In a new clinical practice guideline from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released March 16, 2026, Hans B. Kersten, M.D. writes about the new policy defining “faltering weight” and recommending treatment options.
As Hanna Rosin aptly noted in The Atlantic in April 2013 (Rosin, 2013), if Norman Rockwell were to paint a portrait of contemporary childhood, it might well be titled “Boy Swiping Finger on Screen.” Now, 13 years later, screens are somehow even more integral to our lives than they were then.
Pediatric emergency departments (EDs) should conduct standardized screening for substance use for patients in crisis.
One in four youth treated with psychotropic medications were exposed to potential contraindicated or major drug‐drug interactions (DDIs) during the two‐decade period ending in 2020, researchers have found. They urge that studies be conducted focusing on medication safety, effectiveness, and DDI risks of psychotropic medications in youth.
Recently (in 2024 to be exact), the National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH) issued a fact sheet for parents and clinicians entitled “Children and Mental Health: Is This Just a Stage?”
Excitement has built recently about new avenues for psychiatric treatment: psychedelic drugs such as Ketamine and psilocybin; trans‐cranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We see the revival of older practices such as electro‐convulsive shock therapy (ECT) and therapeutic lesioning, and medicines borrowed from other fields, like GLP‐1s.
Modern trauma frameworks appropriately recognize trauma responses often attributed to psychiatric disorders other than post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), among others. However, the regular practice of applying multiple distinct co‐morbid diagnoses to traumatized children risks limiting trauma‐informed treatment to the small fraction of youth who meet the narrow criteria for PTSD (Ford, 2023).
Deprescribing antidepressants for children and adolescents should be guided by data as well as observation of the patient's relapse and withdrawal symptoms, according to a new study. Clinicians should also consider the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of medications, including when and how to initiate deprescribing, the researchers add. These considerations are critically important to the clinician‐family‐patient relationship.
I was recently asked to peer review a specialized article for an academic journal. At first glance, the manuscript presented some interesting ideas, but it was riddled with significant issues, primarily related to writing style. The grammar and syntax suggested that English may not have been the authors' first language. Beyond that, they struggled to convey the rationale for the study and to explain their results in a way that a broader audience could understand.
Children from birth to age 5 experience a rapid period of brain growth and development, which presents innumerous opportunities for stimulation and learning, but also leaves them especially vulnerable to the effects of stress and trauma. Further, young children are at increased risk of exposure to potentially traumatic events due to being fully dependent on their caregivers. These events can include physical abuse, neglect, racism/discrimination, natural disasters, war, and scary medical procedures. In infancy and early childhood, relational trauma, which is defined as an abusive or neglectful relationship between caregivers and a child, can have a particularly significant impact. When the primary caregiver who is supposed to protect and care for the young child is also the source of threat and fear, the child's brain adapts to cope and survive in dangerous and unpredictable environments, and the child can develop a pattern of hypervigilance to threat and/or of excessive avoidance. In these cases, in which the same adult is the perpetrator and the protector, the young child may simultaneously seek out parental comfort and fight off the dangers of parental behaviors. In addition to the impact on the biology of threat assessment and response, early trauma can also disrupt other areas of development, such as language, motor, and social‐emotional skills.
Last fall, a parent asked me for resources as she faced the impending death of her mother and wanted to help her autistic teen understand what was happening. A search of resources for death, grief, and autistic youth turned up countless books, articles, and videos. But there was a problem — this child is not only autistic but non‐speaking — and not one of these resources offered anything for such children.
Clinical observation and lived experience have long suggested that changes in ovarian steroid hormones (estradiol, progesterone) can affect mood and behavior across the menstrual cycle. Only recently, however, has research begun to systematically characterize these patterns. A growing body of work suggests that some females have heightened or atypical neural sensitivity to normal fluctuations in ovarian steroid hormones across the cycle (hormone sensitivity). These sensitivities are thought to underlie conditions such as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and premenstrual exacerbation of preexisting symptoms (PME). Although most research in this area has focused on adults, emerging studies suggest that similar patterns are also seen in adolescents, and understanding how these symptoms show up in younger patients can help clinicians recognize problems earlier and tailor treatment more effectively. Importantly, because hormone sensitivity could begin after menarche (the first menstrual cycle), adolescence represents a critical window for identifying and addressing these cyclical symptom changes.
Though not a diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)‐5‐TR , the term “nature‐deficit disorder” has been around since Richard Louv (2005) published his book The last child in the woods (page 36). The term is self‐descriptive, referring to notably decreased time humans spend out in nature than in previous generations, causing detriment to well‐being such as “higher rates of physical and emotional illness”(Louv, 2005). It was a term derived both from Louv's personal experiences and observations and from existing research. Much of his cited research looked at the issue of nature‐deficit disorder from the opposite perspective, demonstrating a relationship between increased time in nature and improved physical and mental health.
A cross‐sectional study has found that up to half of adolescents use generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), while a subset are heavy users. The widespread use of generative AI applications among younger users and other vulnerable youth highlights the need to understand the developmental and mental health consequences, the researchers concluded.
The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) has released new standards for addiction treatment programs, establishing new admission criteria for adolescents and transition‐area youth with substance use disorder (SUD). The new standards were presented at the Joint Meeting on Youth Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery last month and will be published by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in print in June. They are currently available digitally for $140.
In 2019, Colorado became the 17th state to enact a law banning the practice of “conversion therapy” for licensed therapists working with youth. This practice, also called sexual orientation/gender identity change efforts (SOGICE), attempts to help people suppress or alter their sexual orientation or gender identity. While in recent years it has abandoned more overt marketing, not to mention techniques such as aversive conditioning using electric shocks, the practice continues under more subtle means. Because of the difficulty in defining “conversion therapy,” Colorado's law tried to cast a broad net while also trying to protect gender‐affirming care. A licensed counselor named Kaley Chiles sued, claiming the ban threatened her free speech rights. In March 2026, the Supreme Court apparently agreed, sending the law back to lower courts for a stricter review on those grounds. According to the American Psychological Association (APA, 2026), this opened “the question of whether states can still enact laws that protect patients from harmful therapeutic practices delivered through talk therapy.”
If your child is interacting with a chatbot, it's normal. In a blog from the American Academy of Pediatrics published in March, Maneesha Agarwal, MD, FAAP, associate editor , Pediatrics , writes that generative artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a novelty.
Teens and young adults are vulnerable to many harms of alcohol use, and although it may take years for dependence to develop, it often starts early. In addition, harms include injuries and other adverse effects from even low‐level use. But when governments issue guidance for risk, teens like others are likely to choose the “easiest way out,” which is often “if they don't have a limit, no limit…”
A physician friend who works with diabetes was prescribing GLP‐1 medications (glucagon‐like peptide agonists; brand names include Ozempic and Zepbound) targeted at diabetes and weight loss. These medicines reduce appetite in part by mimicking our satiety system — essentially, helping the body recognize earlier when it has eaten enough. Weight loss was happening for many of my friend's patients (as well as improving blood sugar and blood pressure). But one patient also noted offhand that he had lost his appetite for smoking cigarettes. Turned out he was not alone.
