Category: Child Psychology

New research finds that consistent, "signature" brainwave patterns first noticed in short-term studies of adults are so robust that they're also detectable over a matter of years in the notoriously turbulent brains of teens. From there, the question is what such a "neural fingerprint" might mean.

Teens are rarely described as stable, so when something about their rapidly changing brains remains placidly unaltered, neuroscientists take notice. Such is the case in a new study of electroencephalography (EEG) readings gathered from dozens of teens while they slept. Despite the major neural overhaul underway during adolescence, most individuals maintained a unique and consistent pattern of underlying brain oscillations. The work lends a new level of support to the idea, already observed in adults, that people produce a kind of brainwave "fingerprint."

The research appears in the April 27 edition of the Journal of Neuroscience.

"Is there some inherent quality of the brainwave signal that is a core quality that is sustained, even in the face of these large developmental changes?" asked co-author Mary Carskadon, professor of psychiatry at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and director of the Sleep Research Laboratory at E.P. Bradley Hospital. "There is. Maybe not for every child, but for more children than not."

By design, the study took years of work. Carskadon recruited 19 volunteers who were 9 or 10 years old and 26 who were 15 or 16 years old to sleep for two consecutive nights in the lab while EEG electrodes recorded oscillations in their brains during both REM and non-REM sleep. For each child she repeated the measurements about two years later.

Carskadon sent the data to collaborators Leila Tarokh and Peter Achermann at the University of Zurich. They fed mathematical descriptions of the EEG waves into a computer armed with an algorithm to group waves of similar shapes and frequencies together. The computers had no information about which waves came from which night from which teen, but the algorithm ended up matching all four nights of sleep for most of the kids, a striking sign of their consistent but unique nature.

"I was pretty astounded about how well the algorithm was able to sort these individuals' patterns together," said Tarokh, the paper's lead author, who is also adjunct instructor in psychiatry and human behavior at Brown.

But what does it mean?

Previous studies of EEG patterns in adult twins had found that identical ones had more similar patterns than non-identical ones, Tarokh said, suggesting that the EEG fingerprint has a genetic basis.

"At the moment it's too soon to tell anything about individual sleep or behavior from this, but it could provide a tool to geneticists," she said. "It is a link between behavior and genes."

With further research, the functional or physiological significance of the patterns could become clearer, Carskadon said. One question would be whether particular influences such as sleep deprivation or alcohol use affect the pattern.

"Knowing this gives us another tool to examine brain function and stability," Carskadon said. "Showing that there are these fingerprints may open up future possibilities in using this kind of analysis in larger samples to look for endophenotypes that might be predictive of someone, say, who might go on to develop schizophrenia or depression."

For now, however, what's better established is that the individual brainwave patterns people exhibit are strong enough to remain unperturbed by the tumult of adolescence.

The research was funded by the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Swiss National Science Foundation.

 Older workers could prove to be a new and unique resource but risk being squeezed by pressures from their children, their parents and their employers, according to new research from Kingston University.

Kingston University's Professor of Corporate Responsibility and Working Life Richard Ennals sees this as a potentially exciting development. "For many companies this will be the first time they have ever had employees who have working lives stretching back fifty years or more. If handled properly, they could be invaluable," Professor Richard Ennals said.

Professor Ennals also warned about new pressures being exerted on the age-group he terms the jam sandwich generation. "Many former baby boomers now find themselves having to care for their parents who are now living longer, as well as supporting their children who are now finding it harder to achieve economic independence," Professor Ennals said. He has just published Older Workers in a Sustainable Society, drawing on research by academics all over the world into the impact of an aging workforce. "In some cases they are even having to combine work with looking after grandchildren. They are the jam in the inter-generational sandwich."

The research was carried out in partnership with the Centre for Senior Policy in Oslo which is funded by the Norwegian Government. It also examined the impact of recession on older workers. "Trying to reshape the pension system in light of an aging population was always going to prove a challenge for policy makers," Professor Ennals said. "But in political and economic circumstances which have been described as a 'perfect storm', linked to the credit crunch and global economic crisis, it is bound to put even more of a squeeze on the jam sandwich generation."

