Perceptions, intentions, and actual use of a consumer nicotine gum.

Background: Little is known about perceptions, use intentions, and behaviors of adults regarding nicotine gum that is marketed and regulated as a consumer product rather than as a medicinal nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).

Methods: Survey data were collected from a Qualtrics online panel (N = 1000) of adults who had never used a consumer nicotine gum, recruited based on smoking behavior, and from current and former purchasers of one commercially available nicotine gum product (LUCY Chew and Park), recruited via emails to a customer database (N = 500). In addition to descriptive cross-sectional analyses, logistic regression was used to estimate the probability of intent to try and of product appeal among these different groups.

Video game violence use among "vulnerable" populations: the impact of violent games on delinquency and bullying among children with clinically elevated depression or attention deficit symptoms.

The issue of children's exposure to violent video games has been a source of considerable debate for several decades. Questions persist whether children with pre-existing mental health problems may be influenced adversely by exposure to violent games, even if other children are not. We explored this issue with 377 children (62 % female, mixed ethnicity, mean age = 12.

Training pediatric residents and pediatricians about adolescent mental health problems: a proof-of-concept pilot for a proposed national curriculum.

Objective: This article presents a DVD-based educational program intended to help pediatric residents and practicing pediatricians recognize and respond to adolescent depression in busy primary care settings.

Methods: Representatives from pediatrics and adolescent medicine, child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology, and experts in the creation of educational mental health programs met to design a multimedia approach to improving the mental health diagnostic skills among pediatric residents. The authors chose depression as the initial topic because of its relatively high prevalence among children and adolescents, and evidence suggesting that pediatricians may have difficulty diagnosing this disorder in the primary care setting.

Factors correlated with violent video game use by adolescent boys and girls.

Purpose: To compare the video and computer game play patterns of young adolescent boys and girls, including factors correlated with playing violent games.

Methods: Data collected in November/December, 2004 from children in grades 7 and 8 at two demographically diverse schools in Pennsylvania and South Carolina, using a detailed written self-reported survey.

Results: Of 1254 participants (53% female, 47% male), only 80 reported playing no electronic games in the previous 6 months.

Media outreach for child psychiatrists.

Psychiatrists have mixed feelings about working with the mass media. There are many reasons to respond to reporters or proactively reach out to the media, including reducing stigma and other barriers to seeking and complying with treatment and counteracting media misinformation and distortion. This article addresses ways to increase positive outcomes when psychiatrists respond to calls from reporters, make proactive efforts to influence behaviors or policies, or take advantage of breaking news to educate reporters and the public.

Media literacy for clinicians and parents.

Families and children are in the midst of a media revolution. Television, Internet access, instant messaging, cell phones, and interactive video games are delivering more information for more hours than ever in history. Exposure is occurring at younger and younger ages, often without parental oversight or interpretation.

Media violence research and youth violence data: why do they conflict?

Objective: Contrary to media headlines and public perceptions, there is little evidence of a substantial link between exposure to violent interactive games and serious real-life violence or crime.

Conclusion: Further research is needed on whether violent games may affect less dramatic but real concerns such as bullying, fighting, or attitudes and beliefs that support aggression, as well as how effects may vary by child characteristics and types of games. There is also a need for research on the potential benefits of violent games for some children and adults.