Connecticut Children's Blog

By: Vanessa Laurent, PhD, and Lynelle Schneeberg, PsyD As the days grow shorter and the hours of sunlight decrease, your child may feel sad or sluggish from the gray skies. For some kids and teens, this feeling may be a more serious problem known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD.  Connecticut Children’s pediatric psychologists explain. […]

July Is Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, also known as BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month. BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous and People of Color. This month brings awareness to the unique mental health needs these groups face. Connecticut Children’s Dr. Melissa Santos, Division Head of Pediatric Psychology and Associate Chair for […]

Connecticut Children’s is committed to making our patient care environment as welcoming and inclusive as possible for our patients and their families. As part of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion journey, our organization celebrates the steps we are taking to ensure our patients who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex and […]

Everyone, at every age, deserves healthy, positive relationships. For teens who are just starting out, it’s not always easy to know what that means. Dr. Preeti Sandhu, pediatric psychologist, shares ways to help your teen navigate the dating world and be their own advocate for healthy, fulfilling relationships. 1. Talk openly about healthy relationships. Dating […]

TikTok dares. Drug and alcohol abuse. Bullying. Peer pressure can lead to a lot of difficult and dangerous situations for kids and teens. It’s hard for your child to know how to handle that, especially in the moment. But you can help them understand what to watch out for, and even practice how to respond. […]

Families in Connecticut are mourning the death of a 13-year-old who overdosed on the painkiller fentanyl while at his Hartford school. It’s a tragic reminder of the dangers of drugs around kids. If you’re a parent or caregiver, it can be hard to know how to talk to your child about what happened, and how […]

By: Amy Adolfo Signore, PhD, MPH and Emily Wakefield, PsyD The holidays are always full of surprises. This year, as we wait to learn more about the Omicron variant, families are dealing with more uncertainty than usual. Whether you’re rethinking travel, opting for a smaller gathering, or dealing with a family member’s COVID-19 exposure right […]

Many kids and teens haven’t been inside a school building since early March 2020 – and while some can’t wait to return to full in-person classes, others would just as soon stay home. For these students, remote learning was a break from social pressures, certain learning challenges, or other classroom stressors. If your child is […]

For many kids and adolescents (and their parents!) one of the toughest aspects of the pandemic was not seeing friends in person. But with COVID-19 vaccines available for anyone 12 or older, more social activities are ramping up – plus full in-person learning! As exciting as this is for many kids, there are plenty of others […]

Last year, with schools closed due to COVID-19 and quarantine in full swing, many teens became even more glued to their screens. In many ways, that was OK: Teens are wired to be social, and social media helped them stay connected to friends. Technology was essential for remote learning. But screens of all kinds, from […]