In today’s busy medical environment, doctors are asked to do a lot in a short amount of time. The average well visit clocks in at somewhere around 12 minutes these days, which means pediatricians need to screen children for several potential problems in a very finite amount of time.
Because of these time restrictions there simply isn’t enough time to do all the screenings recommended as part of general health care. One area that often gets overlooked is substance abuse among adolescent patients.
Data suggests that many physicians do not routinely broach the topic of alcohol and drug use with their teen patients because there isn’t enough time to bring the subject up, or they don’t always know what to do when a screen suggests a patient may have a problem.
To make the process easier on time starved doctors, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Addiction (NIAAA) and the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) have both released screening and brief intervention guidelines that will help physicians choose valid screening tools and clearly explain when to suggest appropriate interventions for their patients. Full story »
A new study published in Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine suggests that the majority of college students who post on Facebook about drunkenness and dangerous drinking habits are also at a higher risk for alcohol abuse and dependence.
The message seems fairly obvious, but the real interesting takeaway of the study is the researchers’ suggestions about how that information could be used. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on September 19, 2011
When teenagers stonewall adults, there can be many issues leading to the behavior
By Sarah Teasdale, MD, EdM pediatric hospitalist at Children’s Hospital Boston
It was near midnight about a year ago when I noticed a gaunt young man in his early twenties walking toward me in the Emergency Department. It was a young man who, about a decade earlier, had threatened to kill me.
For nearly ten years prior to becoming a physician I was a high school teacher. That particular July, I was teaching English in summer school for students who had failed the class during the regular school year. It was a group of 15 surly teenagers ages 14 to 19, beaten down by a system in which they could not—or chose not—to succeed.
The young man—I’ll call him Andre—was my student that summer. He was a gangly, thin 15-year-old who often wore the same ill-fitting clothes day after day, rarely made eye contact and showed a level of fatigue in the early morning that was extreme, even for a teenager. Whenever I tried to talk to him, he would simply say he was “a’right.” He meant: Stop asking.
So I stopped asking. In doing so, I lost a chance to help him. Full story »
Sexual minority youth are nine times more likely to harbor suicidal thoughts than their counterparts
Adolescence can be a difficult time, even for teenagers who seem extremely well-adjusted. Physical and hormonal changes are hard enough to deal with, but when you add feelings of isolation and loneliness to the mix, it can make the whole process that much worse. Sadly this is reality for many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens. But a new study in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing shows positive attitudes from family members towards LGBT teens reduces their risk for depression, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse and often results in the formation of healthier relationships in adulthood.
Sounds like good— if not a tad obvious— information for parents of LGBT kids, but as pointed out by Scott Leibowitz, MD, of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Department of Psychiatry, it’s important knowledge for any adult who interacts with kids, not just the parents of openly gay or transgender children. Full story »
A host of marijuana like substances are legal and widely available in the US
K2. Spice. Zohai. Genie. Have you heard your kids using any of these words lately? If so, they may be smoking a legal, herbal “incense,” commonly misused as a marijuana substitute.
When inhaled, the products produce a similar experience to smoking marijuana and are available at tobacco and head shops for roughly the same price as their street drug equivalent. But unlike pot, these “herbal supplements” are currently legal in 45 states and are untraceable by tests designed to detect cannabis, making their use easy to conceal.
“The main problem with K2, which is similar to problems we saw in the 1980s with designer drugs, is people have been able to alter the molecules of illegal drugs just enough to create a substance that replicates the effects of the drugs, without breaking the law,” says Sharon Levy, MD, MPH, director of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Adolescent Substance Abuse Program. “But legal or not, they’re still psychoactive substances and carry a lot of the same risks.” Full story »
In an effort to promote a safe prom season, John Knight, MD, director of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research(CeASAR) launched Teen-safe.org, a website that explains the medical and social dangers of underage drinking. Here Knight discusses if and when you should search your teen’s room for contraband.
A recent NPR program noted the influence parents had over their children’s alcohol and drug use, and suggested a relaxed stance on underage drinking can be far more detrimental than many people may realize. The story quoted data from a Pennsylvania State University researcher whose findings mirror the sentiments of John Knight, MD, director of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research(CeASAR), who has spoken out against this practice before.
In an effort to promote a safe prom season, John Knight, MD, director of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research(CeASAR) launched Teen-safe.org, a website that explains the medical and social dangers of underage drinking. Here Knight discusses how parents can ensure their teen is safe at a prom night sleepover.
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In today’s busy medical environment, doctors are asked to do a lot in a short amount of time. The average well visit clocks in at somewhere around 12 minutes these days, which means pediatricians need to screen children for several potential problems in a very finite amount of time.