Up to now, employers could dismiss employees when they reached 65, provided they had written to inform them six months beforehand. From April 6 this year, however, employers will no longer be allowed to send these letters. Professor Ennals proposes that businesses should regard their older workers as a valuable resource, rather than assuming that age necessarily implies medical problems.

On the prospect of people working into their seventies Professor Ennals said that automation, down-sizing and early retirement often led to loss of workers whose knowledge was vital to the smooth-running of an organisation. "Unfortunately, this is often not realised until after they've gone but if handled properly, these older workers amount to a new and unique resource," he explained. "Today, though, many older workers feel the world changing around them, without being able to participate in decision making."

Older Workers in a Sustainable Society showed how almost all developed countries were facing similar problems. It looked at experiments designed to address them, such as moving older workers away from the most stressful front-line roles or offering workers paid leave of absence to care for elderly sick parents. "In the UK, governments of all colours have long been reluctant to ask the necessary questions, and to commission research which might expose problems whose solution would require considerable expense," Professor Ennals said. "But they can't keep putting it off any longer."

"Older Workers in a Sustainable Society" is co-edited with Robert H. Salomon, of the Work Institute in Oslo, and published by Peter Lang, Frankfurt.

Psychologists are offering new insight and solutions to help counter climate change, while helping people cope with the environmental, economic and health impacts already taking a toll on people's lives, according to a special issue of American Psychologist, the American Psychological Association's flagship journal.

Climate change "poses significant risks for — and in many cases is already affecting — a broad range of human and natural systems," according to the May-June issue's introductory article, "Psychology's Contributions to Understanding and Addressing Global Climate Change." The authors call upon psychologists to increase research and work closely with industry, government and education to address climate change.

The role psychologists can play may be different from what many people expect. "Psychological contributions to limiting climate change will come not from trying to change people's attitudes, but by helping to make low-carbon technologies more attractive and user-friendly, economic incentives more transparent and easier to use, and information more actionable and relevant to the people who need it," wrote Paul C. Stern, PhD, of the National Research Council.

In the United States, "motor vehicle use and space heating are the most significant causes of climate change and therefore the most important targets for emissions reduction," according to Stern's article, "Contributions of Psychology to Limiting Climate Change."

"People's individual and household action has a larger aggregate climate impact than any other economic sector, with as much as 38 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from direct energy use by households," Stern wrote.

Psychology is essential to understanding the human causes and consequences of climate change, according to the introductory article's lead author, Jane K. Swim, PhD, of Pennsylvania State University and former chair of the APA Task Force on the Interface Between Psychology and Global Climate Change. "Moreover, psychology can play a significant role to help limit or mitigate climate change," she wrote.

Researchers analyzed human consumption and population as two globally significant factors accelerating climate change and emphasized how different cultures and ethical issues must be considered in an article entitled, "Human Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change," by Swim, Susan Clayton, PhD, of the College of Wooster, and George S. Howard, PhD, University of Notre Dame. "Cultural practices influence psychological factors by defining what are considered needs versus mere desires and by making particular behavior options possible, feasible and desirable," they wrote.

Climate change is a particularly challenging issue to confront because it evokes a different human response compared to other global crises, according to Thomas J. Doherty, PhD, of the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling, and Clayton.

"Altruistic or community-supportive responses are associated with natural disasters, whereas uncertainty and divisiveness are associated with technological disasters. The human response to climate change blurs the distinction typically found between responses to natural and technological disasters," they reported in a piece entitled "The Psychological Impacts of Global Climate Change."

Psychologists can use interventions drawn from disaster psychology and support long-term adjustment that recognizes varied responses to natural and technological disasters, the article states. They identified psychological impacts of climate change as acute and direct mental health injuries associated with extreme weather, natural disasters and degraded environments; indirect impacts, such as anxiety and uncertainty; and psychosocial impacts, including heat-related violence, conflicts over resources, migrations, dislocations and chronic environmental stress.

