Suicide Prevention in Schools

Suicide and suicide attempts remain a major public health problem.  There is now evidence that after years of decline, suicidal behavior is once again on the rise.  In Vermont, suicide is now the number two killer of older adolescents.  One can only imagine the attention and public health response that would occur if something like […]

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Teacher Depressive Symptoms and Child Behavior

It has been widely shown at this point that psychiatric problems in parents can negatively affect child behavior, but what about teachers?  These days, many children spend as much if not more of their waking hours with teachers and other childcare providers than they do with parents.  As such, it seems logical to extend the […]

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Genetics Largely Underlies Intelligence to School Acheivement Link

While the genetic influence on intelligence has been well studied, less is known about school achievement and the genetic/environmental links between intelligence and school achievement. Previous work has also struggled with potential measurement and sampling bias.  This study used national data from large Dutch and English samples to address some of these concerns. The total […]

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Misbehavior at School? Don’t Pull Recess and Sports

by Robert Althoff, MD PhD For many child and adolescent psychiatric diagnoses, problem behaviors occur in more than one setting – often home and also at school. Problem behavior, particularly externalizing or disruptive behavior, is a common reason for children to be sent to the principal’s office or the “opportunity room”.  Sometimes these “opportunities” are […]