This article responds to an article by Hope et al. (2021), in which they reported on an analysis of 22 Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) conducted in England and Wales into the domestic-abuse related deaths of men. While the analysis of DHRs individually and in aggregate is an important part of the process of learning from these tragedies, in this response I set out my concerns relating to both the use of DHRs by Hope et al. and also their findings. I highlight the absence of engagement with the literature around DHRs and/or the wider international family of Domestic Violence Fatality Review (DVFRs), as well as the decision to situate the study design and analysis of these deaths without reference to, or consideration of, the broader context of domestic homicide as a phenomenon. I also argue there is a lacuna in the findings, specifically as to the evidence of (alleged) domestic abuse by many of the men whose deaths were examined by these DHRs, the implications of which are overlooked. I conclude by emphasizing the potential learning from research into DHRs, in this case relating to the domestic abuse-related deaths of men, but also the need to recognize complexity in this endeavor.

Adolescent gang membership has been proposed as a risk factor that creates individual-level vulnerability for domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) and/or a context in which DMST may occur. This study investigates the gang membership-DMST association using data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States (n = 12,605). Bivariate results found gang-involved minors had 4.39 greater odds of experiencing DMST compared to non-gang-involved peers. Multivariable results found gang membership, violence victimization, delinquency, and certain demographic characteristics to be significantly associated with DMST. These findings emphasize the need to consider the context in an adolescent’s life beyond DMST when designing policies and programs, and highlight the need for additional research into the gang membership-DMST association.

The present study aimed to examine the relationship between perfectionism, OCD symptom dimensions, harm avoidance, and incompleteness at varying levels (i.e., higher-order/subscale) in college students. College students (n = 548) completed measures of perfectionism, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, harm avoidance and incompleteness. The results revealed that all five higher-order dimensions of perfectionism were related to incompleteness but only three were related to harm avoidance. Parallel mediation revealed an indirect relationship between concern for mistakes and doubts about actions and checking and cleaning behaviors, respectively, through incompleteness. An indirect relationship between concern for mistakes and doubts about actions with ordering, respectively, through both incompleteness and harm avoidance was found. However, incompleteness played a stronger role than harm avoidance in this relationship. These results suggest that incompleteness might be a stronger motivator than harm avoidance for perfectionistic individuals. Therefore, interventions targeting incompleteness should be implemented to potentially circumvent the development or worsening of obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

This study examined attitudes about the relevance of retirement planning and affect associated with it (retirement involvement) of adults (18–65-years-old), taking racial/ethnic status into consideration. Drawing on online survey data, between-group significance testing revealed that racial/ethnic minority (REM; n = 355) and White (n = 543) participants did not differ in mean levels of retirement involvement, but the REM sample perceived retirement involvement as less relevant to their respective racial/ethnic groups. Similar four-profile solutions consisting of Low, Moderate, High, and Mixed-Reactive Retirement Involvement latent subgroups emerged for both samples in Latent Profile Analyses. Findings revealed distinct racial/ethnic variations in demographic and financial capacity predictors of profile subgroup classification. Results signaled a need for more culturally focused financial counseling and planning research and interventions.

We describe the perceptions of mental health clinicians practicing in the United States about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the presentation and treatment course of active clients with anxiety. Clinician participants reported on client symptomology at the beginning of treatment, just before (prior to March 2020), and at a mid-pandemic timepoint (December 2020/January 2021). An initial sample of 70 clinicians responded to a survey assessing their clients’ overall anxiety severity, anxiety sensitivity, pathological uncertainty, family accommodation, and avoidance levels. Of these, 54 clinician responses were included in study analyses, providing detailed clinical information on 81 clients. Findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increases in anxiety severity in the majority of clients; overall, clinicians reported that 53% of clients had symptoms worsen due to COVID-19 and that only 16% experienced improvement of symptoms during treatment. Those who had lower levels of avoidance pre-pandemic and those who increased their frequency of treatment were more likely to experience increases in anxiety severity by the mid-pandemic timepoint. Further research is needed to understand the extended effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety symptomology and treatment.

Financial literacy scales are often used as a diagnostic tool to assess financial knowledge levels among various populations, although few of them have undergone empirical testing. This study utilized exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with a sample of Chinese rural migrant workers to identify the underlying structure of a financial literacy scale and its psychometric properties. EFA reduced the 23 items to 5 factors that explain for 69.08% of the variance in financial literacy. Five factors are identified that are daily money management, math skills, saving and borrowing, inflation, and long-term investment. Findings suggest that practitioners who work with migrant workers or groups with lower income, lower educational levels can use this instrument to assess financial literacy levels and explore interventions that improve specific areas of financial knowledge.

