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Attention Deficit Hyperative Disorder ("ADHD") haunts children into adulthood, study shows
The problems of untreated attention-disorder don't end when kids grow up. Young adults who had ADHD are more likely than their peers to shun birth control and become parents by age 21 and to have higher credit card debt and less savings, according to a 13-year study reported recently.
Although estimates vary, many children with ADHD go on to have it as adults, says psychologist Mariellen Fischer of the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Government figures show that about 1 out of 20 adults have ADHD.
Fischer released her study with co-author Russell Barkley at the American Psychological Association meeting. They followed 147 children with ADHD by age 7, comparing them with 76 neighbor children who didn't have the disorder. Most ADHD children took medication for a couple of years, but few were being treated by their early 20s, Fischer says.
Adults who had ADHD as kids started having sex a year earlier than classmates. About a third dropped out of high school, compared with none of the neighbor kids, Fischer says. And 1 out of 3 had become parents by their early 20s vs, 1 in 25 of the classmates. They had less than half the savings of young adults they had grown up with and more debt. Yet researchers don't know whether ADHD alone causes these ill effects.
Though ADHD is genetic, there has been much less research on it in adults than children. Mothers of ADHD children are 24 times as likely as the average woman to have it , and fathers' odds are 5 times higher than average, says psychologist Andrea Chronis of the University of Maryland.
Her research, believed the first to focus on how mothers with ADHD do as parents, studied 70 families with elementary-school-age children. The women often weren't very involved with their children; they didn't give praise or show affection regularly, and discipline was inconsistent, Chronis says. Most of their children also had ADHD, and these parenting practices could worsen the problem, she adds.
Because attention-deficit disorder runs in families, perhaps doctors should suggest that parents of children with the disorder also get checked for it, Chronis says.
Critical, demanding parents can damage gifted children
Gifted children and teenagers often are intense about their endeavors, but they're likely to be as mentally healthy as their less able classmates, psychologists reported over the weekend.
All bets are off, though, if the kids have critical parents who demand stellar performance every day; that approach can create nail-biting perfectionists who fear taking risks and fall short of their potential.
"Having high standards is not the problem," says New York City psychologist Linda Hamilton. "It's focusing on external success" rather than a child's effort and how much he has learned. She spoke on a panel at a recent American Psychological Association meeting.
Creatively gifted children with overly demanding parents are terrified of making mistakes, says Hamilton, who consults for the School of American Ballet. The school recently started seminars to teach parents postive ways of dealing with their kids' talents, she says.
"I've seen some of these children who are oblivious to their personal accomplishments" because it's always about the next hurdle they're expected to jump, Hamilton says.
In a new study parents rate their gifted offspring as more prone to anxiety, depression and pshchosomatic complaints than children in the normal intelligence range, says psychologist Bruce Bracken of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. Although gilfted kids often are intense, they can't be distinguished from average-ability classmates in social skills, behavior problems or anger levels, Bracken says.
Some call the perfectionist/maladjusted label a bad rap for gifted children, "People expect these kids to be unhealthy, but it's a myth," Says psychologist Wayne Parker of Scottsdale, Ariz.
He has tracked 820 middle-school students in the Johns Hopkins University Center for Gifted and Talented Youth program. About one-quarter of them are unhealthy perfectionists compared with one-third in a matched control group of less able children.
Also, there's a cultural bias against intellectually driven behavior, Parker says. "We applaud the same perfectionism in young athletes."
Parents can tell whether their child has crossed the line into self-destructive perfectionism, Parker says. "If a kid has high standards and it leads to greater happiness and achievement he's fine. If the standards get in the way of his being successful and happy, he's not."
Happiness is...something that can be overdone
Maybe you can never be too rich or too thin, but you can be too happy for your own good, says a psychologist who has studied the topic so thoroughly that he's often called "Dr. Happiness."
New evidence suggests ultra-happy people may pay some surprising costs, University of Illinois psychologist Edward Diener told the American Psychological Association recently.
It has been well documented that happy adults tend to live longer, make more friends and do better at work. But the most happy college students aren't as conscientious as moodier classmates, Diener's studier show. The "10s' in happiness may spend more time at the bars, dancing and drinking," he speculates.
In worldwide studies, moderately happy adults usually earn more money than the most satisfied. "Maybe it's a motivation thing," Diener says.
Culture and personality also can make a relentlessly positive outlook less desirable. Asians often consider it unseemly to be too happy, Diener's studies show.
And a workplace filled with Pollyannas could lose its competitive edge. Those in mildly negative moods can be more critical and analytic, lab studies suggest.
