Stressed pregnant women less likely to have boys

WEEKLY NEWS ROUNDUP: October 21, 2019

STRESSED PREGNANT WOMEN LESS LIKELY TO HAVE BOYS: 'THE WOMB IS AN INFLUENTIAL FIRST HOME'

Newsweek, October 14, 2019

Stressed pregnant women are less likely to give birth to boys, according to researchers who investigated how a mother's health can affect their child. The study, published in the journal PNAS , involved 187 pregnant women aged between 18 and 45, who filled out questionnaires and had physical assessments. Mirroring the findings of previous studies, stress levels appeared to affect the sex of the babies, the researchers found. The authors explained that in the general population, there are 105 males born for every 100 females. But in the women who were stressed, the ratios shifted to 4:9 for physically stressed mothers, and 2:3 for those under psychological stress. The more social support the women had the higher their chance of having male baby.

SUICIDE RATES FOR BLACK BOYS AND GIRLS DISPROPORTIONATELY HIGH

THE SUICIDE RATES AMONG BLACK GIRLS AGES 13-19 NEARLY DOUBLED FROM 2001 TO 2017. FOR BLACK BOYS IN THE SAME AGE GROUP, OVER THE SAME PERIOD, RATES ROSE 60 PERCENT.

Essence, October 16, 2019

Black boys between the ages of 5 to 12 are committing suicide at higher rates than any other racial or ethnic group, according to NBC News . This latest data is provided by Dr. Michael Lindsey, the executive director of New York University’s McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research. Additionally, according to a recent study in the Journal of Community Health , the suicide rates among Black girls ages 13-19 nearly doubled from 2001 to 2017. For Black boys in the same age group, over the same period, rates rose 60 percent, NBC News reports . Tragically, this is not a new or emerging trend. According to a 2015 study from Jeffrey Bridge , PhD, director of the Center for Suicide Prevention and Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, co-authors, and researchers from the National Institutes of Health, the stable overall suicide rate in children ages five to 11 in the United States during the course of almost 20 years of study [between 1993 – 1997 and 2008 – 2012] obscured a terrible truth. The suicide incidence in Black children during the period nearly doubled going from 1.36 to 2.54 per million. “These findings highlight a potential racial disparity that warrants attention,” Bridges said.

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

PMY YOUNG MALE MENTAL HEALTH

WRITING FELLOWS PROGRAM

The Partnership for Male Youth is pleased to announce the launch of its Young Male Mental Health Writing Fellows Program. Under a competitive system, selected Fellows ages 18-26 will create a collection of stories, drawing on personal experiences, news and culture that will amplify their voices and perspectives on young adult male mental health. The collection will be posted online on an interactive text and video platform, designed to encourage other young males to respond to the stories.

The primary objective of the project is to create a community of young males to advise PMY and its collaborating partners on projects to address mental health issues that impact them. The secondary objective is to educate the public about the mental health challenges young males face. The third objective is to open dialogue among male youth themselves about how they can safeguard their mental health.

Participants can submit an already completed essay or submit a pitch if they want to be certain that their essay fits with our project. We can also provide a brief instructional guide on how to put together a personal essay. Authors of the 20 best submissions will each receive a $100 award.

For more information go here .

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TEEN SUICIDES ARE INCREASING AT AN ALARMING PACE, OUTSTRIPPING ALL OTHER AGE GROUPS, A NEW REPORT SAYS

Washington Post, October 17, 2019

Suicide death rates among teenagers and young adults have increased at an alarming pace in the past decade, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While suicide has steadily become more common across the population, the increase among youths has outpaced all other age groups. For many years, suicide among youths was relatively rare and its frequency relatively stable. But from 2007 to 2017, the number of suicides among people ages 10 to 24 suddenly increased 56 percent — from 6.8 deaths per 100,000 people to 10.6, the new report shows. Suicide has become the second-most common cause of death among teenagers and young adults, overtaking homicides and outpaced only by accidents. “Just looking at these numbers, it’s hard not to find them completely disturbing. It should be a call to action,” said Lisa M. Horowitz, a pediatric psychologist at the National Institute of Mental Health. “If you had kids suddenly dying at these rates from a new disease or infection, there would be a huge outcry. But most people don’t even know this is happening. It’s not recognized for the public health crisis it has become.”

IMPLICATIONS OF GENDERED BEHAVIOUR AND CONTEXTS FOR SOCIAL MOBILITY IN THE USA: A NATIONALLY REPRESENTATIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Science Direct, October 2019

Findings

Between Jan 5, 1994, and Dec 26, 1995, Add Health collected data on a cohort of 20 745 students. 14 540 respondents were followed-up 14 years later between April 3, 2007, and Feb 1, 2009, of whom 7722 (53·1%) were female. More masculine male respondents were downwardly mobile; they were enrolled in school for fewer years and were more likely to have lower status jobs than their less masculine same-sex school peers. More masculine male respondents were also more likely to have jobs in occupational categories with larger proportions of males than their same-sex school peers. Gendered behaviour was not predictive of future educational and occupational attainment for female respondents. Male adolescents in school years with more masculine same-sex peers than male adolescents in other school years also tended to have lower educational and occupational attainment than their male peers. Educational and occupational attainment in early midlife for female respondents was not affected by their gendered environment.

DENNIS J. BARBOUR, JD

Editor

ABOUT

The Weekly News Roundup is produced by The Partnership for Male Youth and is released every Monday.

For more information contact Dennis J. Barbour, JD. News Roundup editor and President/CEO of the Partnership, at dbarbour@ partnershipformaleyouth.org.