Public health crises, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, have wide reaching implications on mental health, and have resulted in unique OCD presentations specific to respective crises. The distribution of highly efficacious and effective vaccines for COVID-19 present a crossroads for the COVID-19-specific OCD presentation, including the potential for COVID-19 presentation perpetuation or remission in the face of vaccinations. Individual differences may play a unique role in who does and does not see a reduction of OCD symptoms specific to this virus as a function of vaccination status. Here, we discuss prior health crises that have resulted in unique OCD presentations, review relevant assessment and intervention guidelines, discuss potential implications that vaccines may have on this COVID-19-specifc presentation, and provide case presentations and future recommendations for treatment providers and researchers.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe psychiatric disorder first diagnosed in adolescence or emerging adulthood, which develops in part in the context of early attachment relationships. We tested a cross-sectional model linking caregiver disruptions during childhood, current parental attachment, and rejection sensitivity, to borderline features in 2,546 emerging adult college students. A structural equation model revealed that childhood caregiver disruptions were associated with lower quality adult parental attachment. Moreover, rejection sensitivity mediated the relationship between adult parental attachment and borderline features. Results suggest a representational model of others as rejecting links early disruptions in caregiving relationships and attachment insecurity, to borderline features in emerging adulthood. Implications for practice are discussed, including for means of targeting cognitive schemas related to rejection sensitivity, which could lead to reductions in BPD symptoms.

The ACTION treatment program was developed as a school-based CBT program for girls in grades 3 to 6 to address depression. It has shown to be effective in reducing depressive symptoms and disorders. The treatment relies on a strong case conceptualization and follows a treatment protocol that is used to help children learn and apply coping skills, problem-solving, and cognitive restructuring. A case description is presented to give a detailed example of how this treatment protocol can be applied in individual therapy, and an emphasis on the therapists’ thoughts and decision-making points is highlighted. Many subtle aspects to treating depressed youth are described.

Problematic Internet use is increasingly prevalent among college students and is associated with psychosocial impairments. Cognitive-behavioral intervention has been widely used in addressing addictive behaviors, and is shown to be a promising approach for problematic Internet use. This study presented a brief cognitive-behavioral group intervention developed to reduce problematic Internet use through modifying maladaptive cognitions and coping and enhancing self-regulation. This pilot study assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effect of this adapted intervention with six Chinese college students who had problems with Internet use via smartphones. Important issues including conceptualization of the treatment model, feasibility and acceptability of the intervention protocol, and promising therapeutic benefits were reported and discussed. Findings on the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcome of this intervention may be informative to investigators planning similar studies. This study provides useful guidance to clinicians concerning cognitive-behavioral group intervention to address problematic Internet use among university students in China.

Interventions for functional impairments in adolescents and young adults at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis are needed. Cognitive-Behavioral Social Skills Training (CBSST) has been found to improve functioning in patients with schizophrenia. The CBSST manual was adapted for CHR and implemented across 3 sites. The key changes that were made were to present a focus of normalization and destigmatization of attenuated psychotic symptoms and since CBSST has a major focus on role plays, problem solving and challenging thoughts, examples of these were changed to be more appropriate for this young CHR population. We describe the manual modifications and present fidelity data to examine the success of training and supervision methods in a multi-site randomized controlled trial of CBSST in CHR youth. Fidelity was high and comparable across sites. Case vignettes are presented to demonstrate how CBSST techniques were adapted for UHR individuals to target functional impairments.

Negative home equity is due to declines in home values, largely driven by economic factors, and increases in mortgage debt, a decision made by individuals. Yet, empirical research assessing the individual’s role in the occurrence of negative home equity is limited. This study used the 2018 National Financial Capability Study to explore the association between financial literacy, savings, and debt at the individual level on the occurrence of negative home equity. The findings revealed that objective financial knowledge and financial security were negatively associated with the occurrence of negative home equity, while having a home equity loan, using a payday loan, having medical debt, and exceeding credit card limits were positively associated with the occurrence of negative home equity.

