America’s teens are still not alright. Instead, many continue to engage in risky behaviors, U.S. health officials reported Thursday. Top among these is an increase in suicidal thoughts and suicide planning and attempts among teen girls, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, rates among teen boys stayed stable. Meanwhile, LGBQ+ students had particularly high increases in suicidal thoughts and behavior when compared with heterosexual students, and the same went for minorities when compared with white students, the researchers found. “The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated mental health issues amongst children and teenagers,” said Dr. Scott Krakower, an adolescent psychiatrist at Zucker Hillside Medical Center in Great Neck, N.Y., who was not involved in the report. “These issues continue to be problematic, with increasing disparities amongst minority groups.” Access to mental health care is key, the researchers noted. “A substantial number of students rely on school-based mental health care, especially youth in racial and ethnic minority groups from under-resourced families,” said Karin Mack, associate director for science in the CDC’s Division of Injury Prevention. “While lack of access to mental health services may have contributed to increased suicide risk, many other factors, including substance misuse, family or relationship problems, community violence, discrimination, among others, may have also contributed to the increased risk,” Mack added. But the pandemic definitely had…  read on >  read on >

Selfie shots might seem shallow but they’re actually serving a deeper psychological purpose, a new study suggests. So-called “third-person” photos — shots taken to include the photographer, such as selfies or group shots — are better at depicting the deeper meaning of an event in a person’s life, by showing them actively participating in that moment, according to researchers. On the other hand, “first-person” photos — the photographer’s eye view of a scene — best represent the physical experience of an event, the authors explained. These results counter the view that people post selfies on sites like Instagram just to promote themselves, said study co-author Lisa Libby, professor of psychology at Ohio State University. “These photos with you in it can document the bigger meaning of a moment,” Libby said in a university news release. “It doesn’t have to be vanity.” Previous studies have suggested that two important motivations for taking photos could be to either capture the physical experience of an event or portray the event’s broader meaning. Researchers provided two examples involving a trip to the beach. A photo of the ocean would capture the physical experience of a beautiful day, but a selfie with a friend would capture time spent with a loved one. The researchers teased out these differences in a series of six studies involving just over 2,100 participants. In…  read on >  read on >

If you’re longing for a nap, try to keep it short. Researchers found that siestas of 30 minutes or more in Murcia, a region of Spain, where it’s common to nap, were linked to a higher risk of obesity, a group of conditions called metabolic syndrome and high blood pressure. “Not all siestas are the same. The length of time, position of sleep and other specific factors can affect the health outcomes of a nap,” said study co-author Marta Garaulet, a visiting professor in the division of sleep and circadian disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “A previous study that we conducted in a large study population in the U.K. had found that siestas were associated with an increased risk of obesity,” Garaulet said in a hospital news release. “We wanted to determine whether this would hold true in a country where siestas are more culturally embedded, in this case Spain, as well as how the length of time for siestas is related to metabolic health.” Investigators examined the relationship between daytime sleep and its duration with obesity and metabolic syndrome in more than 3,200 adults. Folks who napped 30 minutes or longer were more likely to have a higher body mass index (BMI), higher blood pressure and a cluster of other conditions associated with heart disease and diabetes compared to those without…  read on >  read on >

Dealing with discrimination at work — from bosses or coworkers — may be enough to send your blood pressure through the roof, a new study suggests. Researchers found that among more than 1,200 U.S. workers, those who felt they often faced on-the-job discrimination were 54% more likely to develop high blood pressure, versus workers with little exposure to such bias. Over eight years, people who’d often experienced workplace discrimination developed high blood pressure at a rate of about 4% each year. That compared with 2.5% per year among people who rarely or never had those experiences. Experts said the study, published April 26 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, cannot prove cause and effect. “But our findings suggest workplace discrimination as a potential risk factor for high blood pressure,” said lead researcher Dr. Jian Li, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. For one, he said, the study followed workers over time, showing that their experiences of discrimination preceded their high blood pressure diagnosis. Plus, Li said, there are “biologically plausible” reasons that the stressful situation could contribute to rising blood pressure. During times of stress, the body responds in various ways, which includes a release of hormones that “activate” the cardiovascular system. Over time, chronic stress may add to the wear and tear on the body, and impede its ability…  read on >  read on >