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Social media isn’t simply good or bad for young people, and this review shows why

Social media can support connection, self-expression, help-seeking, and community among adolescents and young adults, but problematic use is associated with depression, anxiety, loneliness, poor sleep, and body image concerns. The review finds that mental health effects depend less on screen time alone than on how social media is used, what content people encounter, and their individual, developmental, and cultural context.

12 Aug 2026

Pediatric rheumatic diseases have unique genetic architecture compared to adults

Researchers from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have found that pediatric-onset rheumatic and inflammatory diseases have distinct genetic architecture compared with adults.

12 Aug 2026

Anesthesia boosts success of turning breech babies before labor

Women carrying breech babies have a better chance of avoiding a cesarean delivery (C-section) when spinal or epidural anesthesia is used during external cephalic version (ECV), a procedure used to turn the baby head-down before labor, according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA).

12 Aug 2026

Targeting single gene reverses developmental deficits in adult mice

Some of the symptoms of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy may result from dysfunction of certain neurons in the brain and their ability to change their properties in response to experiences-a process called experience-dependent plasticity.

12 Aug 2026

Childhood screen time may support cognitive processing in teenagers

In a recent Finnish study, more screen time since childhood was associated with better cognitive processing in adolescence.

12 Aug 2026

The screen-time story gets more complicated as children grow up

Higher screen use was not consistently associated with poorer psychosocial development across childhood and adolescence in a large Scottish cohort. Very high gaming at age 15 was linked to greater difficulties, while some social media use was associated with lower difficulties scores, although causality cannot be established.

12 Aug 2026

Childhood overweight linked to lower childbirth rates later in reproductive life

Women with childhood overweight or obesity trajectories had lower hazards of childbirth from their mid-20s onward, with the strongest associations emerging after age 30. Childhood BMI trajectories were generally not associated with diagnosed infertility, suggesting that biological infertility alone may not explain the reduced childbirth rates.

11 Aug 2026

New study shows unstructured time drives teenage delinquent behavior

A study involving more than 58,000 adolescents from 21 countries found that "unstructured free time" – defined as periods without adult supervision or activities guided by educational, cultural, or athletic goals – is strongly associated with delinquent behavior and exposure to violence among young people.

11 Aug 2026

New machine learning model improves accuracy of prenatal genetic testing

Advances in genome sequencing are giving more families access to prenatal genetic testing and new information about an unborn baby's health, including whether genetic changes may link to a neurodevelopmental condition.

11 Aug 2026

Shared cellular pathway drives neurodegeneration in rare childhood dementia and Alzheimer’s

Researchers at University of California San Diego and their colleagues have identified a key cellular pathway that drives brain degeneration in both a rare childhood disorder and the far more common Alzheimer's disease.

11 Aug 2026

SwRI researchers design better inhalers for young children

A Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) project is developing techniques to improve inhalers for young children and other people who can't inhale deeply.

11 Aug 2026

New lab-grown heart valves advance treatments for childhood heart diseases

Melbourne researchers have created human heart valve tissues from stem cells, providing a powerful new platform to advance treatments for childhood heart diseases.

11 Aug 2026

Folic acid relies on vitamin A pathway to prevent birth defects

For decades, we've known that folic acid can help prevent serious birth defects of the brain and spinal cord, but we haven't fully understood how it does it.

11 Aug 2026

Adolescents using nicotine face higher risks of mental health problems

Adolescents who use nicotine are more likely to report symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems than their peers who do not use nicotine.

11 Aug 2026

What 38,000 trauma and incident records reveal about e-scooter safety

E-scooter riders admitted with moderate-to-severe trauma showed a distinct injury profile, with proportionally more traumatic brain, vascular, and internal organ injuries than motorcyclists and fewer fractures. Rental-scooter data also linked greater reported injury severity with younger age and female sex, while collision rates varied with area-level deprivation.

10 Aug 2026

Kids who prefer solitude may be perfectly content, study shows

The child who plays alone during recess may be perfectly content doing so, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.

10 Aug 2026

Antiviral treatment lowers ICU risk for children with influenza

A new nationwide study finds antiviral treatment is linked to fewer intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and shorter hospital stays for children hospitalized with influenza.

10 Aug 2026

New combination therapy could permanently clear HIV in newborns

Every year, more than 120,000 newborns worldwide contract HIV, a global health burden that requires lifelong treatment for millions of people - assuming they have access and can afford it.

10 Aug 2026

Why pulses could play a bigger role in healthy and sustainable diets

A narrative review finds that pulses may support gut and metabolic health through their fiber, protein, phytochemicals, and interactions with the gut microbiota, while offering a lower environmental footprint than many animal protein sources. Human evidence is strongest for selected cardiometabolic outcomes, while many microbiome and fermentation-related benefits remain supported mainly by animal and laboratory studies.

9 Aug 2026

Study identifies barriers to equitable pediatric cancer trial participation

While Black and Hispanic families are enthusiastic about research participation, other provider- and systems-focused factors may influence their involvement in pediatric oncology clinical trials, a UT Southwestern Medical Center-led study has found.

9 Aug 2026