A fearful temperament in childhood is associated with child internalizing symptoms. However, the cognitive mechanisms explaining this association are poorly understood. We examined the effects of child fearful temperament on child internalizing symptoms and the underlying role of catastrophizing cognitions among clinically anxious youth. Children (N = 105; M_age = 10.09 years, SD = 1.22; 56.7% female; 62% ethnic minority) completed a diagnostic interview; self-report measures of temperament, catastrophizing, and internalizing symptoms; and behaviorally-indexed measures of catastrophizing and anxiety. Indirect effects were found for child fearful temperament on child self-reported internalizing symptoms by way of self-reported (but not behaviorally-indexed) catastrophizing cognitions. Models predicting behaviorally-indexed child anxiety were not significant. Our findings suggest that targeting fearful temperament during childhood before catastrophizing cognitions develop may have clinical utility. Likewise, among children temperamentally at-risk, addressing catastrophic cognitions may prevent later internalizing psychopathology.

Estimated rates of co-occurrence between obsessive and compulsive disorder (OCD) and panic disorder (PD) are notable, but vary considerably, with rates from epidemiological and clinical studies ranging from 1.8% to 22% (Rector et al., 2017). We reviewed the current empirical literature on the etiology, treatment, diagnostic assessment, and differential diagnosis of co-occurring OCD/PD. Best practices for cognitive-behavioral treatment, including identifying and addressing treatment barriers are also addressed. Although it is acknowledged in current literature that co-occurring OCD and PD levels may be clinically significant, there remains a need to thoroughly examine the possible consequences and future research directions of this overlap. Future research must continue to elucidate the biological and environmental causes of OCD/PD co-occurrence.

This article introduces collective rationality and comparative advantage into understanding household financial decision-making responsibility allocation and its relationship to wealth accumulation. Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) shows that conscientiousness, memory, and numeracy are favorable personal attributes for household financial decision-making. Greater relative advantages in these attributes predict a higher probability of assuming financial responsibility. Households that assign the disadvantaged spouse as the financial decision-maker tend to have a lower total net worth and a lower financial net worth. Our results suggest that it is critical for financial planning professionals to engage both spouses in the initial discussion of household finances and to assess the efficiency of the status quo financial decision-making responsibility allocation.

The purpose of this article is to show that emotions matter when predicting the financial well-being of U.S. households. The broaden and build theory (BBT) was used to predict that positive emotions would be positively associated with financial well-being and negative emotions would be negatively associated with financial well-being. Using a convenience sample of 993 U.S. adults, emotions were found to explain the variation in family financial well-being, measured by income and net worth, of U.S. households beyond demographic variables. More specifically, feelings of contentment, love, anger, anxiety, and loneliness were found to be associated with financial well-being. Results suggest that policymakers, financial professionals, and academics should collect more data on the emotions of individuals to help explain the variation in the financial well-being of U.S. households. Results also provide evidence in support of the financial counseling industry’s efforts to incorporate emotions as an important variable when modeling family financial well-being.

The purpose of this study is to examine migration during retirement and its association with retirement satisfaction. Utilizing longitudinal data collected from the Health and Retirement Study, this study estimates a fixed-effects logit model to examine how changing U.S. Census divisions during retirement is related to retirement satisfaction. The findings suggest that a change in residential location during retirement is associated with an increase in retirement satisfaction. In planning for retirement, individuals should examine what will provide them with the highest level of satisfaction during their retirement and whether their current location can facilitate an enjoyable retirement. Financial planners and counselors should also consider, as a part of their systemic retirement planning process, increasing the attention that is given to the residential location in which their clients will reside during retirement.

We examined the association between financial knowledge overconfidence and the perception of emergency fund needs using the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) dataset. Only 28% of respondents reported a perceived amount of emergency funds needed that would cover at least three months of estimated spending. We conducted an OLS regression analysis on the log of the ratio of perceived emergency fund needs to household monthly expenditure. Overconfident respondents perceived a ratio 21.4% lower than those who had objective and subjective financial knowledge above median levels. Overconfident respondents might be underestimating emergency fund needs, suggesting the importance of not only increasing objective financial knowledge but also making consumers aware of the limitations of their financial knowledge.

Financial professionals involved in divorce proceedings, whether for a client or an attorney, often use software to project the ability of a dependent spouse to earn income off of her separate estate. These projections have historically relied on static inputs and use a Monte Carlo simulation to illustrate the paths a portfolio might take. Within this study, the effects on dynamic income and expense changes on outcomes were examined. A comparison was made between the traditional Monte Carlo methods and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. Results using MCMC methods more closely approximated investment return distribution, and illustrated investable assets were the primary driver of long-term success, and not items such as spousal or child support. Practical implications for financial professionals, family law attorneys, judges, and clients are discussed as well as opportunities for future research.

