Children Who Snore Are More Moody

Children Who Snore Are More Moody

Snoring in young kids is associated with a higher risk of mood disorders and depression, as well as problems with language and attention, claims a new study.

The researchers at Helsinki University Central Hospital, in Finland, studied 43 pre-school aged children who snored at least once or twice per week, according to their parents, and compared them with 46 other kids who did not snore. The children, with the average age of 5 years, were tested by means of standard tasks that looked at behavior problems, cognitive, or intellectual function, and development. All the youngsters were assessed by their parents or caregivers with the help of a Child Behavior Checklist, and additionally by the scientists with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Revised, and few other tests.

After the completion of all tests, the experts found that children who snored, seemed to have a higher rate of problems with mood, and they also showed noticeable symptoms of anxiety and depression. Overall, 22 per cent of kids who snored, had symptoms of mood disorders, which were severe enough to require clinical evaluation. On the other hand, in the group of kids that did not have snoring problems, only 11 per cent of young participants were found to have similar mood disorders.

"The results of our study bring out snoring as a possible risk factor for mood problems and cognitive impairment in children," said lead researcher Eeva T. Aronen, M.D., Ph.D., of Helsinki University Central Hospital. According to the researchers, children who snore also experience very often some other problems, such as seeing bad dreams and nightmares, talking in their sleep, or problems to be put to bed. Cognitive tests also showed that there were some significant differences, including lack of attention and language skills among the kids who snored. However, other kinds of problems, such as aggressive behavior in youngsters, did not seem to have any relationship with the SDB (sleep-disordered breathing), the experts wrote.

Previous investigations have shown that the sleep disorders may have negative impact on the mental health of a person, but those studies were conducting their research only involving adult participants. This is the first study that associated sleep disorders with behavioral and cognitive problems in such young children. The experts believe that when their findings will become well-known to the physicians and other professionals, they will have the opportunity to better understand the mental health and developmental impact of SDB (sleep-disordered breathing) in preschool-aged kids. Therefore, they could take necessary therapeutic measures in time, before complicated emotional or behavioral symptoms and poor school performance begin to appear and develop in the child.

The researchers suggest that more research and investigation on this matter will be needed in order to assess effective treatments for snoring problems in young kids, and determine whether these treatments will help to alleviate the impact on the children's mood and intellectual functioning.

Nap Reduces Hyperactivity And Depression In Kids

Nap Reduces Hyperactivity And Depression In Kids

A new study by the scientists at Pennsylvania State University, finds that children who take a nap when they are 4 and 5 years old, are less likely to be hyperactive or experience depression and anxiety.

The results of the study revealed that parents or caregivers of kids between the ages of 4 and 5 years, who discontinued to take daytime naps, reported that their offspring showed higher levels of hyperactivity, anxiety and depression, compared to their counterparts who still continued to nap at this point of their lives. In their research, the investigators were happy to demonstrate the potential importance of taking naps for optimal daytime functioning in young kids, as napping is often overlooked in favor of nighttime or total sleep.

It all depends on every individual case and variability in when children are ready not to take naps anymore, said a principal author of the study, Dr. Brian Crosby, postdoctoral fellow of psychology at Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Crosby added that he would suggest that parents included a quiet 'rest' time in the daily schedule of their children, that, in turn, would allow kids to nap if needed.

For the study purposes, the experts gathered data from 62 children between the ages of 4 and 5 years. All the kids were classified as either ones who took naps - 77 per cent, or the ones who did not take naps - 23 per cent, based on actigraphy data.

Actigraphy data for each child who took part in the study, was collected continuously for 7 days to 14 days. Children who took naps did so an average of 3.4 days on a weekle basis. Of all the participants, 55 per cent were white-non-Hispanic children and 53 per cent were boys. Parents and caregivers were asked to provide information on their child's typical weekday and weekend bedtime and rise time, as well as their napping patterns, family demographics, and also had to complete a behavioral assessment of the child.

Dr. Crosby is hopeful that the new findings will encourage caregivers and other investigators to examine the ways in which napping influences daytime functioning in children, as an optimal age to stop taking naps has not yet been determined.

The findings of the study were presented June 8, at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, in Seattle.

Children And Video Games

Children And Video Games

Since video games were first introduced in the 1972, they have become one of the most popular activities for people of all ages. Video games are played on several types of platforms: home consoles used with TV sets, computers, computers with access to the Internet, coin-operated arcade machines, and hand-held devices including game systems, cell phones and Palm Pilots.

Many children and teenagers spend large amounts of time playing them. Most of the games have become very sophisticated and realistic. And while some of them have educational content and promote learning, problem solving and help with the development of motor skills and coordination, others emphasize negative themes and promote killing, fighting, foul language, criminal behavior and violence in general.

