AICAFMHA:
promoting mental health for young Australians
Australian Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association Ltd
ABN 87 093 479 022


Collated Mental Health News Items for 2008
Collated Mental Health News Items for 2008

Displaying items 1 to 5

Australian Health Ministers agree to Fourth National Mental Health Plan
 Australian Health Ministers met yesterday in Canberra to discuss a number of key health issues.

Ministers agreed to the development of the Fourth National Mental Health Plan, including consultation with experts before a forum in NSW at the end of August 2008.

Further information is available in the communique which can be downloaded from the link below.

Link related to this news item: www.hawkerbritton.com/hawker-britton-media/public-affairs/ahmc-communique-080722.pdf
Posted:Jul 23, 2008
The Importance of Play
 Claire McCarthy, M.D., Harvard Medical School(May 20, 2008). It's a sad commentary on our society that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) had to issue a report reminding parents and doctors that it's important for children to play.
The report, called "The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds," points out that some children aren't being given adequate free time just to play.

Link related to this news item: www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977349551&grpId=3659174697246155&nav=Groupspace
Posted:Jul 15, 2008
Trust leads to Better Health
 Psych Central (June 17 2008). A unique study discovers community involvement and a sense of belonging aids physical and mental health. Social trust, sense of belonging and community participation were each significantly associated with health outcomes, the researchers found.
Physical health - as reported by the study participants remained significantly associated with social trust even among twins. However, social capital - the factors that add up to a feeling of connection to the community did not affect rates of major depression, found the study appearing in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The study looked at survey data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the U.S., focusing on 944 sets of twins, all between ages 25 and 74. More than 1,000 of the 1,888 participants said they were either in very good or excellent health. 'We directly compared twins, and found the effect of social trust regardless of genetics and upbringing," said study coauthor Takeo Fujiwara. An overwhelming majority of participants - 95 percent perceived an absolute connection between their physical health and social trust, said Fujiwara. He is chief of the Section of Behavioral Science, Department of Health Promotion and Research at the National Institute of Public Health in Japan. Fujiwara and co-author Ichiro Kawachi, a professor of social epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, says social capital includes factors such as community participation, volunteer work and comfort within a neighborhood. "This is very encouraging", Fujiwara said. "What society or community can do may change the health of residents, regardless of predisposing factors."

Link related to this news item: www.psychcentral.com/news/2008/06/17/trust-leads-to-better-health/2470.html
Posted:Jul 15, 2008
Antenatal Blues 'hit Development'
 BBC News: Health professionals need to be vigilant for depression in pregnancy. Women who are depressed during pregnancy can have babies who develop more slowly than their peers, a UK study suggests. Postnatal depression is known to cause this, but the researchers say antenatal depression can have its own impact. Writing in the BJOG journal, they said it could mean a third greater chance of cognitive or behavioural problems.
The study looked at the records of 11,098 women and their children who gave birth in 1991 and 1992. They assessed the level of depression shown by women during pregnancy, then looked for a relationship between this and any developmental problems in their children.

Link related to this news item: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7476192.stm
Posted:Jul 15, 2008
Family Stress Ups Child's Risk Of Distress
 Psych Central (June 23rd 2008). A new Norwegian study suggests small children who grow up in a stressful environment are more vulnerable than others to develop emotional problems.
Researchers discovered maternal distress symptoms, family stress and lack of social support in the child's pre-school environment leads to an increase in anxiety and depression symptoms when these children reach 12-13 years old.
The findings are based on maternal and child report of the child's symptoms of anxiety and depression, plus reports from the mother about risk and protective factors in the family environment.
The results indicate that there can be two central developmental paths to emotional problems in early adolescence. One path goes through the child's temperament, especially temperamental emotionality (tendency to react quickly and intensely). A different course goes through the environmental factors that are present when the children are at pre-school age.

Link related to this news item: psychcentral.com/news/2008/06/23/family-stress-ups-childs-risk-of-distress/2485.html
Posted:Jul 15, 2008

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