TBy Rick Nauert PhD
Research looking at how the timing of sexual initiation in adolescence impacts adult romantic ties finds that having sex later may lead to better relationships.
iming of First Sex Has Far-Reaching Relationship Effects
In a new study, Dr. Paige Harden, a psychological scientist, investigated how the timing of sexual initiation in adolescence influences romantic outcomes — such as whether people get married or live with their partners, how many romantic partners they’ve had, and whether they’re satisfied with their relationship — later in adulthood.

To answer this question, Harden and colleagues from the University of Texas at Austin used data from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health to look at 1659 same-sex sibling pairs who were followed from adolescence (around 16) to young adulthood (around 29).

Each sibling was classified as having an Early (younger than 15), On-Time (age 15-19), or Late (older than 19) first experience with sexual intercourse.

Harden’s findings are reported in a new research article published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

As expected, later timing of first sexual experience was associated with higher educational attainment and higher household income in adulthood when compared with the Early and On-Time groups.

Individuals who had a later first sexual experience were also less likely to be married and they had fewer romantic partners in adulthood.

Among the participants who were married or living with a partner, later sexual initiation was associated with significantly lower levels of relationship dissatisfaction in adulthood.

Researchers found that these associations with a later sex experience were not changed when genetic and environmental factors were taken into account. Furthermore, the associations could not be explained by differences in adult educational attainment, income, or religiousness, or by adolescent differences in dating involvement, body mass index, or attractiveness.

Experts believe the results suggest that the timing of first experience with sexual intercourse predicts the quality and stability of romantic relationships in young adulthood.

Although investigators have often focused on the consequences of early sexual activity, the Early and On-Time participants in this study were largely indistinguishable.

Researchers say the data suggests early initiation is not a “risk” factor so much as late initiation is a “protective” factor in shaping romantic outcomes.

According to Harden, there are several possible mechanisms that might explain this relationship.

It’s possible, for example, that people who have their first sexual encounter later also have certain characteristics (e.g., secure attachment style) that have downstream effects on both sexual delay and on relationship quality.

They could be pickier in choosing romantic and sexual partners, resulting in a reluctance to enter into intimate relationships unless they are very satisfying.

It’s also possible, however, that people who have their first sexual encounter later have different experiences, avoiding early encounters with relational aggression or victimization that would otherwise have detrimental effects on later romantic outcomes.

Finally, Harden said that it’s possible that “individuals who first navigate intimate relationships in young adulthood, after they have accrued cognitive and emotional maturity, may learn more effective relationship skills than individuals who first learn scripts for intimate relationships while they are still teenagers.”

Experts say that additional research is needed to help to tease apart which of these mechanisms may actually be at work in driving the association between timing of first sexual intercourse and later romantic outcomes.

Prior studies by Harden and her colleagues have provided evidence that earlier sexual intercourse isn’t always associated with negative outcomes.

For example, using the same sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, she found that teenagers who experienced their first sexual intercourse earlier, particularly those who had sex in a romantic dating relationship, had lower levels of delinquent behavior problems.

She said, “We are just beginning to understand how adolescents’ sexual experiences influence their future development and relationships.”

By Lauren Walters

Introduction

You may have heard of Major Depressive Disorder. However, individuals who experience depression may not necessarily have a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder. Instead, they may have a diagnosis of Dysthymic Disorder. You may be wondering what Dysthymic Disorder is. This article will explain this. In addition to explaining the criteria for a diagnosis of Dysthymic Disorder, this article will also describe the specifiers of Dysthymic Disorder.

What Is The Criteria For Dysthymic Disorder?

