A study published in NEJM that followed a cohort of more than 300 transgender and non-binary youth, aged 12-20, for two years concluded that hormone therapy led to improvements in their symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Constant checking of social media activity in early adolescence is associated with changes in the brain's sensitivity to rewards and punishments. This is the conclusion of a study involving 169 12- and 13-year-old students in the United States with Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat profiles, according to JAMA Pediatrics.
Physical activity is associated with significant reductions in depressive symptoms in children and adolescents, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in JAMA Pediatrics that included 21 studies with 2,400 participants. The largest decreases in these symptoms were found in those aged 13 years and older.
A study in Spanish children, with follow-up from pregnancy to adolescence, has found an association between children's exposure to pesticides and fungicides and earlier breast development in girls and genital development in boys. The work has been carried out by the University of Granada (UGR), the Institute for Biosanitary Research (ibs.GRANADA) and CIBERESP (ISCIII).
A study of hospitalised young people in the United States concludes that those with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria are four to five times more likely to be hospitalised for a suicide attempt or to have attempted self-harm. The research is published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.
A study published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health shows that 98% of a cohort of trans adolescents in the Netherlands who started hormone treatment before adolescence continued to do so years later.
Using data from the 2017 National Health Interview Survey, researchers show that children and adolescents (aged 4-14 years) who skip breakfast or eat it away from home are more likely to have psychosocial behavioural problems. The research is published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition.
A study published today in the journal Nature shows that a brief online intervention can reduce stress in adolescents.
Two studies, one published in The New England Journal of Medicine and the other, the CDC's Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), find that vaccination against COVID-19 effectively protects children and adolescents aged 12-18 years from both infection and severe disease. Both papers cover periods when the more transmissible Delta variant was dominant. Paediatrician Ángel Hernández Merino assesses these results.