The issue updates and builds upon the findings and recommendations of APA's 2009 Task Force report, Psychology and Global Climate Change: Addressing a Multi-faceted Phenomenon and Set of Challenges.

NewsPsychology (Apr. 15, 2011) — Researchers know that there is a strong link between parental alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and the risk for developing an AUD among their offspring. This study looked at the risk of AUDs in the offspring of a large population-based sample of Danish parents. Findings confirmed that parental AUDs were associated with an increased risk of AUDs among the offspring.

Results will be published in the July 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

“Few studies have used a broad population-based approach to examine associations between a parental history of AUD and risk of an AUD in offspring,” said Erik Lykke Mortensen, associate professor in medical psychology at the University of Copenhagen and corresponding author for the study. “Longitudinal population studies are both expensive and take a long time to complete. In some countries it may also be a problem to follow several generations through decades. But in Denmark we have personal identification numbers and national health registries.”

Mortensen and his colleagues gathered data on 7,177 individuals (3,627 men, 3,550 women) born in Copenhagen between October 1959 and December 1961: information on AUDs was gathered from three Danish health registers, and information on other psychiatric disorders (OPDs) was gathered from the Danish Psychiatric Central Register. Offspring registration with an AUD was analyzed in relation to parental registration with an AUD and/or OPD. The gender of the offspring and parental social status were also noted.

Results showed that parental AUDs were associated with an increased risk of AUDs among the offspring, independent of other significant predictors such as gender, parental social status, and parental psychiatric hospitalization with other diagnoses.

“Furthermore, this association appeared to be stronger among female than male offspring, which suggests that inherited factors related to AUDs are at least as important among daughters as among sons,” said Mortensen. “This finding is important because some early studies suggested that a genetic load played a stronger role in males than in females.”

One of the important aspects of this study, added Mortensen, is that contrary to a number of previous adoption and twin studies — often based on relatively small and selected samples — these findings represent risk estimates from a population-based study.

“The key message for the general public is that there is an increased risk associated with parental alcoholism,” said Mortensen, “but obviously many other factors determine whether an individual develops an AUD.”

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The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by newsPsychology staff) from materials provided by Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:

1. Holger J. Sørensen, Ann M. Manzardo, Joachim Knop, Elizabeth C. Penick, Wendy Madarasz, Elizabeth J. Nickel, Ulrik Becker, Erik L. Mortensen. The Contribution of Parental Alcohol Use Disorders and Other Psychiatric Illness to the Risk of Alcohol Use Disorders in the Offspring. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2011; DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01467.x

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of NewsPsychology or its staff.

There is increasing evidence from human and animal studies that offspring of parents who were physically or psychologically stressed are at higher risk of developing obesity, and that these offspring may in turn "transmit" that increased risk to the next generation. Now research conducted at the University of Minnesota and Georgetown University suggests that a mother's nutritional or psychological stress during pregnancy and lactation may create a signature on her child's genes that put the child at increased risk for obesity later in life, especially if the child is female.

Ruijun Han at the University of Minnesota Medical School's Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology will discuss the team's findings at the at the Experimental Biology meeting (EB 2011), being held April 9-13, 2011 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC. The title of his presentation is "Stress-induced Epigenetic Programming for Adipogenesis: Role of Neuropeptide Y and Adipose Stem Cells."

Two-Tiered Research

The Minnesota team focused on the behavior of neuropeptide Y (NPY), a neurotransmitter found in the brain and autonomic nervous system that is associated with appetite stimulation and the storage of energy as fat. Building on prior research in the field, the team undertook two studies, one involving mice and the other involving mouse embryonic stem cells.

In the first study, the researchers sought to determine if prenatal and postnatal stress exerted long-term effects on the activation of NPY and its Y2 receptor (Y2R) that would result in the creation of fat cells and the promotion of obesity. First, they exposed pregnant mice to stress by feeding them a low-protein diet. The team found that this diet caused low birth weight in the offspring. Female offspring of the mice stressed during pregnancy and lactation grew faster after weaning when they were fed a high-fat diet, and within 2 months, they developed abdominal fat, prediabetes (impaired glucose tolerance) and increased upregulation of Y2R in their fat tissue. Although male offspring of stressed mothers also had low birth weight, they did not develop obesity and they had lower Y2R expression and better metabolic health, even when fed a high-fat diet.