According to http://www.allaboutdepression.com/dia_04.html#1, the following is the criteria for a diagnosis of Dysthymic Disorder:

A person has depressed mood for most the time almost every day for at least two years. Children and adolescents may have irritable mood, and the time frame is at least one year.
While depressed, a person experiences at least two of the following symptoms:
Either overeating or lack of appetite.
Sleeping to much or having difficulty sleeping.
Fatigue, lack of energy.
Poor self-esteem.
Difficulty with concentration or decision making.
Feeling hopeless.
A person has not been free of the symptoms during the two-year time period (one-year for children and adolescents).
During the two-year time period (one-year for children and adolescents) there has not been a major depressive episode.
A person has not had a manic, mixed, or hypomanic episode.
The symptoms are not present only during the presence of another chronic disorder.
A medical condition or the use of substances (i.e., alcohol, drugs, medication, toxins) do not cause the symptoms.
The person’s symptoms are a cause of great distress or difficulty in functioning at home, work, or other important areas.
What Are The Specifiers For Dysthymic Disorder?

According to http://www.allaboutdepression.com/dia_04.html#1, there are three specifiers for Dysthymic Disorder, including early onset, late onset, and with atypical features. According to http://www.allaboutdepression.com/dia_04.html#1, on the basis of the early onset specifier, “Dysthymic symptoms begin before the age of 21. This may increase the likelihood of developing later major depressive episodes.” According to http://www.allaboutdepression.com/dia_04.html#1, on the basis of the late onset specifier, “Dysthymic symptoms begin after the age of 21.” According to http://www.allaboutdepression.com/dia_04.html#1, on the basis of the atypical features specifier, “symptoms are experienced during the last two years.”

Conclusion

This article has provided the reader with the criteria of Dysthymic Disorder and the specifiers for Dysthymic Disorder. On a final note, to have a diagnosis of Dysthymic Disorder, as oppose to a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder, symptoms must be present for an extended period of time, specifically for at least two years or more.

By Gabe Howard

Teenagers have a tendency to be dramatic. Many of us don’t like to admit it, but we were dramatic at that age, too, at least to some extent. Now that we’re parents (or other relatives, mentors, caregivers, or friends) to a teenager, the universe is giving us a taste of it from the other side. Most teenage angst is typical. I remember the first time my mom insulted my favorite band. What she said was, “I don’t like this band.”

What I heard was, “You’re stupid for listening to them and you have awful taste in music.”

When teenagers get angry, watch out. We’ve all said things we regret when angry and the minds of teenagers aren’t fully formed. Many life lessons that we adults take for granted have not yet been experienced by the average teen. When angry, they lash out and will say whatever it is they feel will hurt you.

Threatening to “commit suicide” is a fairly typical escalation point for an upset teenager looking to lash out.

Don’t Ignore Any Suicide Threat, Even If You’re “Sure” They’re Lying

Our society is deficient in mental health education and suicide prevention. The fact is that many adults don’t know what to do when anyone threatens to commit suicide, let alone a kid. Our natural tendency is to ignore things that make us feel uncomfortable or that we don’t understand. However, ignoring teenagers when they threaten suicide is a bad idea – even if you are sure they are just being dramatic. There are only two reasons for individuals to say they are contemplating suicide:

They are considering ending their life and in need of medical care.
They are trying to manipulate you and, in doing so, (unintentionally) making it harder for people who aren’t lying to be taken seriously.
Either reason needs to be taken seriously. Addressing the first reason is obvious; addressing the second ensures that your teen doesn’t minimize the experiences of people who truly need help. Crying wolf doesn’t just hurt them; it causes a ripple effect that prevents people who need care from getting it.

That’s not okay.

What Do You Do When Someone Says He or She Is Considering Suicide?

If someone says that he or she is considering suicide, you immediately get the person medical help. Call 9-1-1, take them to the emergency room, take them to the doctor’s office or local health department. Do not ignore the comment and do not try to handle it on your own. Mental illness, mental health crises, and thoughts of suicide are medical issues that need medical intervention.

Suicide PreventionEven if you are sure the teen is “just being dramatic,” seek medical help anyway. Suicidal threats are not something to take lightly. Many people don’t want to “waste their time” or “waste a doctor’s time” with something that they believe is just a adolescent being manipulative.

And they would be wrong to think that. Suicide is permanent. Would you want to take that risk if there is even a 1% chance that you’re wrong? Also, a teen learning the lesson that threatening suicide isn’t a weapon to be wielded in a disagreement or a tool for manipulation is a very valuable lesson.

So, your teen gets life-saving medical care or a life-changing experience that will make him or her a better person. There is no downside.

