Thursday, April 08, 2004

Psychology advocates prepare for funding tug-of-war
Article in the April APA Monitor - "Although fiscal year (FY) 2004 officially started on Oct. 1, 2003, delays in congressional action on half of the 14 bills to fund federal agencies left much of the work incomplete until well after the start of the new year. Unfortunately, this has become a pattern in recent years, creating angst for federal agencies and the psychologists they support in research, education and the public interest. While it is good news that the $820 billion omnibus spending bill to fund the federal government for FY 2004 was finally signed into law on Jan. 23, the finished product will leave many wanting. The reason? A relatively flat spending bill with spikes in funding for defense and homeland security means that a variety of popular discretionary spending programs have to yield to a changing set of priorities..."  
  

Behavioral genetics
This page indexes articles in a special section of this month's APA Monitor. As noted in the introuductory piece, "During its first 30 years, from roughly 1960 to 1990, the modern discipline of behavioral genetics was based almost entirely on twin and family studies. Those studies made a strong case for the importance of genes in behavior, but the connection always remained loose and statistical. Only in rare cases could a direct connection between a particular gene or set of genes and a particular behavior be made. In the past decade and a half, all that has changed with the introduction of bioinformatics, genetic engineering and other techniques that allow researchers to measure, analyze and manipulate genetic material rapidly and easily. These techniques have changed the composition of the field of behavioral genetics, engaging the interest of new groups of researchers beyond psychology--molecular biologists, medical doctors and others--who had previously seen behavior as too slippery for biological research..."  
  

Patients with alcohol and drug use disorders more likely to have personality disorders
A JAMA and Archives Journals Website press release - "The prevalence of personality disorders among patients with alcohol and drug use disorders is significant in the United States population, according to an article in the April issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Very little information is available on the co-occurrence of different personality disorders (PDs) and alcohol and drug use disorders in the U.S. population, according to background information in the article. Therefore, Bridget F. Grant, Ph.D., of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, Md., and colleagues investigated this issue..."  
  

Trauma and post-traumatic stress highly prevalent among delinquents
Northwestern University press release at EurekAlert - "Almost every boy and girl currently detained in a juvenile facility in the United States has experienced at least one major trauma, and a large proportion of these children have post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a study in the April issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. Karen M. Abram and colleagues at the Psycholegal Studies Program at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University showed that over 90 percent of delinquent youth in a large, temporary detention center for juveniles had had one or more traumas, such as witnessing violence or being threatened with a weapon..." See also the related Rates of trauma and of posttraumatic stress disorder higher among incarcerated youth, a JAMA and Archives Journals Website press release.  
  

Study to probe genetics of depression
Article at Nature - "A massive project to probe the genetics of depression was launched this week at the Human Genome Meeting in Berlin, Germany. The multinational study aims to aid the development of the novel drugs against the condition. ... The study, called NEWMOOD, should yield new drug targets, aid diagnosis and boost understanding of depression’s causes, perhaps helping the 120 million people worldwide who suffer from the condition."  
  

Debate grows over antidepressant use among preschoolers
Christian Science Monitor story - "... While antidepressants and other mood-altering drugs have long been prescribed to adolescents, the fastest-growing group using such medication is children under age 5. Indeed, by one estimate, twice as many preschoolers are being prescribed antidepressants today than just five years ago. The development is touching off a new controversy over whether doctors should be prescribing mood-altering drugs to toddlers at all, let alone much more frequently. Critics, including many in the medical community, question whether youngsters really are more depressed today or simply more medicated..."  
  

ADHD Treatment: Are Drugs Working?
Story at the Medical Health Channel - "Stimulant medications benefit children with ADHD, but the benefits may not last and could have side effects. Two current studies focus on this issue. One study shows drugs for ADHD are effective but may cause mild growth suppression in children. The second study shows taking stimulants has beneficial effects even after families pursue other treatments. However, that study also shows some children lose the initial benefits after two years. The research on ADHD is limited and has not looked at long-term outcomes in groups. These two studies from the National Institute of Mental Health Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD focus on follow-up data from patients after two years..."  
  

Alcohol Agencies Announce Academic Emergency Medicine Department Collaboration
Press release at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism web site - " The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), today kicked off a major collaborative study that will investigate ways to screen, identify, and treat patients in hospital emergency departments for alcohol problems. Academic emergency medical departments (EDs) at 14 institutions throughout the U.S. will participate in the study, the first to rely solely on ED personnel, rather than research staff, to conduct the screening and intervention."