Child Development News

May 8, 2024

Top Headlines

Teens Who View Their Homes as More Chaotic Than Their Siblings Have Poorer Mental Health in Adulthood

May 8, 2024 — Adolescents who view their households as more unstructured, disorganized, or hectic than their siblings develop more mental health and behavioral problems in early adulthood, according to new ...

More Than 321,000 U.S. Children Lost a Parent to Drug Overdose from 2011 to 2021

May 8, 2024 — An estimated 321,566 children in the United States lost a parent to drug overdose from 2011 to 2021, according to a new study. The rate of children who experienced this loss more than doubled during ...

Pressure to Be 'Perfect' Causing Burnout for Parents, Mental Health Concerns for Their Children

May 8, 2024 — Is the status of 'perfect parent' attainable? Researchers leading a national dialogue about parental burnout say 'no,' and a new study finds that pressure to try to be 'perfect' leads to unhealthy ...

THC Lingers in Breastmilk With No Clear Peak Point

May 8, 2024 — When breastfeeding mothers in a recent study used cannabis, its psychoactive component THC showed up in the milk they produced. The research also found that, unlike alcohol, when THC was detected in milk there was no consistent time when its ...

Latest Headlines

updated 3:19pm EDT

Genetics, Not Lack of Oxygen, Causes Cerebral Palsy in Quarter of Cases

May 7, 2024 — The world's largest study of cerebral palsy (CP) genetics has discovered genetic defects are most likely responsible for more than a quarter of cases in Chinese children, rather than a lack of oxygen ...

Intervention Based on Science of Reading, Math Boosts Comprehension, Word Problem-Solving Skills

Apr. 29, 2024 — Researchers tested a research-based intervention with English learners with math difficulty. The intervention proved to boost comprehension and help ...

Pregnancy Cytokine Levels Impact Fetal Brain Development and Offspring Behavior

Apr. 26, 2024 — Researchers have discovered in a preclinical model that cytokines, proteins that control immune response, circulating in maternal blood during ...

Survey Finds Loneliness Epidemic Runs Deep Among Parents

Apr. 24, 2024 — A new national survey finds a broad majority of parents experience isolation, loneliness and burnout from the demands of parenthood, with many feeling a lack of support in fulfilling that ...

New Study Examines the Increased Adoption of They/them Pronouns

Apr. 19, 2024 — People are using 'they/them' pronouns more often, according to a new ...

Exposure to Air Pollution During the First Two Years of Life Is Associated With Worse Attention Capacity in Children

Apr. 17, 2024 — A growing body of research shows that exposure to air pollution, especially during pregnancy and childhood, may have a negative impact on brain ...

Bacteria Behind Meningitis in Babies Explained

Apr. 16, 2024 — Researchers have identified the types of E.coli responsible for neonatal meningitis -- around 50 per cent of infections are caused by two types of E. coli. The study was the largest to date, ...

Artificial Intelligence Beats Doctors in Accurately Assessing Eye Problems

Apr. 17, 2024 — A study has found that the AI model GPT-4 significantly exceeds the ability of non-specialist doctors to assess eye problems and provide ...

No Link Between Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy and Children's Risk of Autism, ADHD, and Intellectual Disability, Says Large Sibling Study

Apr. 9, 2024 — In the largest study to date on the subject, researchers found no evidence to support a causal link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and ...

Following Cellular Lineage

Apr. 16, 2024 — Researchers have advanced the understanding of how the cerebral cortex develops by tracing the lineage of certain brain ...

Study Finds COVID-19 Pandemic Led to Some, but Not Many, Developmental Milestone Delays in Infants and Young Children

Apr. 22, 2024 — Infants and children 5 years old and younger experienced only 'modest' delays in developmental milestones due to the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions and restrictions, a study ...

New Data Identifies Trends in Accidental Opioid Overdoses in Children

Apr. 17, 2024 — The US saw a 22% decline in rates of prescription-opioid overdose related emergency department (ED) visits in children 17 and younger between 2008 and 2019, but an uptick in the early part of the ...

Gender Stereotypes in Schools Impact on Girls and Boys With Mental Health Difficulties, Study Finds

Apr. 17, 2024 — Gender stereotypes mean that girls can be celebrated for their emotional openness and maturity in school, while boys are seen as likely to mask their emotional distress through silence or disruptive ...

