Problematic Behaviors in Children Miramichi NB

FRIDAY, June 12 (HealthDay News) -- Children who have a condition in which the eye sometimes points outward are more likely to develop a mental illness by young adulthood, new research has found.

About 1 percent of developmentally healthy U.S. children are diagnosed with intermittent exotropia, in which the eyes do not line up and one looks away from the nose at certain times.

Mayo Clinic researchers analyzed the medical records of 183 youths younger than 19 in Olmsted County, Minn., who were diagnosed with intermittent exotropia between 1975 and 1994.

The researchers matched each youth with another of the same age who did not have a diagnosis of any type of strabismus, in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. Both groups were followed to, on average, age 22.

Over the 20-year study period, 53 percent of the youths with intermittent exotropia were diagnosed with a mental health disorder, compared with 30 percent of the others.

Boys were especially at risk, according to the study, which is in the June issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

The study found that, among children with intermittent exotropia, mental health disorders were diagnosed in 63 percent of the boys and 47 percent of the girls. By comparison, in the group without such eye problems, mental health disorders were diagnosed in 33 percent of the boys and 28 percent of the girls.

"Males with intermittent exotropia had a greater use of psychotropic medication, psychiatric emergency department visits, psychiatric hospital admissions, suicide attempts and suicidal ideation than controls, and females with intermittent exotropia had more suicidal ideation than controls," the study authors wrote.

However, the researchers noted, the reasons for the association between the eye condition and mental health issues are unclear.

Studies have found children with intermittent exotropia aren't judged more harshly by adults, but they can have a harder time with other children.

"A negative bias toward people with strabismus has been demonstrated in children," the researchers wrote. "Although this study focused on mental illness that was diagnosed by early adulthood, there is also evidence to suggest that the social problems associated with strabismus persist and even intensify into adult life."

They concluded that more study is needed "to determine whether interventions for intermittent exotropia can decrease or otherwise alter the future development of mental illness."

More information

The American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus has more on the condition and treatments.

SOURCE: Mayo Clinic, news release, June 8, 2009

Copyright © 2009 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

Problem Behavior In Children - 3 Tips For Parents

Lighten up ! We are so serious and that is the fault of the media which bombards us with alarms, wars, depression and horrible violence done in the name of God knows what. A great book has just been published called 'The Idle Parent'. Lots of sound recommendations in that book which will help us to put problem behaviour in children a bit more in prospective.

The book mentions my favourite tip and that is that we never or rarely spend enough green time with our children. There is little contact with nature as our kids are slaves to media and think that an apple is the name of a computer while blackberry is another piece of weird technology. Think of activities like gardening, tree climbing, getting rid of excess energy if your child happens to have ADHD or suffers from hyperactivity. Just think of the example set by Michelle Obama and the whole movement of community gardens. You can have all that in your own yard and help solve kids' hyperactivity and insomnia all in one go.

Just staying away from those awful malls will solve two other aspects of problem behaviour in children. If you are out and about in the country or near the sea, there is no demanding of stuff that you should buy them. There have been lots of studies which show that kids are just calmer and less demanding when they are in the open and close to nature. There are even experts who suggest that children should never be taken to the malls. My second tip to combat problem behavior is therefore to avoid these places as often as you can and if you have a trusted neighbour or friend, leave the kids under supervision at home rather than dragging them through the shops. Do the latter when they are hungry or peckish and you are in for one almighty meltdown or temper tantrum which will make you want to crawl into the ground !

But what about all the other areas of problem behavior? What do you do when kids are loud, aggressive or start acting out? How do you cope with defiance, getting the homework done , bullying and lying? All the experts and pediatricians now tell us that behavior modification is the only effective method for coping with these problem behaviour areas and that parents, when they follow a course, are overjoyed to see their kids turn round and family life can be a pleasure once again. Find out more about behaviour modification is my third tip. It could save your sanity!

Want to know how I dealt with problem behavior. Discover behavior modification techniques that work. Robert Locke has written extensively on Children’s Health and Behavior Therapy.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/parenting-articles/problem-behavior-in-children-3-tips-for-parents-934462.html