New research out of New Zealand reports that teens that identify as transgender have poor safety and well-being across a number of areas in comparison to their non-transgender peers.

The epidemic of psychiatric comorbidity has been a problem since DSM-III appeared way back in 1980. Not much has been done to improve this area in the subsequent editions of the manual.

Unfortunately, children are exposed to traumatic events—isolated ones such as natural disasters or serious accidents, and recurring traumas such as domestic violence and sexual abuse. However, throughout history, most people didn’t believe that children experienced lasting psychic trauma as a result of these events.

Allen Frances, MD, a leading critic of DSM-5 and best-selling author, shares his take on where the new manual goes wrong.

Treatment options for pediatric PTSD and trauma symptoms are limited, and the symptoms are clearly detrimental to youths’ functioning, particularly in the presence of comorbid disorders.

Two decades ago, Terrie Moffitt first proposed that there are two distinct kinds of antisocial behavior in children: one that starts when kids are young, is life-long and is neurobiolgically-based, and one that develops in adolescence and that kids can grow out of.

More than 75% of cases of child abuse in the US involve neglect, according to a consensus report from the Institute of Medicine released in September 2013.

Ten percent of high school seniors report drinking more than 10 drinks at one time, and 5.6% report drinking more than 15, according to a recent study in JAMA Pediatrics (Patrick ME et al, Online First September 16, 2013).

We all know that medication use for psychiatric disorders in kids has been increasing over the past 10 years, and that it plays an important role in treatment. We also know that side effects can cause alarm among parents and young patients.

Drug interactions are a common issue in psychopharmacology. The advent of drug interaction software has made it easier to keep track of drug interactions, but it is still important to have a sound understanding of the principles in order to apply the results of drug interaction software alerts to daily patient care.