Family and Media Pressure to Lose Weight in Adolescence Linked to How People Value Themselves Almost Two Decades Later

Apr. 15, 2024 — People who as teenagers felt pressure to lose weight from family or from the media, females, people who are not heterosexual, and people experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, are most at risk of ...

New Study Sheds Light on the Mechanisms Underlying the Development of Malignant Pediatric Brain Tumors

Apr. 15, 2024 — A new study revealed how aberrant epigenetic regulation contributes to the development of atypical teratoid/rhabdoid (AT/RT) tumors, which are aggressive brain tumors that mainly affect young ...

Study Helps Explain Why Childhood Maltreatment Continues to Impact on Mental and Physical Health Into Adulthood

Apr. 11, 2024 — Childhood maltreatment can continue to have an impact long into adulthood because of how it effects an individual's risk of poor physical health and traumatic experiences many years later, a new ...

AI Model Can Accurately Assess PTSD in Postpartum Women

Apr. 11, 2024 — By analyzing the narratives of women who experienced traumatic childbirth and women with non-complicated childbirth, researchers created an AI model that can accurately identify those at risk of ...

Economic Burden of Childhood Verbal Abuse by Adults Estimated at $300 Billion Globally

Apr. 11, 2024 — Childhood verbal abuse by adults costs society an estimated $300 billion a year globally, show recent ...

More Synchrony Between Parents and Children Not Always Better

Apr. 9, 2024 — More synchrony between parents and children may not always be better, new research has revealed. For the first time a new study looked at behavioral and brain-to-brain synchrony in 140 families with ...

Disparities in Sleep Health and Insomnia May Begin at a Young Age

Apr. 8, 2024 — Children and teens from racial and ethnic minority groups are disproportionately affected by persistent insomnia symptoms that begin in childhood and continue through young adulthood, according to a ...

Everyday Social Interactions Predict Language Development in Infants

Apr. 8, 2024 — Researchers found that when the adult talked and played socially with a 5-month-old baby, the baby's brain activity particularly increased in regions responsible for attention -- and the level ...

Large Language Models Respond Differently Based on User's Motivation

Apr. 3, 2024 — A new study reveals how large language models (LLMs) respond to different motivational states. In their evaluation of three LLM-based generative conversational agents (GAs)--ChatGPT, Google Bard, and ...

Last Chance to Record Archaic Greek Language 'Heading for Extinction'

Apr. 2, 2024 — A new data crowdsourcing platform aims to preserve the sound of Romeyka, an endangered millennia-old variety of Greek. Experts consider the language to be a linguistic goldmine and a living bridge to ...

Even Moderate Alcohol Usage During Pregnancy Linked to Birth Abnormalities

Apr. 2, 2024 — Researchers have found that even low to moderate alcohol use by pregnant patients may contribute to subtle changes in their babies' prenatal development, including lower birth length and a ...

Early Detection of Language Disorders Helps Children Obtain Right Interventions

Apr. 2, 2024 — New screening tools in child health care are effective in identifying early language and communication difficulties in children. This is shown by two studies based on more than 6,000 ...

New Initiative Improves Detection, Evaluation of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Apr. 1, 2024 — Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common pediatric neurobehavioral disorder with a prevalence of approximately 7%-10% in school-age children. ADHD significantly affects ...

Parental Avoidance of Toxic Exposures Could Help Prevent Autism, ADHD in Children, New Study Shows

Mar. 28, 2024 — Researchers have found that parents with chemical intolerance are more likely to report children with autism and ...

Could AI Play a Role in Locating Damage to the Brain After Stroke?

Mar. 27, 2024 — Artificial intelligence (AI) may serve as a future tool for neurologists to help locate where in the brain a stroke occurred. In a new study, AI processed text from health histories and neurologic ...

ADHD Stimulants May Increase Risk of Heart Damage in Young Adults, Study Finds

Mar. 27, 2024 — Young adults who were prescribed stimulant medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were significantly more likely to develop cardiomyopathy (weakened heart muscle) compared ...

Want to Feel Young? Protect Your Sleep

Mar. 27, 2024 — Do you ever find yourself longing for the energy and vitality of your younger years? Feeling young is not just a matter of perception it is actually related to objective health outcomes. Previous ...