| Parenting lessons don't stop toddler tantrums
PARIS - A NEW study shows that parent training programmes fail to reduce behavioural problems in toddlers, suggesting that coaching on how to rear children may be a waste of time and money. On average, behavioural problems afflict every seventh child aged 4 to 17, previously studies have shown. Aggressive or extremely defiant youngsters are said to have externalised problems, while those of kids who withdraw, or suffer anxiety and depression, are described as internalised. Troubles in childhood often have serious personal, social and economic consequences later in life, experts say. Left untreated, approximately 50 per cent of preschoolers with behaviour problems develop mental health problems, including depression. Besides the direct cost of treatment, there are social costs as well: unemployment, family stress or violence, drug use and increased crime have all been linked to behavioural difficulties very early in life.
Afternoon lecture today at The William W. Backus Hospital
The Backus Hospital Psychiatric Services Department's monthly lecture will focus on the treatment of depression and anxiety at 3 p.m. Thursday in the hospital's entry-level conference rooms. Dr. Scott Ewing of Harvard Medical School will present "Pharmacologic Treatment of Depression and Anxiety: Fact, Fiction and Clinical Realities." The program is free and open to the public, and registration is not required. Light refreshments are provided. For health-care providers, one hour of American Medical Association continuing medical education credits are provided. .
Internet Crooks Get Even Craftier
The Chinese Year of the Rat begins next week. In the Internet underground, it is already shaping up as the Year of the Clever Rat, as crooks scurry to perfect ways to steal data and commit fraud.
Federal regulators approved the first cybersecurity standards for the nation's electric industry, following growing concerns about the power grid's vulnerabilities.
Personal information on about 650,000 customers of J.C. Penney and up to 100 other retailers could be compromised after a computer tape went missing from a data center.
Privacy concerns stemming from online shopping rose in 2007, a new study finds, as the loss or theft of credit card information and other personal data soared to unprecedented levels.
The dangers of inappropriate Internet content parading before underage eyes are recounted in a new documentary that ultimately helps parents see that some of their anxiety is overblown.
A dangerous cocktail
The sudden death of 28-year-old actor Heath Ledger, whose body was found Tuesday with sleeping pills nearby, has highlighted the dangers surrounding a drug class prescribed to millions of Canadians each year: sedatives. An autopsy was inconclusive and more tests are needed to determine how the Australian-born former Oscar nominee died in his SoHo apartment, the New York medical examiner's office said yesterday. But police reports that sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medications were found in the apartment - combined with a recent interview in which Mr. Ledger said he was using Ambien, a brand of sedative - suggest prescription drugs may have played a role. While sleeping pills used alone are "reasonably safe," mixing those pills with other sedatives is a dangerous cocktail, said Jack Uetrecht, who holds a Canada Research Chair in immunotoxicology and whose research looks at adverse drug reactions.
Heath Ledger was filming in Battersea weeks before his death
Hollywood actor Heath Ledger was on location in Battersea weeks before his death. The 28-year-old found dead in his New York apartment on Tuesday was filming scenes for The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus at Battersea Power Station just before Christmas. The Brokeback Mountain star was found to have six different types of drugs, including sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication, inside the apartment. But post-mortem results have so far proved inconclusive. .
Charles Sturt study of links between anxiety and depression
A Charles Sturt University (CSU) study of the links between anxiety and depression in adults needs volunteers to participate in the Australian-wide research. The participants, who must be aged between 18 and 65 years and can live anywhere in Australia, will be required to complete a survey. Nicole Brown, who is a CSU honours psychology student and a registered psychologist working in western NSW, is conducting the study. She said the projectaims to identify the role of factors such as stressful life events, thinking style and problem solving on anxiety and depression. Adults who have experienced anxiety and depression can complete the anonymous questionnaire in less than one hour and return it by mail. �The findings of this research can assist tens of thousands of Australians every year by guiding treatment of anxiety and depression that occur at the same time, or even help in prevention,� Ms Brown said.
Food safety system must be strengthened
Public anxiety over the safety of imported food products from China is spreading across the country. This is a situation totally different from a series of food mislabeling cases that involved falsifying origins and expiration dates. A growing number of cases have been reported of people, not only in Chiba and Hyogo prefectures but in various other regions, suffering nausea and diarrhea after eating frozen gyoza made at a factory operated by Hebei Foodstuffs Import and Export Group Tianyang Food Processing in Hebei Province, China. A large amount of methamidophos, an organic phosphorus agricultural chemical, was detected in the gyoza and in its packaging. A full disclosure of the extent of the food-poisoning cases and their causes is essential.
PTA: Ignore Advertisers’ Christmas Brainwash, Give Children Your ...
Madison Avenue executives plan 11 months each year for December spending in the United States. Advertiser messaging rewards their clients with billions of dollars from children wanting and demanding more by tapping into parental guilt for being too busy to spend quality time with offspring. The National Parent Teacher Association gives Madison Avenue failing grades for negatively impacting children through advertising in the United States.
Long-term affects of advertisements on children leave teenagers "materialistic" and "self-centered" the organization contends. Children "usually have more problems with anxiety, physical ailments, and drug and alcohol abuse. Show children and teens that learning, creativity, being involved in the community, and relationships with friends and family are top priorities," the organization suggests.
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