College students with autism have dramatically higher rates of anxiety and depression compared to their peers, a new study says. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of college students with autism suffer from anxiety, compared with just over 9% of their peers without autism, researchers reported recently in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Likewise, nearly half (48%) report depression, compared to nearly 8% of their peers, results show. “What we found is really staggering – autistic individuals endorse much higher rates of anxiety and depression compared to their non-autistic peers,” lead researcher Diego Aragon-Guevara, a doctoral student in psychology at Binghamton University, State University of New York, said in a news release. The results show that teens with autism face special challenges in the transition to college and need more mental health support, researchers said. “We want to provide the best support for them and to make sure that they have a college experience, where they get a lot out of it, but also feel comfortable,” Aragon-Guevara said. For the study, his team analyzed data from an ongoing survey of college students in the U.S. and Canada. The data included nearly 150,000 students from 342 universities, including about 1,400 students with autism. “We were really excited to see what the data would tell us,” said researcher Jennifer Gillis Mattson, co-director of the Institute for Child Development…  read on >  read on >

College students with autism have dramatically higher rates of anxiety and depression compared to their peers, a new study says. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of college students with autism suffer from anxiety, compared with just over 9% of their peers without autism, researchers reported recently in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Likewise, nearly half (48%) report depression, compared to nearly 8% of their peers, results show. “What we found is really staggering – autistic individuals endorse much higher rates of anxiety and depression compared to their non-autistic peers,” lead researcher Diego Aragon-Guevara, a doctoral student in psychology at Binghamton University, State University of New York, said in a news release. The results show that teens with autism face special challenges in the transition to college and need more mental health support, researchers said. “We want to provide the best support for them and to make sure that they have a college experience, where they get a lot out of it, but also feel comfortable,” Aragon-Guevara said. For the study, his team analyzed data from an ongoing survey of college students in the U.S. and Canada. The data included nearly 150,000 students from 342 universities, including about 1,400 students with autism. “We were really excited to see what the data would tell us,” said researcher Jennifer Gillis Mattson, co-director of the Institute for Child Development…  read on >  read on >

Thousands of children at risk for suicide or in the throes of depression spend days languishing in hospital ERs, awaiting treatment, a new study says. More than 1 in 10 children sent to a hospital for a mental health condition wound up waiting in the ER for three to seven days before a bed became available, researchers reported Aug. 15 in JAMA Health Forum. The practice, known as “boarding,” has become increasingly common as hospitals’ capacity for inpatient treatment has failed to keep up with the growing number of kids in crisis, researchers said. “In a perfect world, boarding wouldn’t happen at all,” said lead researcher John McConnell, director of the Oregon Health & Science University Center for Health Systems Effectiveness in Portland. For the new study, researchers analyzed Medicaid claims data from 2022 involving 255,000 ER visits for mental health conditions among children ages 5 to 17 in 44 U.S. states. Overall, more than 1 in 10 mental health-related ER visits wound up lasting three or more days, as children awaited care. In five states, such boarding occurred in more than 1 in 5 such visits, researchers said. Those states were Montana, North Carolina, Maine, Florida and Iowa. Unfortunately, it often isn’t possible to discharge a child in crisis either to their home or to a residential behavioral health facility, researchers said. “If you’re…  read on >  read on >

Thousands of children at risk for suicide or in the throes of depression spend days languishing in hospital ERs, awaiting treatment, a new study says. More than 1 in 10 children sent to a hospital for a mental health condition wound up waiting in the ER for three to seven days before a bed became available, researchers reported Aug. 15 in JAMA Health Forum. The practice, known as “boarding,” has become increasingly common as hospitals’ capacity for inpatient treatment has failed to keep up with the growing number of kids in crisis, researchers said. “In a perfect world, boarding wouldn’t happen at all,” said lead researcher John McConnell, director of the Oregon Health & Science University Center for Health Systems Effectiveness in Portland. For the new study, researchers analyzed Medicaid claims data from 2022 involving 255,000 ER visits for mental health conditions among children ages 5 to 17 in 44 U.S. states. Overall, more than 1 in 10 mental health-related ER visits wound up lasting three or more days, as children awaited care. In five states, such boarding occurred in more than 1 in 5 such visits, researchers said. Those states were Montana, North Carolina, Maine, Florida and Iowa. Unfortunately, it often isn’t possible to discharge a child in crisis either to their home or to a residential behavioral health facility, researchers said. “If you’re…  read on >  read on >

Urban dwellers have a higher risk of developing asthma, thanks to dirty air and lower amounts of green space, a major new study says. In fact, better urban planning could prevent more than 1 in 10 new cases of asthma, researchers estimated recently in The Lancet Regional Health-Europe. “This study provides strong evidence for the need to rethink our city model,” researcher Rafael de Cid said in a news release. He’s scientific director of the GCAT/Genomes for Life project at the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain. “Incorporating environmental criteria into urban planning can significantly reduce the incidence of chronic diseases and improve population quality of life,” de Cid added. The new study involved nearly 350,000 children and adults participating in 14 European health research projects. Countries represented included Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Spain and Estonia. Researchers used satellite mapping data to estimate each person’s exposure to environmental factors that could increase risk of asthma or other chronic diseases. These factors included air pollution, green space, built surface density, artificial night-time light and average annual temperature. Results showed that adults exposed to high levels of air pollution — particle pollution and nitrogen dioxide — had 13% greater odds for asthma. Likewise, both children and adults had a 36% and 15% increased risk of asthma if they lived in highly…  read on >  read on >

Urban dwellers have a higher risk of developing asthma, thanks to dirty air and lower amounts of green space, a major new study says. In fact, better urban planning could prevent more than 1 in 10 new cases of asthma, researchers estimated recently in The Lancet Regional Health-Europe. “This study provides strong evidence for the need to rethink our city model,” researcher Rafael de Cid said in a news release. He’s scientific director of the GCAT/Genomes for Life project at the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain. “Incorporating environmental criteria into urban planning can significantly reduce the incidence of chronic diseases and improve population quality of life,” de Cid added. The new study involved nearly 350,000 children and adults participating in 14 European health research projects. Countries represented included Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Spain and Estonia. Researchers used satellite mapping data to estimate each person’s exposure to environmental factors that could increase risk of asthma or other chronic diseases. These factors included air pollution, green space, built surface density, artificial night-time light and average annual temperature. Results showed that adults exposed to high levels of air pollution — particle pollution and nitrogen dioxide — had 13% greater odds for asthma. Likewise, both children and adults had a 36% and 15% increased risk of asthma if they lived in highly…  read on >  read on >