Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and phthalates (two types of endocrine-disrupting chemicals) may be associated with lower bone mineral density in male teens, according to a new study.

The rate of overdose deaths among U.S. teenagers nearly doubled in 2020, the first year of the COVID pandemic, and rose another 20% in the first half of 2021 compared with the 10 years before the pandemic, even as drug use remained generally stable during the same period.

Lead is an environmental neurotoxicant that causes neurocognitive deficits and cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. It also disproportionately affects socially disadvantaged communities. The association between lead exposure and children's IQ has been well studied, but few studies have examined the effects of blood lead on children's physiological stress and behavior. Three new studies shed light on how lead can affect children and adolescents' physiological stress and emotional/behavioral development.

People who reported multiple symptoms consistent with severe substance use disorder at age 18 exhibited two or more of these symptoms in adulthood, according to a new analysis of a nationwide survey in the United States. These individuals were also more likely, as adults, to use and misuse prescription medications, as well as self-treat with opioids, sedatives, or tranquillizers.

Cannabis use among pregnant women is on the rise and may be associated with negative health outcomes in children, according to a new study.

Children of mothers with clinical depression are at three times greater risk to develop depression themselves than are their low-risk peers. Researchers are working to understand the neural underpinnings of the risk, and some studies have shown altered brain processing of reward in at-risk children as young as 6. An outstanding question remains as to whether children with a maternal history of depression have a biological predisposition to blunted neural reward responding or whether it depends more on social factors. Now, new work finds those dampened responses depended on maternal feedback, suggesting the latter.

What are the most important factors to consider for developing effective drug use prevention programs? Many current programs for adolescents focus on elements including peer and family relationships, school connection, and youth's self-confidence and self-assertion. However, a new study suggests another factor may be equally -- or even more -- influential: whether the youth believes drug use is wrong.

Looking for techniques to keep young athletes safer post-concussion, researchers devised a study in which teenage athletes who suffered concussions were randomized either to standard of care -- typically returning to play after clearing a set of standardized protocols that assess symptoms, cognition, and balance -- or completing the same protocol and then working with an athletic trainer on a specific neuromuscular training intervention that includes guided strength exercises and a focus on posture and landing stability.

Scientists have known for years that a person's risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) can be lowered with lifestyle changes such as modifying diet, exercise, alcohol and tobacco use. Now a new study shows that a long-term association also exists between an adolescent's psychological well-being and their risk of CVD as an adult. Specifically, they found that people who are more optimistic or positive when they are adolescents can lower their chances of being in the high-risk category for CVD as an adult.

Men with a high body mass index (BMI) in their upper teens had an elevated risk of severe COVID-19, requiring hospitalization, later in life, a new study from Sweden finds.

Children with insomnia symptoms are likely to persist with them as young adults and are significantly more likely to develop an insomnia disorder in early adulthood compared to children who do not have difficulty sleeping, according to new research. The study describes the developmental trajectories of childhood insomnia symptoms through adolescence and into young adulthood.