Current News in Mental Health
It may be true--You really need a mother's love to protect you from the harsh world.
A new long-term study suggests that infants who experience a close, physically supportive relationship with their mothers in the earliest months tend to suffer less from anxiety and other dysphoric mood problem. This might best be filed under the "Well, duh." category of research, but still nice
to know that common sense has grounding in empirical evidence. The lead author is scientist Joanna Maselko, Ph.D., at Duke University Medical School, in Durham, North Carolina.
Information Technology Really Does Make Us Happier! A new well-researched report from the U.K. strongly suggests that IT access and use can contribute significantly to one's sense of well-being. The evidence suggests that women, particularly women in less-developed nations, experience more positive feelings according to degree of access to information technology, such as cell phones and internet access than do those without access. The authors state "Put
simply, people with IT access are more satisfied
with life even when taking account of income and
a sense of freedom and being in control.
In fact, information technology’s role might be
greater than even the statistical analysis implies
as it is a major factor in explaining a greater
sense of freedom and control.
A plausible model, therefore, is that access to
and usage of IT helps to promote and enable
empowerment and autonomy which then
increases well-being in a manner that could be
represented by the following model:
IT INCREASES the Sense of Freedom/Control
which IMPROVES Well-being. "
Striking Evidence for Structural Changes in Brain Resulting
from Learning
Timothy Keller and Marcel Just at Carnegie University have demonstrated that
there are a number of significant structural changes in childrens' brains
following intensive remedial reading training. The children in the study
showed increased efficiency of signal transmission within the white matter of
the brain following 100 hours of intensive reading training over a six month
period. Changes in white matter functioning were highly correlated with
measured improvements in reading skills in the children studied. Keller
has previously conducted research that examined the involvement of white matter
in autistic conditions.
Early Intervention Proven to Improve Outcomes in Children
with Autism.
A new carefully controlled study suggests that structured interventions with
children under two years of age can significantly improve social functioning,
language development and general adaptive behavior. The study followed 48
children aged 18 to 30 months for approximately five years and compared children
and families using the Early Start Denver Model to a control group receiving
standard community-based services over the same time period. At the end of
the study, children in the Denver model condition showed an average gain of 18
IQ points as compared to a 4 point gain among controls. The program
emphasized professional training of parents using Applied Behavioral Analysis
techniques in concert with relationship-building active play.