A statewide survey showed that parents support school-based depression and suicide screening and that parents of school-aged children were generally well-educated about the need for such screening. That’s the finding of researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Pediatrics who conducted a random sample by mail of 1,300 Minnesota households with children aged 5-18. In the study, published in the April 18 Maternal and Child Health Journal, chi-square tests and regression analyses were used to detect differences in parent support for depression and suicide screening and education across demographic categories, as well as their beliefs and knowledge about depression and suicide.“Parent education to decrease stigmatizing beliefs and increase knowledge about depression and suicide may increase support among the minority of parents who do not endorse such programs,” wrote the researchers. Recent studies of the neurotransmitters involved in adolescent depression are discussed in Psychiatric News here. More information on issues of relevant to adolescent depression is available in the recently published Concise Guide to Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Fourth Edition, available from American Psychiatric Publishing here. (Image: Dawn Shearer-Simonetti/Shutterstock.com)