Shifts in happiness levels give a person vital feedback about himself and the world, much as a gas gauge is needed in cars, says University of Virginia psychologist Gerald Clore. Those who are constantly happy "may have a broken gauge." Clore says, "and it's not serving them well."
By Marilyn Elias
Keep the peace: Diplomacy is key for divorced parents
One of the biggest challenges that divorcing couples face is working together as parents when they can barely stand to be in the same room. Remember that you don't need to like each other to build a successful, long-lasting co-parenting relationship with your ex. Here are some helpful guidelines:
Keep it strictly business: Treat her like a business partner. Your children, of course, are the business.
Get it on paper: Write a parenting agreement. If necessary, hire a mediator to help you.
Shut your mouth: Respect the other parent's relationship with the children. Unless your spouse is doing something dangerous or damaging, let him parent them the way he wants to. The hope is he'll do the same for you.
Stay in the loop: Keep each other informed. Let your ex know about anything important happening in your children's lives that she might not know about.
Fight fair: Come up with some ground rules for resolving conflicts. You will have plenty of disagreements, so you should have a plan - up to and including mediation in place from the very beginning.
Be flexible: Emergency trips, illnesses, weddings and other impossible-to-foresee events can mean asking your ex to keep - or to let you keep - the kids a few extra days. Whether you're asking for help or offering it, be nice and the favor will probably be returned.
Have regular meetings: These can be in person or on the phone.
Stay out: Respect each other's privacy. You don't want your ex asking a bunch of nosy questions about your private life, so don't ask any about him, either.
Keep your work: If you make promises, keep them. If you agree to be somewhere, be there. Expect the same from your ex.
Armin Brott
Eighteen ways to save money on gas
It's no secret that gasoline prices have never been higher and according to the Lundberg Survey, prices have yet to reach their peak! But even though we can't control the retail cost of gas at the pump, we do have the ability to control consumption and therefore cost! Just keep these importand tips in mind provided courtesy of ThriftyFun.com.
- Keep your car tuned up. Cars in poor running condition consume more gasoline than necessary.
- Use a free mapping service such as MapQuest.com to plan the most efficient route to your vacation spot.
- When you use your air conditioner you get much lower mileage, so use it sparingly. Try using a lower setting or turn the AC on until you feel cool enough then use the fan to circulate the cool air.
- Take all unnecessary items out ot the car. Extra weight affects gas mileage.
- Check your tire pressure frequently. Under and over-inflated tires can both reduce fuel efficiency.
- Plan your trips to avoid gridlock or try leaving early to limit time stuck in traffic.
- Drive steady and maintain a constant speed. The more your speed fluctuates the more gas you will use.
- Keep your windows closed at higher speeds. Open windows create additional "drag" which requires more gas to overcome.
- Try not to idle your engine for long periods of time.
- There's no need to "warm up" your car before travel, especially if your car is a newer model.
- Don't travel at fast speeds in low gears. Use overdirve or a high gear when possible.
- Observe the speed limit! Your car will be more efficient and you'll avoid unnecessary and costly tickets as well.
- Accelerate gradually when leaving stoplights.
- There's probably no reason to buy a higher grade of gasoline. Most cars these days are built to run on regular unleaded. Check your owner's manual.
- Revving the engine wastes gas.
- When commuting to work, try to arrange car pools or consider public transportation if available. The money you save can offset the cost of your family vacation.
- Remove ski racks if you're not using them. Again, these devices interrupt the airflow and create unnecessary drag.
- Try to "multi-task" your purchasing trips so as to avoid multiple trips to the store or shopping plaza.
Does working out reverse the effects of stress?
Not entirely, but regular exercise can help abate both the physical and mental effects of stress. One of your body's responses to stress is known as the "fight or flight" mode. In this state, the body releases hormones, including adrenaline and cortrisol, into the bloodstream as well as glucose and fatty acids, which are used as fuel.
Long-term stress can be associated with high blood pressure, digestion problems, headaches, insomnia, muscle aches, a weakened immune system and depression. This is where regular workouts play an important part: Physical exertion helps burn up these substances and discharges endorphins, the feel-good chemicals known for producing a calming effect. Exercise also helps you look better, which in turn makes you feel better.
Learning the relaxation techniques of meditation, yoga, and tai chi also can help you cope with stress, advises Colin Milner of the International Council on Active Aging. He adds that the most important thing is to listen to your body.
By Michael O'Shea
The above articles were gathered from a variety of news sources.
Employee Health Systems 2005
1577 West Ridge Road |
2280 East Avenue |
Rochester, NY 14615 |
Rochester, NY 14610 |
Phone: (585) 865-7446 |
Phone: (585) 473-4913 |
Fax: (585) 865-7531 |