There is growing research on the effects of video games on children. Numerous studies show that video games, especially ones with violent content, make teens more aggressive. Children exposed to violence can become addicted to the horror of violence by imitating the violence they see, and showing more aggressive behavior themselves. Some children accept violence as a way to cope with their own problems. Studies have also shown that the more realistic is the exposure to violence, the more impressed children are. Also, children with emotional, behavioral and learning problems may be more influenced by violent images. Playing video games may increase aggressive behavior because violent acts are continually repeated throughout the video game. This method of repetition has long been considered an effective teaching method in reinforcing learning patterns.

Part of the increase in aggressive behavior is linked to the amount of time children are allowed to play video games. According to a U.S. national survey conducted by the National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF), 92 per cent of children and teens ages 2 to 17 play video games, more than two-thirds of all children ages 2 to 18 live in a home with a video game system, a third of all children 2 to 18 have video game players in their bedrooms. By comparison, half have TV, 29 per cent have a VCR and 16 per cent have a computer in their room.

There is a big difference between passive TV or movie viewing and an interactive quality of video and computer games which allows players to experience amazing special effects, and become active participants in the game's script. Players enjoy being engaged in acts of violence and are then extremely excited to be able to move to the game's next level.

Children and teens who become overly involved and obsessed with video games, and, therefore, spend large amounts of time playing these games, can create problems, such as poor social skills, time absent from home, lower grades at school, less reading, less exercising and becoming overweight, aggressive thoughts, behaviors and so on.

One study suggested that children's physical health also may be affected by playing video games. Effects can range from triggering epileptic seizures to causing heart rate and blood pressure jumping. However, serious physical health problems are transient or limited to a small number of players. Research has also pointed to benefits associated with creative and pro-social uses of video games, as in physical rehabilitation and oncology. Proponents of video games suggest that games may be a friendly way of introducing children to computers, and may increase children's coordination and concentration on details.

Because of the popularity of video games, completely eliminating them from a child's life might be very hard. Therefore, parents should consider several important issues when providing guidance to their children and teens regarding the use of video games. They can help their kids enjoy these games and avoid problems by: checking the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings, to learn about the game's content; selecting appropriate games-both in content and level of development; setting clear rules about game content and playing time, both in and outside of your home; strongly warning children about potential serious dangers of Internet contacts and relationships while playing games online; talking with other parents about your family's video game rules; not installing video game equipment in your child's bedroom, and remembering that you are a role model for your children - including video games you play as an adult.

Parents are responsible for helping their children in choosing books to read, toys to play with, TV programs and movies to watch, that are appropriate for each particular child. Entertainment materials should be fun, engaging, exciting and educating. Parents should have a good knowledge and understanding of each child so that they can assist them in selecting appropriate learning materials. Parents should invest more of their time playing the games with their children, as well as talking with them about their impressions, thoughts, feelings and perceptions related to the playing game. They can also engage in a discussion of great values that may guide the child down a safe road and lead to the development of a moral character.

Pro-Social Video Games Make Children Kinder

Pro-Social Video Games Make Children Kinder

Previous studies have suggested that there is a relationship between playing violent video games and aggressive behavior in children. But now, for the first time, the three new studies have concluded that some video games influence good behavior and can even make children kinder and more likely to help other people.

All the three separate studies that were carried out in the United States, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia and used different age groups and a variety of scientific methods, suggest that people who play video games with pro-social content, become more attentive and helpful to others after the game is over. Douglas Gentile, a psychologist at Iowa State University and a principal investigator of the study, said: "Dozens of studies have documented a relationship between violent video games and aggressive behaviors. But this is one of the first that has documented the positive effects of playing pro-social games."

For the purposes of their first study, the researchers involved and studied 727 Singapore children with an average age of 13 years. The participants were asked to name their favorite games and also to recall how often the characters in those games "helped, hurt or killed other characters." In addition to these questions, the experts asked all kids how likely they were themselves to perform good deeds, including sharing, helping and cooperating, or in some cases, reacting in an aggressive way to situations. The results revealed that there was a strong link between playing pro-social video games and helping other people. But the experts also said that they found a strong correlation between playing violent games and negative behavior.

For the second experiment, the investigators involved about 2,000 Japanese children with the ages between 10 and 16 years and examined the long-term connection between video game habits and pro-social behaviour. Children were asked questions about their use of pro-social video games, and then to report how often they had helped other people in the previous month. Between 3 to 4 months later, all the kids were surveyed again, and researchers found that there was a significant connection between playing pro-social games and helpful behaviour few months later.

In the third study, U.S. college students with an average age of 19 years, played either a pro-social, violent, or neutral game. After that, the participants assigned puzzles to a randomly selected partner. In case the partner could solve the puzzle, he/she would earn $10. The main idea was that the participant choosing the puzzles could pick easy puzzles or hard puzzles, essentially deciding how easy or difficult it would be for the partner to earn the money. The research found that those students who played a pro-social game, were considerably more helpful, when compared to those who played violent or neutral games. They were found to select more easy puzzles to their partners. And those who had played violent games were significantly more likely to choose the hardest puzzles.