For all the manipulation, teenage angst, and dramatic rantings out there, I still take all threats seriously. I’m 99% positive my six-year-old nephew can’t get, and doesn’t have, a gun. But, if he walked up to me and said he had a loaded gun under his bed, I’d still go look.

Wouldn’t you?

Gabe Howard is a professional speaker, writer, and advocate who lives with bipolar and anxiety disorders. He has made it his mission to change the way society reacts to mental illness. He is an award-winning blogger and the creator of the official bipolar shirt. (Get yours now!) Interested in working with Gabe or learning more? He can be reached on Facebook, via email, or on his website, www.GabeHoward.com. Don’t be shy — he’s not.

By Rick Nauert PhD

Need help in remembering a difficult concept? A solution may literally be at your fingertips as new research suggests drawing pictures of information that needs to be remembered enhances memory.

“We pitted drawing against a number of other known encoding strategies, but drawing always came out on top,” said the study’s lead author, Jeffrey Wammes, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo.

“We believe that the benefit arises because drawing helps to create a more cohesive memory trace that better integrates visual, motor, and semantic information.”

In the study, researchers presented student participants with a list of simple, easily drawn words, such as “apple.” The students were given 40 seconds to either draw the word, or write it out repeatedly. They were then given a filler task of classifying musical tones to facilitate the retention process.

Finally, the researchers asked students to freely recall as many words as possible from the initial list in just 60 seconds.

“We discovered a significant recall advantage for words that were drawn as compared to those that were written,” said Wammes.

“Participants often recalled more than twice as many drawn than written words. We labelled this benefit ‘the drawing effect,’ which refers to this distinct advantage of drawing words relative to writing them out.”

Drawing the words or concepts, however crudely appears to be the best method for retention.

In variations of the experiment in which students drew the words repeatedly, or added visual details to the written letters, such as shading or other doodles, the results remained unchanged.

Memory for drawn words was superior to all other alternatives. Drawing led to better later memory performance than listing physical characteristics, creating mental images, and viewing pictures of the objects depicted by the words.

“Importantly, the quality of the drawings people made did not seem to matter, suggesting that everyone could benefit from this memory strategy, regardless of their artistic talent. In line with this, we showed that people still gained a huge advantage in later memory, even when they had just four seconds to draw their picture,” said Wammes.

While the drawing effect proved reliable in testing, the experiments were conducted with single words only. Wammes and his team are currently trying to determine why this memory benefit is so potent, and how widely it can be applied to other types of information.

By Janice Wood

A new study shows that the age at which an adolescent starts using marijuana affects which parts of the brain will be affected.

Researchers at the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas found that study participants who began using marijuana when they were 16 or younger had brain variations that indicate arrested brain development in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for judgment, reasoning, and complex thinking.

Those who started using after age 16 showed the opposite effect, demonstrating signs of accelerated brain aging, according to the study, which was published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

“Science has shown us that changes in the brain occurring during adolescence are complex. Our findings suggest that the timing of cannabis use can result in very disparate patterns of effects,” said Francesca Filbey, Ph.D., principal investigator. “Not only did age of use impact the brain changes, but the amount of cannabis used also influenced the extent of altered brain maturation.”

For the study, the researchers analyzed MRI scans of 42 heavy marijuana users; 20 participants were categorized as early onset users with a mean age of 13.18, while 22 were labeled as late onset users with a mean age of 16.9.

According to self-reports, all the participants, who ranged in age from 21 to 50, began using marijuana during adolescence and continued throughout adulthood, using at least once a week.

According to Filbey, in typical adolescent brain development, the brain prunes neurons, which results in reduced cortical thickness and greater gray and white matter contrast. Typical pruning also leads to increased gyrification, which is the addition of wrinkles or folds on the brain’s surface.

However, in this study, MRI results reveal that the more marijuana early onset users consumed, the greater their cortical thickness, the less gray and white matter contrast, and the less intricate the gyrification, as compared to late onset users.

This indicates that when participants began using marijuana before age 16, the extent of brain alteration was directly proportionate to the number of weekly marijuana use in years and grams consumed.