This study used the 2017 National Financial Well-Being Survey to investigate the relationship between cognitive ability and seeking financial advice. Three aspects of cognitive ability were examined: memory, objective numeracy, and subjective numeracy. The results showed that in general, the three were not associated with seeking financial advice. However, after decomposing the sources of the advice, we found that among financial advice-seekers, memory and objective numeracy were positively associated with seeking financial advice from family. When adding the interactions between cognitive ability factors and age, older individuals with good memories were less likely to seek advice from family, while older individuals with higher objective numeracy were less likely to use social networks to seek financial advice. The study’s findings suggest future development in policies and practices to benefit those with low cognitive abilities to seek better financial advice using multiple advice sources.

This study examined the association between financial literacy and the decision to withdraw funds from different types of retirement accounts before retirement. Data from the 2012 and 2015 National Financial Capability Study were used to investigate if financial literacy may potentially influence the decision to dissave from funds already set aside for retirement. The results showed that lower financial literacy appeared to increase the likelihood to retract funds saved for retirement, across different types of retirement accounts. The importance of financial literacy persisted, even after controlling for income shocks to personal finances, the availability of precautionary savings as an alternative source of funding, and an extensive set of demographic variables.

This study examines the timing of financial education and its impact on short-term and long-term financial behavior. We also explore the power of financial education on financial knowledge and examine the link between financial knowledge and positive financial behavior. Exposure to financial education during multiple life stages leads to a better financial outcome. Financial education taught via multiple channels, including high school, college, the workplace, and at home, is the most optimal in the long run. For those who did not attend college, being exposed to financial education in high school is significantly associated with positive financial behavior. We cite implications for all financial education advocates. Policymakers in the financial capability arena can stay abreast of the channels of financial education that produce the most fruitful economic and societal gains.

Using data from the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) and the Family Life Cycle (FLC) and Human Capital Theory (HCT) as a framework, this study examined if factors related to the likelihood of financial ratio adequacy and financial well-being differ for Hispanic and non-Hispanic White households. Hispanics’ comprehensive financial well-being was assessed with three ratios: Liquidity, solvency, and investments/assets. Results of logistic regressions with 612 Hispanic and 4,481 non-Hispanic headed households show that FLC and HCT factors are associated with financial ratios differently between two race/ethnicity groups. For Hispanic households, age is positively related to adequate investment/assets ratio and financial well-being; education is positively related to adequate investment/assets but negatively related to adequate solvency. Implications for practitioners working with Hispanics are discussed.

The financial exploitation (FE) of older adults affects not only victims’ finances, but also their health. This preliminary study investigated the impacts of a financial coaching program on the financial, neurocognitive, physical, and emotional health of older adult victims of FE. Twenty older adults residing in a large urban area who had experienced FE were compared at baseline and follow-up with a group of 20 older adult of the same area who were making important financial decisions, but had not experienced FE and did not receive the intervention. At baseline, both groups were similar on demographic variables, but participants who had experienced FE had more health problems, poorer memory and executive functioning, less social support, and greater stress than the comparison group. Six months after financial coaching ended, program participants had significantly less anxiety. Overall, older adult victims of FE showed no significant declines and, in fact, showed some improvement.

Bibliometric analysis is a quantitative method designed to analyze large volumes of scientific output data and to map the intellectual landscape of a specific area of knowledge by describing its scientometric indicators (e.g., number of publications and citations, etc.) and structural relationships (e.g., co-authorship patterns, keyword clustering, etc.) between its different components. In this article, methods of bibliometric analysis are applied to the corpus of publications on eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy research. A total of 1,150 papers found in the Web of Science database and published between 1994 and early 2021 were included in the analysis. Retrieved bibliometric data was analyzed and visualized using VOSViewer software. Temporal distribution of publications (number of publications per year); spatial distribution of publications (author affiliations); top journals; impact of EMDR research as assessed by highly cited publications; author co-citation as a measure of collaboration; literature co-citation as a measure of internal structure; and key terms were analyzed. The results of the study provide the readers with a broad, “one-stop overview” of the current state of research on EMDR therapy, with a focus on the quantitative characteristics of its output and on the key represented topics.

