On average, during every day of June and July, more than 11,000 teens try alcohol for the first time. (Arvind Grover/Flickr Creative Commons)
Here are the latest health headlines folks in South Los Angeles ought to know about:
Summer Is Peak Time for Teens to Try Drugs, Alcohol: Report: Summertime and the living's riskier: With more idle time and less responsibilities, more teens start drinking and smoking in June and July than any other month. On each of those days, more than 11,000 teens on average drink for the first time; 5,000 start smoking cigarettes and 4,500 start smoking weed. | MSN/HealthDay
Spanking linked to increased risk of mental health problems: A kid who experiences harsh physical punishment, short of physical or sexual abuse, runs a higher risk of suffering from mental and personality disorders as an adult – even if the punishment was just occasional and a child didn't experience anything worse than that physical punishment. Authors of the report concluded that physical punishment should never be used on any child of any age. | Los Angeles Times
Is This Teen Angst or Uncontrollable Anger Disorder?: Most mood swings are normal for teens, but a recent study says some aren't: It found that nearly two-thirds of youth report having had an episode of uncontrollable anger that involved threatening someone with violence, destroying property or being violent. It also found that about 6 million teens meet the criteria for intermittent explosive disorder. | TIME
Rest is not idleness: Reflection is critical for development and well-being: A new article suggests that introspection, reflection and even day-dreaming are becoming increasingly valuable parts of life, saying not all rest is mere idleness, but can in fact lend more meaning to the activities we partake in. | Press release, Perspectives on Psychological Science
Genes may play a role in educational achievement, study finds: Researchers have identified three genetic markers that influence whether a person graduates from high school and goes to to college, based on an evaluation of thousands of young Americans. The three markers are associated with behaviors like attention regulation, motivation, violence, cognitive skills and intelligence. Every person has these genes, but there are molecular differences from person to person. Those molecular differences may be what accounts for the study's finding. | Press release, American Psychological Association
Photo by Arvind Grover via Flickr Creative Commons.