"Taken together, these findings make it clear that playing video games is not in itself good or bad for children," researchers said. "The type of content in the game has a bigger impact than the overall amount of time spent playing."

Computer Game Tetris Improves Thinking

Computer Game Tetris Improves Thinking

Playing the computer game Tetris may boost gray matter in your brain, according to a new report which also suggests that regular idle act of fitting blocks together on a computer screen can improve thinking and increase "mental efficiency".

Tetris is a computer game, developed about 25 years ago by a Soviet computer programmer Alexey Pajitnov. The game requires players to score points by rotating different shaped blocks as they fall into position, so they form a straight completed line and then disappear from the screen. Till today Tetris remains one of the world's most popular computer games.

To come up with the conclusion, the scientists from the Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, United States, along with researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute, had MRIs, magnetic resonance imaging, done on twenty-six adolescent girls with the ages between 12 and 15 years old. All the girls were asked to play the popular computer game for 30 minutes on a daily basis over the course of 3 months. As a result, using two brain imaging techniques, the scientists discovered that compared with a control group of girls who did not play the puzzle game, the subjects demonstrated improved efficiency in different parts of the brain that were involved in critical thinking, reasoning as well as language and processing.

In addition, MRI scans also showed increases in matter in the brain's cortex, an area of the brain scientists believe plays a role in the planning of complex, coordinated movements, and integrating sensory experiences, such as vision, sound and touch, with other information. "What we found was a change in the brain after playing Tetris," says Dr. Richard Haier, a neurologist with the Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, and a principal investigator of the project. "The thickness of the cerebral cortex actually increased, by less than half a millimeter."

All 26 participants had limited experience in playing computer games. The team chose adolescent girls because brain changes might be easier to detect in a young person, and also because boys, when compared to girls, tend to spend much more time playing computer games and might not demonstrate noticeable changes in the brain after practice. Tetris is a useful tool when it comes to brain research, the experts said, because this game involves a number of cognitive processes, such as attention, hand and eye coordination, memory and visual spatial problem solving working in combination very quickly.

The experts intend to continue their investigation on the matter with larger and more diverse samples in order to find out whether the brain changes they spotted revert back when the participants stop playing Tetris. At the same time, they are interested if the skills obtained while playing the game, and the associated brain changes, transfer to other cognitive areas such as working memory, processing speed, or spatial reasoning.

Teen Marijuana Use Linked To Psychoses

Teen Marijuana Use Linked To Psychoses

Teenagers who are longtime marijuana smokers are at an increased risk of developing psychoses, such as schizophrenia, hallucinations and delusions, compared to short-term smokers or those who have never smoked pot, a new research suggests.

Scientists at the Brain Institute at the University of Queensland, Australia, tracked 3,801 young adults with the ages between 14 and 21 years. The participants and their mothers were asked about their mental health record and whether they had used any drugs, specifically marijuana, and then evaluated to determine if they had developed any psychotic conditions.

According to the data provided: 17.7 per cent of participants reported smoking marijuana for 3 or fewer years; 16.2 per cent smoked pot for 4 to 5 years; 14.3 per cent reported using marijuana for six or more years. The findings showed that overall, from all the test subjects, those who had started smoking marijuana before the age of 15 years, were more likely to develop symptoms of psychosis by the time they turned 21 years old.

Of the individuals who had smoked pot at an early age, 3.9 per cent had developed a psychotic disorder. This compared with approximately 3 per cent of those who had started smoking marijuana after age 15, and 2.1 per cent of young adults who had never used cannabis. The experts found that of all the participants, 223 had at least one "positive" report for hallucination on their interviews, and 65 received a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The authors said that long-term smokers of marijuana were 4 times more likely to have high scores on a list of psychotic illnesses. Two sample questions included "Do you ever feel as if you are possessed by someone or something else?" and "Do you ever feel as if other people can read your mind?"

In addition, the researchers analyzed the association between marijuana use and psychotic symptoms among a subgroup of 10 pairs of siblings. Within these pairs, not a big difference was noticed in cannabis use. However, among the 218 pairs of siblings where neither had developed a psychotic condition, siblings who had started smoking marijuana at a younger age were more likely to score higher on a questionnaire measuring "delusional-like experiences".

According to the study's lead author, Dr. John McGrath of the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, there might be "confounding factors" in this new research. For example, the study did not account for the number of young adults who had psychoses to begin with, and how those conditions could influence their decision to use cannabis. Also, Dr. McGrath added that mental illness among parents "is a potential confounding factor because this could influence both the risk of cannabis use and psychotic-related outcomes in the offspring."