This article presents two vignettes on the successful use of the Flash Technique (FT) without bilateral stimulation and prompted without blinking. FT was first developed as a protocol to quickly bring down the emotional distress of a traumatic memory during the preparation phase of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, so that EMDR could proceed. A recent model for FT (Wong, 2021) proposes that, with FT, traumatized clients may be able to access their traumatic memory briefly, reflexively, and without the fear response, during blinking. This sets up a prediction error which, with repeated blinking, may lead to memory reconsolidation and processing of the traumatic memory. Since the access to the traumatic memory is reflexive and brief, the processing of the memory is outside of the awareness of the client and of the therapist, which is consistent with the practitioner’s and the client’s experience with FT. Wong’s model is based on published fMRI data from neuroscience and established concepts in working memory research, and the model will be reviewed in some detail in the article. However, it is also based on fMRI data for spontaneous and not-prompted blinking, and does not require bilateral stimulation, implying that processing could occur using FT without bilateral stimulation and without prompted blinking, relying instead only on spontaneous blinking. Our two vignettes provide two data points that support this aspect of Wong’s model.

During the period of the COVID-19 pandemic from the start of 2020 till late 2021, mental health services—seeking and providing—have gone through various changes and adaptations. In this article, we report on eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) psychotherapy service providers in India, and how they adapted to the changing circumstances during this time, using a narrative enquiry approach.

The intensive care survivor population is increasing. Critical illness can lead to long term psychological distress for a significant proportion of intensive care survivors. This situation has been brought into even starker focus with the impact of COVID-19. Critical illness can lead to long term psychological distress for a significant proportion of intensive care survivors. Risk factors for post-intensive care psychological distress include delirium experiences. This single case study describes the therapeutic process and utility of the Recent-Traumatic Episode Protocol (R-TEP), an eye movement Desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy protocol for early intervention, with an ICU survivor where therapy was conducted remotely. The treatment provision is unusual in terms of the use of the R-TEP protocol and therapy not being in person. Treatment response was assessed using three standardized measures pre-treatment, post-treatment and at 4-month follow-up, and through qualitative feedback. The advantages of the R-TEP structure are discussed and the need for further research with the ICU survivor population considered.

Major trauma centers have increased survival following serious physical injury, resulting in increased demand for specialist multidisciplinary rehabilitation. We aimed to explore the feasibility of using early intervention eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in an acute inpatient setting, using a non-concurrent, multiple-baseline, pre-post test case-series design. Unfortunately, no patients were recruited. This paper sets out the challenges and reflections of setting up a psychological intervention study in this setting and provides suggestions for further research.

Many individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) also meet criteria for additional diagnoses. Among the most common co-occurring diagnoses are mood disorders—especially depression. This article focuses on the comorbidity between OCD and major depression. After discussing nature of OCD and depression, the rates and clinical impact of depression on OCD, the conceptualization, assessment, and treatment of OCD when it appears along with depression is covered in detail. The derivation and implementation of a cognitive-behavioral treatment program specifically for depressed OCD patients is described and illustrated using a case example.

The testing effect occurs when a person’s memory performance is enhanced by previous tests. The current studies examined the performance effects of a classroom testing procedure on high and low performing students and their transfer of learning.

A significant ongoing initiative is to identify the conditions under which financial education is most effective, as it has been shown to work much better in some circumstances than others. One factor to consider is mathematical capability, as it has been linked to improved financial knowledge and financial outcomes. In this paper, we investigated one aspect of math capability: math confidence (that is, self-reported math ability). We examined how this factor interacts with financial education (measured by the number of financial education courses taken) with data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Survey (NFCS). We found that both mathematical confidence and financial education were positively associated with financial behaviors and, moreover, that the effects were largely independent rather than acting as substitutes – suggesting that future intervention work should consider both factors.

This study explores financial knowledge patterns from 2009 to 2018, focusing on objective and subjective knowledge, overconfidence in financial knowledge, and “Don’t know” responses. We used four waves of National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) datasets. Objective financial knowledge was lower in 2018 than in 2009, and the proportion of individuals who were overconfident was higher in 2018 than in 2009. The mean number of “Don’t know” responses to objective knowledge questions increased consistently over the period. Most of these patterns persisted when we controlled for household characteristics in regressions. The lack of increases in financial knowledge despite formal and informal educational efforts raises the question as to whether existing efforts for formal and informal education are sufficient.

