ, the researchers found.

The key seemed to be the diet at age 3, since diet at 4 and 7 seemed to have no effect on IQ, the research team noted. However, to truly understand the effect of diet on children’s intelligence, further studies are needed, they said.

Commenting on the study, Samantha Heller, a dietitian, nutritionist and exercise physiologist in Fairfield, Conn., said that “most of us do not realize that the foods we eat have direct consequences on brain growth, function and performance.”

When a child’s diet consists primarily of high-calorie foods that are low in the nutrients they need (such as healthy fats, vitamins and minerals), their brains don’t get the compounds necessary to develop and function properly, Heller said. “This can have a series of deleterious effects, including decreased cognitive ability, poor behavior and social skills,” she said.

“Fast and junk food seem like an easy and affordable option for busy parents, but defaulting to high-fat, high-sugar, high-calorie foods is putting their children’s health and future at risk,” Heller said.

Cooking easy, healthy meals for the family will give “children’s brains a boost in essential nutrients needed for healthy development and improved cognitive skills,” she added.

SOURCES: Kate Northstone, Ph.D., research fellow, department of social medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, England; Samantha Heller, M.S., R.D., dietitian, nutritionist, exercise physiologist, Fairfield, Conn.; Feb. 7, 2011, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health**

 

Go to the Tasty, Healthy Family Meals posting for great recipes. Or go directly to the online  meals cookbook.

** For suggestions on how to get this article for free or at low cost, click here

 

Too Many Hours on the Job May Put Teens at Risk

Too Many Hours on the Job May Put Teens at Risk
Schoolwork, behavior may suffer when high schoolers work more than 20 hours a week, study says

From the February 8 Health Day article by Robert Preidt

SUNDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) — High school students who work more than 20 hours a week at part-time jobs during the school year may be more likely to have academic and behavior problems, according to a new study.

U.S. researchers analyzed data collected in the late 1980s from 1,800 middle-class teens in grades 10 and 11 in order to compare students who had jobs with those who didn’t work.

The study found that working more than 20 hours a week was associated with reduced school engagement, lower expectations for further education, and an increase in illegal activities including stealing, carrying a weapon, and using alcohol and illicit drugs.

These negative behaviors persisted even after such teens reduced their work hours or stopped working, the investigators found.

However, teens who worked fewer hours appeared to experience negligible academic, psychological or behavioral effects, according to the study published in the January/February issue of the journal Child Development.

“Although working during high school is unlikely to turn law-abiding teenagers into felons or cause students to flunk out of school, the extent of the adverse effects we found is not trivial, and even a small decline in school engagement or increase in problem behavior may be of concern to many parents,” study leader Kathryn C. Monahan, a postdoctoral research scientist at the University of Washington, said in a news release from the Society for Research in Child Development.

She recommended that parents, educators and policymakers monitor and limit the number of hours worked by high school students.

SOURCE: Society for Research in Child Development, news release, Feb. 4, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

Health Care Visits To Check More Than Just Health?

Health Care Visits To Check More Than Just Health?
Study Shows Health Care Providers Can Help with School Readiness During Primary Care Visits

From the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development Web page

It seems it’s never too early to start thinking about getting your child ready for school. From picture books to educational toys and videos, there’s no shortage of items and programs geared toward helping children to prepare to succeed in school.

But some children, especially those in at-risk families, don’t hear as many words and aren’t read-to on a regular basis; others don’t engage in skill-building play until they start preschool or kindergarten. By that time, researchers say, at-risk children already lag behind peers in school readiness skills. Finding earlier opportunities to intervene and to encourage school readiness and other skills could help to bridge the achievement gap between at-risk children and their peers who are not at risk.

Researchers’ efforts led them to a trusted resource for many families—the health care provider.

Including school readiness interventions in regular well-baby and well-child visits seems a natural fit for a number of reasons, such as:

• The visits occur frequently.
• Nearly all families attend the visits because of the immunizations and screenings required for child care and school settings.
• Parents often have close relationships with their children’s health care provider.
• The infrastructure for the visits and processes related to payment for visits is already in place.
• Conducting the interventions during regularly scheduled visits eliminates additional travel for the families…….

 

Related article

Understanding Fragile Families – More than 10 years of research reveals much about fragile families

 

From Biology to Community Library: The Settings for Health

This item helps explain why a healthy and prosperous community/society needs a firm foundation on healthy child development. This firm foundation has many genetic and environmental components.

From  a  February 2, 2011 Redefine.Rebuild.Reconnect. Changing our Picture of Health posting
From biology to a community library: the settings for health, Michelle Helliwell, Librarian

From [Harvard University] Center on the Developing Child (with links to their 24 videos)

(This blog item/Web page includes a great 7 minute video ,Foundations of Living Health, which outlines how various genetic and environmental factors affect the wellness of both individuals and the society at large)

When we talk about health and healthy living, there seems to be, at times, a division within healthcare (and outside of it) about what are the factors that contribute to your health and wellbeing. Good genes? How well you eat? Whether have a safe neighbourhood to play in? If you take a look at our page on health determinants, you’ll see that all of these, and others, have a role.

Fellow triPop member Sarah Hergett shared  the video …[ (at http://www.changingourpictureofhealth.ca/?p=225) ] … with our group the other day, and it’s worth passing on. It’s a presentation from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. In this seven minute presentation, you’ll find how researches from the fields of neuroscience, biology, and public health present the tangible links between what goes on inside our bodies to how that’s impacted on our health throughout our lives. As a librarian – and an advocate for literacy and health literacy – I was particularly thrilled to see libraries on the list of important resources that contribute to our health. So…support your local library! Support your community. It’s good for your health:).