"This indicates that maternal stress during pregnancy and lactation could induce gender-specific abdominal obesity and impaired glucose metabolism associated with increased plasma NPY and fat Y2R," says Dr. Han.

Stress may affect NPY and Y2R in several ways, says Dr. Zofia Zukowska, professor of physiology and the senior researcher of the study. "It could be that the mother's poor nutrition or other type of stress can affect fetal development by depriving the fetus of necessary nutrients or exposing it to levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, norepinephrine and epinephrine [adrenaline], which in turn up-regulate the NPY-Y2R system to affect metabolism and fat growth of the offspring."

The team sought to tease out these effects in the second study by observing how mice embryonic stem cells behave when over-exposed to stress hormones at a critical point in their differentiation. Embryonic stem cells that have been treated with insulin and dexamathasone (synthetic glucocorticoid) will differentiate into fat cells. The team exposed such cells with epinephrine in a test dish and saw that the cells increased fat-cell formation and NPY expression. The cells also decreased DNA methylation in the NPY promoter region, through an epigenetic (non-genetic) process that alters expression of this peptide in cells so that the cells "remember" their type (i.e., stem cells will remain committed to fat cell lineage and give rise to fat cells, instead of becoming or giving rise to another kind of cell).

"All of this data suggests that stress may induce epigenetic changes in NPY and its receptor genes and program [the offspring's DNA] for the future development of abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome," says Dr. Han.

Implications

Although mice are not people, the Minnesota team's research has implications for tackling human obesity because it sheds light on the process by which fat cell volume and the number of fat cells are derived, says Dr. Han. "Adipocyte number before adolescence is a major determinant [of a person's risk of obesity], so intervention during pregnancy and childhood might be an efficient way to prevent adult obesity."

Research has found that the economic benefit of extended schools far outweighs the cost of running them, but a lack of a coherent national approach now puts them in the firing line for government cuts.

Academics warn that undoing the good work of these schools through cutting future funding would be a 'great mistake', as keeping children and their families 'on the right track' can literally save thousands of pounds by avoiding unemployment benefits, early pregnancies, mental health interventions, drug counselling etc.

Extended schools could be the answer to tackling social inequality, but they need more support to thrive, warn leading academics.

In a new book out on April 12, 2011 academics from Newcastle and Manchester universities are calling for a 'long overdue' debate about what we expect of schools in the 21st century.

Beyond the School Gates delves into the history behind this national experiment, which saw schools linking up with other agencies to open their doors to the community.

However, a lack of a coherent national approach now puts them in the firing line for government cuts — despite the fact that they actually save thousands of pounds.

In addition to regular schooling, extended services offer childcare, out-of-hours activities, parenting support, and community access to school facilities.

"In the current economic climate, it's tempting to see them as little more than an unnecessary interference in the core business of schools, but this would be a great mistake," said co-author Liz Todd, Professor of Educational Inclusion at Newcastle University.

"There's strong evidence that extended schools can have a powerful effect on individual children, families and adults — particularly those facing major disadvantages. These effects can, in some cases, quite literally change people's lives, by ensuring that young people and families stay 'on track'.

"One of the main problems is that you often don't see short-term attainment gains for the whole school from this approach and that can make governments reluctant to invest."

Research for the book showed that early intervention in just one child's life could save thousands of pounds in terms of future benefits, early pregnancies, mental health interventions etc. The most cost-effective way of achieving those savings was shown to be through exam results: even a small improvement in grades is estimated to have an average economic benefit of over £160,000*.

"It's not so much a mistaken policy, as one that is under-developed," said co-author Professor Alan Dyson, of The University of Manchester. "If these schools were aligned with more far-reaching efforts to tackle disadvantage, then their potential to make a real difference would be considerably increased.

