On January 26, psychotherapist Elizabeth Jorgensen was the keynote speaker at Harvard University's Conference on Mental Health in Schools. She presented several ideas that, when used in combination, help create a more positive and a safer environment at school.

"School climate can culture can have a measurable effect in reducing violence and correlates with overall higher student achievement, Jorgensen said."

An atmosphere of trust, individual attention, and boundaries shows students that the teachers and administrators care and take an interest in their success both in and out of school. Read more at NewsTimes.com.

Labels: schools, research, mental health

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Teen substance abusers are more likely to have psychiatric problems, according to a study from Africa. The study included substances not usually abused in the United States, such as kola nuts.

• Dr. Wilson Ojinnaka and his colleagues studied 900 students from the city of Enugu, Nigeria, and found that 290 were using some kind of substance.
• The most common was alcohol, abused by 32%, followed by kola nuts, used by 21%.
• Almost one-fourth of the students in this group scored high on tests of psycho-social dysfunction, compared to 10% of students who did not abuse substances.
• Fifty-four of the substance abusers had clinical depression.

Gender and social class were not factors in whether a student abused substances.

This study appears in the Italian Journal of Pediatrics.

Labels: suicide, mental health

Posted By: Adolescent Substance Abuse 0 Comments