In contrast, those who began using marijuana after age 16 showed brain changes that would normally manifest later in life: Thinner cortical thickness, and stronger gray and white matter contrast.

“In the early onset group, we found that how many times an individual uses and the amount of marijuana used strongly relates to the degree to which brain development does not follow the normal pruning pattern,” she said.

“The effects observed were above and beyond effects related to alcohol use and age. These findings are in line with the current literature that suggest that cannabis use during adolescence can have long-term consequences.”

Source: Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas

By Rick Nauert PhD

New research suggests the more time young adults use social media, the more likely they are to be depressed.

Investigators from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine believe the findings could help clinical and public health entities better care for depression. The study does not, however, establish causation.

Depression is expected to become the leading cause of disability in high-income countries by 2030. The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is available online and is forthcoming in the journal Depression and Anxiety.

Researchers explain that this was the first large, nationally representative study to examine associations between use of a broad range of social media outlets and depression.

Previous studies on the subject have yielded mixed results, been limited by small or localized samples, and focused primarily on one specific social media platform, rather than the broad range often used by young adults.

“Because social media has become such an integrated component of human interaction, it is important for clinicians interacting with young adults to recognize the balance to be struck in encouraging potential positive use, while redirecting from problematic use,” said senior author Brian A. Primack, M.D., Ph.D.

In 2014, Dr. Primack and his colleagues sampled 1,787 U.S. adults ages 19 through 32, using questionnaires to determine social media use and an established depression assessment tool.

The questionnaires asked about the 11 most popular social media platforms at the time: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine, and LinkedIn.

On average the participants used social media a total of 61 minutes per day and visited various social media accounts 30 times per week. More than a quarter of the participants were classified as having “high” indicators of depression.

Investigators discovered a significant link between social media use and depression whether social media use was measured in terms of total time spent or frequency of visits.

For example, compared with those who checked least frequently, participants who reported most frequently checking social media throughout the week had 2.7 times the likelihood of depression.

Similarly, compared to peers who spent less time on social media, participants who spent the most total time on social media throughout the day had 1.7 times the risk of depression.

In the study, researchers were careful to control for other factors that may contribute to depression including age, sex, race, ethnicity, relationship status, living situation, household income, and education level.

Lead author Lui yi Lin, B.A., emphasized that, because this was a cross-sectional study, it does not disentangle cause and effect.

“It may be that people who already are depressed are turning to social media to fill a void,” she said.

Conversely, Ms. Lin explains that exposure to social media also may cause depression, which could then in turn fuel more use of social media. For example:

Exposure to highly idealized representations of peers on social media elicits feelings of envy and the distorted belief that others lead happier, more successful lives;
Engaging in activities of little meaning on social media may give a feeling of “time wasted” that negatively influences mood;
Social media use could be fueling “Internet addiction,” a proposed psychiatric condition closely associated with depression;
Spending more time on social media may increase the risk of exposure to cyber-bullying or other similar negative interactions, which can cause feelings of depression.
The findings will encourage clinicians to ask about social media use among people who are depressed. Moreover, the knowledge of the relationship could be used as a basis for public health interventions leveraging social media.

Some social media platforms already have made forays into such preventative measures. For example, when a person searches the blog site Tumblr for tags indicative of a mental health crisis — such as “depressed,” “suicidal,” or “hopeless” — they are redirected to a message that begins with “Everything OK?” and provided with links to resources.

Similarly, a year ago Facebook tested a feature that allows friends to anonymously report worrisome posts. The posters would then receive pop-up messages voicing concern and encouraging them to speak with a friend or helpline.

“Our hope is that continued research will allow such efforts to be refined so that they better reach those in need,” said Dr. Primack, who also is assistant vice chancellor for health and society in Pitt’s Schools of the Health Sciences and professor of medicine.

“All social media exposures are not the same. Future studies should examine whether there may be different risks for depression depending on whether the social media interactions people have tend to be more active vs. passive or whether they tend to be more confrontational vs. supportive. This would help us develop more fine-grained recommendations around social media use.”

Source: University of Pittsburgh/EurekAlert