"They have a great deal to contribute in terms of tackling social and educational disadvantage, but it's unrealistic to think that they alone can create more equal societies without working in partnership with other agencies. Once they do, it's a win-win situation as these schools are already very creative and accomplished at pooling budgets, winning awards and making a little bit of money go a long way."

Like all schools, extended and full service schools focus primarily on teaching children and developing their knowledge and skills in a classroom setting, but this is not their sole aim. They are also concerned with how children thrive — or fail to thrive — within their families and communities, and how this wider circle of influence can be engaged and supported.

"There is a massive untapped community resource out there of people who know what works best for them," said Professor Todd. "We have to move away from a model of delivering support to 'needy' people and work alongside children, families and communities to jointly come up with solutions to the problems they face.

"Schools can ignore what lies beyond their gates, but they cannot escape it. The choice is not whether to allow the outside world into the school — it is whether to do so openly and thoughtfully, embracing the challenges and opportunities this presents, or to pretend, against all evidence, that the outside world does not exist.

"Extended and full service schools — linking strategically with other agencies — can no longer be regarded as 'optional extras' in the school system.

*based on a child predicted 5 A*-G grades who actually gets A*-C grades.

The book "Beyond the School Gates Can Full Service and Extended Schools Overcome Disadvantage?" is authored by Colleen Cummings, Alan Dyson and Liz Todd and published April 12th 2011 by Routledge.

Patients treated in childhood for tumours of the central nervous system (CNS) have persistent and unmet health care needs even in adulthood, according to a comprehensive study from Karolinska Institutet which investigated an entire cohort of patients in Sweden.

The findings are presented in an upcoming issue of the American scientific journal Cancer. The study included 526 adults that were former child cancer patients, and 550 parents. The researchers studied the current health care needs of the patients, based on reports from patients and parents. Persistent care and support needs were identified within several domains, such as medical care, psychosocial support services, need for knowledge about the disease and its consequences, and coordination of care and support services.

Among the survivors, 40 percent reported that their health care needs exceeded the assumed average for the general population, and 41percent had one or several current unmet health care needs. Relatively frequent needs related to the area of medical care were more often satisfied (unmet reported by 20 percent of the patients), compared to other areas. The most commonly reported unsatisfied needs were those concerning psychosocial services (40 percent), followed by lack of sufficient illness information (35 percent). In the considerable proportion of adult survivors with unmet health care needs, female survivors, those who were younger at diagnosis, and those with a poorer present general health status reported unmet needs to a greater extent.

"Our findings show that survivors of CNS tumours have documented health care needs or follow-up needs that continue into adulthood," says Associate Professor Krister K. Boman, who leads a Swedish national research project of which the current study is a part. "We also have indications that, as was the case for these survivors of CNS tumours, monitoring, care and support services do not always adequately address the needs of this particular group."

According to the researchers, the method of collecting data from both patients and their parents ensures against errors that sometimes arise when patients themselves underestimate their own problems and support needs. To improve future evaluations of today's young adult patients' needs, follow-up has to be intensified from early on, and long-term surveillance and follow-up needs to be extended to cover adulthood, the researchers conclude.

"The CNS-tumour treatments are changing and improving, which means positive progress in treatments, but probably also undesirable long-term late effects that are unknown today. Our findings show that knowledge of these needs to be continuously updated to match the conditions of each new generation of survivors," says Krister K. Boman.

The study was funded by the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation and is a part of an on-going major national research project on the impact, needs for intervention and follow-up of patients and families after childhood CNS cancer.

Journal Reference:

1. Emma Hovén, Birgitta Lannering, Göran Gustafsson, Krister K. Boman. The met and unmet health care needs of adult survivors of childhood central nervous system tumors. Cancer, 2011; DOI: 10.1002/cncr.26020

Researchers at the University of British Columbia and Union College (Schenectady, N.Y.) have found that people's death anxiety can influence them to support theories of intelligent design and reject evolutionary theory.

Existential anxiety also prompted people to report increased liking for Michael Behe, intelligent design's main proponent, and increased disliking for evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.

