Your Weekly Dose of #5ThoughtsFriday: A description of what we think is important at BIAMD
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#5Thoughts Friday
The
Edition
07/08/2022

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Adolescent depression and behavior problems are on the rise and paternal depression may be contributing to this increase, regardless of whether the fathers and children are genetically related, according to new research from Penn State and Michigan State.

“A lot of research focuses on depression within biologically related families,” said Jenae Neiderhiser, Social Science Research Institute cofunded faculty member and distinguished professor of psychology and human development and family studies at Penn State.

“Now more information is becoming available for adoptive families and blended families.”

The researchers looked at naturally occurring variations in genetic relatedness between parents and their adolescent children in the 720 families participating in the Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development (NEAD) study, with over half of those families containing a child-rearing stepparent.

Mothers, fathers and children each answered questions to measure symptoms of depression, behaviors and parent-child conflict. The researchers then examined the association between paternal depression symptoms and child behavioral symptoms in a series of models.

Neiderhiser and Alex Burt, professor of clinical science at Michigan State, along with their colleagues found paternal depression was associated with adolescent depression and adolescent behavior problems regardless of whether the fathers and their children were genetically related.

CLICK HERE for more on this unique study.
BHA/MedChi FREE Behavioral Health Webinar Series: Helping the Helpers
and Those They Serve

  • Thursday, July 14 (5 p.m.): 
  • Finding Structure in Chaos: Enhancing Well-Being and Operational Sustainment for Healthcare Workers in COVID-19 and Beyond. 
  • Joshua C. Morganstein, MD. Moderator: TBD. 
  • Register here.

  • Thursday, July 28 (5 p.m.): 
  • Make Your Workday Less Stressful and More Productive: Neutralize Your Inner Judge and Saboteurs. 
  • Catherine Woodhouse, MD. Moderator: TBD.
  •  Register here.

Published in the journal PLOS ONE, the study is the first to investigate how hunger affects people’s emotions on a day-to-day level.

Hangry, a portmanteau of hungry and angry, is widely used in everyday language but the phenomenon has not been widely explored by science outside of laboratory environments.

The new study, led by academics from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in the UK and the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences in Austria, found that hunger is associated with greater levels of anger and irritability, as well as lower levels of pleasure.

The researchers recruited 64 adult participants from central Europe, who recorded their levels of hunger and various measures of emotional well-being over a 21-day period.

Participants were prompted to report their feelings and their levels of hunger on a smartphone app five times a day, allowing data collection to take place in participants’ everyday environments, such as their workplace and at home.

The results show that hunger is associated with stronger feelings of anger and irritability, as well as lower ratings of pleasure, and the effects were substantial, even after taking into account demographic factors such as age and sex, body mass index, dietary behavior, and individual personality traits.
CLICK HERE to see if it really is time to reach for a Snickers.
Jean Udo is a researcher with the University of Maryland, School of Medicine for a Stroke Rehabilitation Study led by Principal Investigator, Dr. Kelly Westlake. 
 
They are running a federally funded home-based online stroke rehabilitation study that compares the use of a home exercise program guided by a computer to a written exercise program for individuals with limited arm function following a stroke.

Dr. Westlake, Jean, and their team are recruiting volunteers until August 2022 and reaching out to communities and/or individuals who may benefit from study.  

Interested volunteers can contact study coordinator Jean Udo at 410-706-6779 or [email protected].

For More Information on the study CLICK HERE.
Photo by Tess WB on Unsplash
Tucked into the temporal lobe, near the base of our brain, sits a small, almond-shaped region called the amygdala that processes our emotions.

Neuroscientists at Tufts University have been investigating the symphony of signals created within a subsection of this area—the basolateral amygdala—to better understand how they contribute to negative feelings such as anxiety and fear.

“This emotional processing hub plays a role in a lot of different behaviors,” said Jamie Maguire, a Kenneth and JoAnn G. Wellner Professor in the neuroscience department at Tufts University School of Medicine and a member of the neuroscience program faculty at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS).

“We’re interested in how the network switches into these negative states, which is relevant to many different disorders, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.”

In a recent paper published in the journal eNeuro, Maguire and her colleagues found that alcohol can change the pattern of activity in the basolateral amygdala in a mouse model, essentially telling the brain’s orchestra to play a different tune. This is the first study to show that alcohol is capable of altering these patterns, often referred to as network states.

CLICK HERE to find out more about this alcohol connection.
2) Books We are LISTENING TO This Week
As a clinical psychologist, Dr. Nicole LePera often found herself frustrated by the limitations of traditional psychotherapy. Wanting more for her patients—and for herself—she began a journey to develop a united philosophy of mental, physical and spiritual wellness that equips people with the interdisciplinary tools necessary to heal themselves. After experiencing the life-changing results herself, she began to share what she’d learned with others—and soon “The Holistic Psychologist” was born.

In How to Do the Work, Dr. LePera offers readers the support and tools that will allow them to break free from destructive behaviors to reclaim and recreate their lives. Nothing short of a paradigm shift, this is a celebration of empowerment that will forever change the way we approach mental wellness and self-care

CLICK HERE to see more.
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don't forget to use 
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donation beneficiary.

We receive 0.5% of the purchase price and you receive the same great service, no extra charge! 
1) Quote We are Contemplating
"Don't be afraid of your fears. They're not there to scare you. They're there to let you know that something is worth it."


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HAVE A WONDERFUL
WEEKEND.

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 Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful weekend.