Empowering social work students to address structural challenges and inequalities on their university campus through partnerships with other disciplines is an opportunity to engage in interprofessional education experiences. This article presents a social work student-led initiative to develop an interprofessional group on their college campus to address the emotional and racial climate. This article recommends ways to create interprofessional education opportunities on college campuses to bring awareness to health issues faced by vulnerable groups. Recommendations and implications for social work education and practice are offered.

Sociohistorical analysis of four words commonly used in the language of Western mental health, Indigenousintelligencedisorder, and depression reveal a “Domination Code” masking past and present professional complicity of the U.S. and global mental health system in the oppression of Indigenous peoples. A historicity is offered of concepts of inferior Indigenous intelligence and current pseudoscientific ideologies within Western biological psychiatry dominating WHO’s mhGAP (Mental Health Gap Action Programme) exported to these communities. mhGAP’s cultural hegemony is achieved through Western mental health ideologies that decontextualize, depoliticize, minimize, and marginalize the lived experience of cultural oppression on health and wellbeing. This program appears to violate the spirit of Article 23 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people.

The aim of the study was to explore psychiatrists’ perspectives on prescribing psychopharmacological treatment for parents with depression. Nine psychiatrists were interviewed about how the patient’s status as a parent influenced their decisions regarding medical treatment, and how they considered parental functioning to be affected by the treatment. The results showed that psychiatrists weighed the advantages of psychopharmacological treatment against its disadvantages, irrespective of whether the patient was a parent or not. Although some were more restrictive when prescribing medication to parents due to sedative effects, few mentioned how emotional blunting caused by antidepressants could affect a parent’s emotional availability. Furthermore, none of the psychiatrists was aware of any specific guidelines related to the treatment of parents with depression. The lack of guidelines regarding prescription decisions when treating parents may result in a wide range of approaches, depending on what each psychiatrist considers to be optimal treatment.

Electroconvulsive therapy, also known as shock therapy and electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment that sends electricity into the brain of the patient with the purpose of inducing a seizure in that patient’s brain. A brief overview of relevant literature introduces an autobiographical narrative account of what it is to experience shock therapy. The author, a woman who had been given a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder to explain her natural and expected responses to trauma and adversity, concludes with a critically reflective commentary on ECT.

Stimulant medications (e.g., Ritalin) are considered a relatively safe first-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the most common neuropsychiatric diagnosis among children. This study explores the prevalence of side-effects and risks of stimulants, as perceived by 218 Israeli young adults with ADHD who used stimulants. Participants completed questionnaires that addressed representative side-effects (eight side-effects copied from the patient leaflet of Ritalin, as approved by the Israel Ministry of Health, and five additional side-effects), medication dependence, and substance use. Results indicated that almost all side-effects were extremely common – significantly and substantially more than the leaflet’s estimates. “Mood changes such as depression” for example, were observed among 66%, compared with the reported “1 in 10,000 users.” Suicidal thoughts, which are mentioned as “side-effect that occurred with other medications that contain same ingredient,” were observed among 3.2%. Side-effects not mentioned in the leaflet, such as “zombie-like sensation” (72.5%) and “alterations in sense-of-self” (39.4%), were also very common. Most participants tried quitting the medications (some even resisted taking them as children), mainly to disengage from their medication dependence and cease their adverse-effects, however many struggled coping without the medications and experienced withdrawal reactions, such as decreased mood or motivation as well as increased stress and anxiety. Notably, stimulant use frequency significantly correlated with alcohol and drug use. Although the observational nature of the study limits its generalizability, its findings suggest that the safety profile of stimulants requires further consideration, especially today with the large increase in diagnoses and medication use among millions of children.

This study used the 2015 National Financial Capability Study to investigate the relationships among financial capability, financial education, and student loan debt outcomes. Specifically, this study examines four student loan outcomes: delinquency, stress, preparation, and satisfaction among borrowers who obtained loans for themselves. Three forms of financial capability (objective financial knowledge, subjective financial knowledge, and perceived financial capability) and two forms of financial education (formal school/workplace education and informal parental education) were used as potential predictors in the study. The Probit regression results showed that expectedly, several financial capability and financial education factors were positively associated with desirable financial outcomes such as loan calculation and loan satisfaction, and negatively associated with undesirable outcomes such as loan stress and loan delinquency. However, this study also showed several unexpected results. For example, objective financial knowledge was negatively associated with loan calculation and loan satisfaction, and subjective knowledge and formal financial education were positively associated with loan delinquency.