The lead author is UBC Psychology Asst. Prof. Jessica Tracy with co-authors Joshua Hart, assistant professor of psychology at Union College, and UBC psychology PhD student Jason Martens.

Published in the March 30 issue of the journal PLoS ONE, their paper is the first to examine the implicit psychological motives that underpin one of the most heated debates in North America. Despite scientific consensus that intelligent design theory is inherently unscientific, 25 per cent of high school biology teachers in the U.S. devote at least some class time to the topic of intelligent design. And in Canada, for example, Alberta passed a law in 2009 that may allow parents to remove children from courses covering evolution.

British evolutionary biologist Prof. Dawkins, like the majority of scientists, argues that life's origins are best explained by Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. However, intelligent design advocates such as Prof. Behe, a U.S. author and biochemist, assert that complex biochemical and cellular structures are too complex to be explained by evolutionary mechanisms and should be attributed to a supernatural creator.

"Our results suggest that when confronted with existential concerns, people respond by searching for a sense of meaning and purpose in life," says Tracy. "For many, it appears that evolutionary theory doesn't offer enough of a compelling answer to deal with these big questions."

The researchers carried out five studies with 1,674 U.S. and Canadian participants of different ages and a broad range of educational, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds.

In each study, participants were asked to imagine their own death and write about their subsequent thoughts and feelings, or they were assigned to a control condition: imagining dental pain and writing about that.

The participants were then asked to read two similarly styled, 174-word excerpts from the writings of Behe and Dawkins, which make no mention of religion or belief, but describe the scientific and empirical support for their respective positions.

After going through these steps, participants who imagined their own death showed greater support for intelligent design and greater liking for Behe, or a rejection of evolution theory coupled with disliking for Dawkins, compared to participants in the control condition.

However, the research team saw reversed effects during the fourth study which had a new condition. Along with writings by Behe and Dawkins, there was an additional passage by Carl Sagan. A cosmologist and science writer, Sagan argues that naturalism — the scientific approach that underlies evolution, but not intelligent design — can also provide a sense of meaning. In response, these participants showed reduced belief in intelligent design after being reminded of their own mortality.

Tracy says, "These findings suggest that individuals can come to see evolution as a meaningful solution to existential concerns, but may need to be explicitly taught that taking a naturalistic approach to understanding life can be highly meaningful."

Similar results emerged in the fifth study, carried out entirely with natural science students at graduate and undergraduate levels. After thinking about death, these participants also showed greater support for the theory of evolution and liking of Dawkins, compared to control participants.

The researchers say these findings indicate a possible means of encouraging students to accept evolution and reject intelligent design.

"Natural science students have been taught to view evolutionary theory as compatible with the desire to find a greater sense of meaning in life," says Tracy. "Presumably, they already attain a sense of existential meaning from evolution."

The study received support from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.

Journal Reference:

1. Jessica L. Tracy, Joshua Hart, Jason P. Martens. Death and Science: The Existential Underpinnings of Belief in Intelligent Design and Discomfort with Evolution. PLoS ONE, 2011; 6 (3): e17349 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017349

A lack of equipment and venues — and a lack of motivation even if those were available — are the main barriers to physical activity for adolescent boys, according to recently published research from a Michigan State University nursing researcher.

A study of sixth-grade boys' attitudes led by Lorraine Robbins from MSU's College of Nursing suggests an after-school physical activity program could help overcome the decrease in exercise typically seen in this age group.

Robbins' research, published in the Journal of School Nursing, identified the benefits of and barriers to physical activity and suggested ways to increase exercise. A racially diverse set of sixth-grade boys from two public middle schools were brought together in seven focus groups.

"Recent data show less than 12 percent of boys at this age are reaching federal recommendations for physical activity," Robbins said. "There is an urgent need to intervene as soon as boys reach middle school to help prevent long-term health problems."

So, what is preventing boys from reaching federal benchmarks, which call for one hour of exercise daily? Robbins found the most prominent personal barrier was lack of motivation, and environmental barriers included lack of equipment at schools and few neighborhood options with small yards and parks in disrepair.