This quoted blog item/Web page includes a great 7 minute video, Foundations of Living Health, which outlines how various genetic and environmental factors affect the wellness of both individuals and the society at large.

This video summarizes findings from The Foundations of Lifelong Health Are Built in Early Childhood, a report co-authored by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs.

The seemingly disparate health/well being factors include undue emotional stress, consumer products readily available (as liquor, fresh produce), healthy social relationships, parenting, individual genetic make-up, physical environments (think lead, tobacco products), schooling, libraries, government agency policies (as WIC), and employee policies affecting parents and others close to the child.

The International Child & Youth Care Network

The International Child & Youth Care Network (CYC-NET) is a registered non-profit and public benefit organisation in South Africa. It aims to “promote and facilitate reading, learning, information sharing, discussion, networking, support and accountable practice amongst all who work with children, youth and families in difficulty.” However parents and others will undoubtedly find information at this Web site to be useful.

Many items at the home page are updated at least weekly as Daily News, Today, Press Release, and Link.

The home page has two main gateways to information through the tabs

• Learning Zone with free online courses and training/educational podcasts
• Network with site statistics, as recent top queries and the average number of daily visitors. On January 26,2011 the Recent top search queries were  bullied to death, homeless children statistics, bowlby, montesorri, anorexia nervosa, principles of management, punishment for children, bipolar disorder, peer influence, positive reinforcement for children, effects of corporal punishment, heroin stories.

Poverty May Keep Kids from Full Genetic Potential

Poverty May Keep Kids From Full Genetic Potential

Study finds disparities between rich, poor show up by age 2

From a January 17 Health Day news item by Robert Preidt

MONDAY, Jan. 17 (HealthDay News) — Being poor can prevent young children from reaching their full genetic potential of mental ability, a new study shows.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin looked at 750 sets of twins who took a test of cognitive ability at ages 10 months and 2 years. During the tests the children were asked to perform such tasks as pulling a string to ring a bell, placing three cubes in a cup, and matching pictures.

At 10 months, children from all socioeconomic backgrounds performed the same on the test. But by 2 years, children from richer families scored significantly higher than those from poorer families, the investigators found.

The study results, published in the January issue of the journal

Psychological Science***

, don’t suggest that children from wealthier families are genetically superior or smarter. These children simply have more opportunity to reach their potential, explained study author Elliott Tucker-Drob, an assistant professor of psychology, in a university news release.

These findings indicate that “nature” and “nurture” work together to affect a child’s development and that the right environment can help children begin to reach their genetic potential at a much younger age than previously thought, he added.

“You can’t have environmental contributions to a child’s development without genetics. And you can’t have genetic contributions without environment. Socioeconomic disadvantages suppress children’s genetic potentials,” Tucker-Drob said.

SOURCE: University of Texas at Austin, news release, Jan. 10, 2011

***For suggestions on how to get this article for free or at low cost, click here

What Parents Can Do to Create a Positive Youth Sports Experience

From the American Academy of Pediatricians Healthy Children Web Page

What Parents Can Do to Create a Positive Youth Sports Experience

• Support for your child must be unconditional.
• Be patient for the process, and enjoy it.
• Understand how the developmental progression works for sports skills.
• Be knowledgeable that many of the developmental milestones for sports skills cannot be accelerated beyond their natural limit.
• Realize that physical, chemical, and mental development all affect ability and all progress along different timetables.
• Support achievements as they occur. This will reduce pressure to achieve skills that are not quite ready.
• Remember, your child has his or her own likes and dislikes and should be able to participate without pressure to choose a certain activity.
• Remember that there are developmental patterns for chemical changes that allow your child to be able to progress in training intensity when it is time.
• Understand the extra changes that occur in the puberty transition from child to teenager.
• Don’t overreact to normal developmental processes and changes that occur during puberty and may temporarily affect ability.
• Understand the profound developmental effect of a firm positive foundation of self-esteem on future performance and ability to handle competitive pressure.
• Redefine success and make sure performance disappointments are not seen as failures that the child might take personally.
• Teach your child that winning means a lot more than a gold medal (you first have to believe that yourself).
• Encourage your child any way you can.
• Find more things your child is doing right than things to criticize.
• Support by being visible at their events.
• Keep your comments positive without a lot of addenda or stipulations.
• Help your children take some responsibilities for their sport without making them feel overwhelmed with duties.
• Watch for warning signs of burnout or avoidance.
• Remember your child is a child, not a child-sized adult.
• Help your child set realistic goals (not your goals).
• Allow changes in sports, and encourage exposure to different sports.
• Instill a sense of value in exercise and fitness regardless of structured competition.
• Communicate sincerely and often with your child about his or her desires.
• Help your child build a strong sense of self-worth and identity that is not dependent on the sport itself or level of achievement.
• Provide positive momentum by celebrating reality successes as often as possible.

 

Author

Paul R. Stricker, MD, FAAP

Last Updated

6/9/2010

Source

Sports Success Rx! Your Child’s Prescription for the Best Experience: How to Maximize Potential AND Minimize Pressure

 

Kids Literally See Different Than Adults

Visual and sensory information is not blended in children’s brains, study finds

Children may actually see the world differently than adults, researchers have found. The findings are published in the Sept. 13 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Unlike adults, children younger than 12 don’t combine different sensory information in order to understand their surroundings, the study authors say.

In two new studies, U.K. researchers found that not only do children separate different senses such as vision and sound, their brain also separates input it receives when looking at a scene with one eye compared to with both eyes.