Current News and Research
Diagnosing Children with Autism as Early as 14 months of Age
A recent study by Dr. Rebecca Landa and colleagues at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore revealed that half of all children with Autism can be identified as early as 14 months of age. The study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry evaluated toddlers from 14 months until three years of age. In the other half of cases, symptoms may not appear until several months later and their development may progress very differently from those in the earlier diagnosis group. These findings are important because being able to diagnosis of Autism earlier is crucial for early intervention, which can make a significant positive impact on children’s development.
This study and previous research studies conducted by Dr. Landa and colleagues outlined important developmental red flags for parents and healthcare providers to consider: poor eye contact; diminished responsive smiling; reduced variety of sounds or gestures to communicate, and difficulty with language development, play and initiating or sustaining social interaction.
Article: Landa, R.J., Holman, K.C., & Garret-Mayer, E. (2007). Social and Communication Development in Toddlers With Early and Later Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64, 853-864.
For more detailed information on this article or previous work done by Dr. Landa, please go to www.kennedykrieger.org.
Suppressing Emotional Memories with Practice
A new University of Colorado at Boulder study indicates that people have the ability to suppress emotional memories. The study, published in the July 13th issue of Science, revealed that people can suppress memories at a particular point in time using repeated practice.
The study examined brain activity in 40 people, who received training to suppress memories of negative images. Two mechanisms in the prefrontal region of the brain were indicated in process of memory repression. The prefrontal cortex of the brain is responsible for cognitive control, thus indicating that people may be able to exercise control over painful memories. These results may help clinicians to develop new therapies and pharmacological approaches for treating a variety of emotional disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias, depression, and anxiety.
Information obtained from www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2007. For more detailed information, please go to www.Colorado.edu .
Children with ADHD at Elevated Risk of Drug and Alcohol Use as Teenagers
A 2003 study by Psychologists Brooke S. G. Molina, Ph.D., and William E. Pelham, Jr., Ph.D. revealed that children with ADHD are at increased risk for illicit drug use, alcohol problems, cigarette smoking, and marijuana use in their teenage years. This study, published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, compared 142 teenagers diagnosed with ADHD as children compared with100 teenagers without childhood ADHD diagnoses.
The study also indicated that children with severe attentional problems were at increased risk for problems with alcohol and marijuana use as well as cigarette smoking as teenagers. Surprisingly, inattention was a stronger predictor of drug and alcohol use than the hyperactivity/impulsivity component of ADHD. Researchers suggested that attention is important because it is a cognitive process and can lead to poor school performance and selection of nonconformist peer groups, thus leading to possible later problems with drug and alcohol abuse. This study points out the importance of early detection and treatment of attention problems in childhood, which can aid in the recognition and intervention of risk factors associated with ADHD as teenagers.
Article: Molina, B. S. G. & Pelham Jr., W.E. (2003). Childhood Predictors of Adolescent Substance Use in a Longitudinal Study of Children With ADHD. Journal of Abnormal Psychology,112, 497-507.