Another sentiment expressed by many boys in the study, she said, was they preferred playing computer or video games or watching TV rather than exercising. As for the benefits of physical activity, the most prominent reasons identified by study participants were related to maintaining an average body weight and good physical health, specifically in regard to improving personal appearance.

Robbins and her research team focused on sixth-grade boys because obesity is more prevalent in adolescent boys than girls.

"Although boys are more active, only a small percentage engages in 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day," Robbins said. "A lot of boys in both single- and dual-working parent homes care for themselves after school while their parents are at work. Many have limited opportunities for physical activity that are safe, accessible and affordable; this type of situation can lead to unhealthy eating habits."

One idea for increasing exercise discussed as part of the study focused on creating school-based programs, held after school from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Most study participants indicated they would be willing to attend, though they also noted the need to involve parents to ensure regular attendance. Participants also agreed they did not want girls or older boys involved in the program.

"Clearly, to reach boys at this age, we need to offer physical activities that are fun and appealing, providing a viable alternative to the sedentary activities they enjoy now," Robbins said. "In addition, at this age group, it is critical to have someone serving as a source of help or motivation."

She added that because of their professional credibility and direct access, school nurses are in a key position to assume a leadership role in increasing physical activity.

"School nurses can work with principals, classroom teachers, physical education teachers and the school board to raise awareness about the need for and details of effective programs," Robbins said. "Innovative strategies are needed to enhance nurses' visibility as resources in helping students achieve physical activity recommendations."

Journal Reference:

1. L. B. Robbins, H. C. Talley, T.-Y. Wu, J. Wilbur. Sixth-Grade Boys' Perceived Benefits of and Barriers to Physical Activity and Suggestions for Increasing Physical Activity. The Journal of School Nursing, 2009; 26 (1): 65 DOI: 10.1177/1059840509351020

NewsPsychology (Mar. 28, 2011) — Just like snowflakes, no two people are alike, even if they’re identical twins according to new genetic research from The University of Western Ontario. Molecular geneticist Shiva Singh has been working with psychiatrist Dr. Richard O’Reilly to determine the genetic sequencing of schizophrenia using identical or monozygotic twins.

The study is published in this month’s PLoS ONE.

Singh looked at about one million markers of identical twins (and their two parents) where only one twin had schizophrenia. “The most informative feature of schizophrenia is that it sometimes runs in the family. So, for example, the risk of developing schizophrenia is much higher if your brother, sister, mother or father have the disease,” says Singh, noting in the general population about one percent have schizophrenia. “We started with the belief that monozygotic twins are genetically identical, so if one member of identical twins has schizophrenia, then the risk for the other twin should be 100 percent, if it’s all due to genes. However, studies over the years have shown that the risk of the disease in both twins is only 50 percent.” That means either the twins are genetically not identical or the familial disease involves non-genetic (random) effects.

Singh and his team have now demonstrated that the monozygotic twins are not genetically identical. “So if schizophrenia is in the genes, then the difference in the genetic makeup of monozygotic twins, with only one disease twin, must have something to do with the disease.” Singh found about 12 per cent of DNA can vary across individuals, “Cells are dividing as we develop and differentiate. More importantly, these cells may lose or acquire additional DNA. The genome is not static.”

Dr. O’Reilly hopes this research will lead to better understanding and improved treatments for schizophrenia. “If we had a genetic test for schizophrenia, it could be applied early in the disease when it’s hard to make that diagnosis,” says Dr. O’Reilly.

The research was funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Ontario Mental Health Foundation and the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by newsPsychology staff) from materials provided by University of Western Ontario, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:

1. Sujit Maiti, Kiran Halagur Bhoge Gowda Kumar, Christina A. Castellani, Richard O’Reilly, Shiva M. Singh. Ontogenetic De Novo Copy Number Variations (CNVs) as a Source of Genetic Individuality: Studies on Two Families with MZD Twins for Schizophrenia. PLoS ONE, 2011; 6 (3): e17125 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017125

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of NewsPsychology ( or its staff.