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Energy drinks (EDs) are non-alcoholic beverages providing an extra boost in physical/cognitive performance and mood. Besides the physiological effects related to the high-caffeine content of EDs, long-term emotional, social, and behavioral effects have been recently receiving attention. However, a few systematic reviews have focused on the critical yet understudied periods of childhood and adolescence. We have undertaken a comprehensive systematic review of the evidence on any psychosocial correlates of ED consumption in 0-18-year-old subjects, as published up to April 1, 2021, in MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Reviews and Central Register of Controlled Trials. Of the initial 789 records, 104 original articles were included in the systematic review. Seventy percent of them were published from 2016 onwards; among investigated topics, substance use ranked first, followed by psychological and socio-educational factors; the less investigated topic was risky behaviors. Taste and energy-seeking were the main drivers of consumption, which generally happened at home or during sport/recreational activities, without perception of health-related risks. Positive associations with ED consumption were found for sensation seeking, irritability/anger, and suicide ideation, plan, or attempts. Finally, participants with lower grades, a low parental monitoring, or bad influences from peers were more likely to consume EDs. Conclusion: With ~ 70% of papers published since the 2 comprehensive reviews on children/adolescents were carried out, an update of the literature with a broad focus is of great importance. Consumption of EDs by children/adolescents lies in the potential interplay between personality traits, school performance, and influences by family members and peers. What is Known: • Taste and energy-seeking are the main drivers of energy drink consumption, which mostly happened at home or in sport/recreational activities. What is New: • Perception of risks related to energy drinks is associated with a lower consumption, as based on cross-sectional studies. • As mostly based on cross-sectional studies: 1. energy drink consumption is related to sensation seeking, irritability/anger, and suicide ideation or attempts; 2. students with a lower school performance, low parental monitoring, or bad peer influence, are more likely to consume energy drinks.

Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in the USA. Evidence suggests adolescents are particularly vulnerable to online tobacco marketing. This study examined longitudinal associations of following or liking of tobacco brands with subsequent cigarette and e-cigarette initiation among US adolescents. We used Wave 1-Wave 4 Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study data (n = 6997) and discrete-time survival regression models to examine associations of past-year tobacco-related social media interactions with the initiation of cigarettes and e-cigarettes among US adolescents. About 4.8% (n = 280) of adolescent never cigarette users and 4.9% (n = 288) of never e-cigarette users followed or liked tobacco brands on social media between Wave 1 and Wave 2. By Wave 4, 8.8% of all cigarettes never users had initiated cigarette use, and 18.7% of never e-cigarette users initiated e-cigarette use. The following or liking tobacco brands on social media was significantly associated with increased odds of cigarette initiation (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.12, 95% CI 1.56-2.88) and e-cigarette initiation (aOR 2.11, 95% CI 1.66-2.69). Also, the initiation of cigarettes and e-cigarettes differed significantly among race/ethnicity, school performance, and other tobacco and substance use.Conclusion: Adolescents who followed or liked tobacco products on social media were more likely to initiate cigarette or e-cigarette use subsequently. Increasing anti-tobacco efforts on social media sites could be beneficial. What is Known: • Evidence suggests adolescents are particularly vulnerable to online tobacco marketing. What is New: • The following or liking tobacco brands on social media was significantly associated with the odds of cigarette and e-cigarette initiation.

This study aims to analyze the mediating role of risk of depression in the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and academic performance in a sample of adolescents and to test the moderation effect of sex. A total of 263 adolescents (125 girls, 13.9 ± 0.3 years) from the DADOS (Deporte, ADOlescencia y Salud) study were included in the analysis. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by the 20-m shuttle run test. Academic performance was assessed through the final academic grades and the test of educational abilities. Risk of depression was evaluated through the Behavior Assessment System for Children and Adolescents. Mediation analyses were performed to determine the direct and indirect associations between cardiorespiratory fitness, risk of depression, and academic performance. Indirect effects with confidence intervals not including zero were interpreted as statistically significant, and percentages of mediation were calculated in order to know how much of the association was explained by the mediation. Our findings indicated a significant mediating effect of risk of depression in the association between cardiorespiratory fitness with final grades in math, language, and grade point average (percentages of mediation: 26%, 53%, and 29%, respectively). These analyses were not moderated by sex (all confidence intervals included 0).Conclusion: Risk of depression acts as a possible underlying mechanism in the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and academic grades in adolescents. Educational and health institutions could benefit from our findings since the promotion of higher cardiorespiratory fitness levels might reduce the risk of depression with potential benefits on adolescents’ academic performance. What is Known:• Cardiorespiratory fitness is positively associated with academic performance in adolescents. Nevertheless, the psychological mechanisms underlying this association are poorly understood. What is New:• Risk of depression mediates the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and academic performance in adolescents, independently of sex.• Our findings may improve the efficacy of mental health and educational programs by promoting the enhancement of cardiorespiratory fitness levels, which may reduce risk of depression with potential benefits on academic performance.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterized by persistent fatigue and severe disability. Most adolescent patients report attention and concentration problems, with subsequent poor performance at school. This study investigated the impact of CFS on intellectual capacity by (1) assessing discrepancies between current intelligence quotient (IQ) and school level and (2) exploring differences in current IQ and pre-CFS school performance, compared with healthy individuals. Current data was cross-sectionally gathered and compared with retrospective pre-CFS school performance data. Fifty-nine CFS adolescents and 40 controls were evaluated on performance on age-appropriate intelligence tests and school level. Current IQ scores of CFS adolescents were lower than expected on the basis of their school level. Furthermore, there was a difference in intelligence performance across time when current IQ scores were compared with pre-CFS cognitive achievement. Healthy controls did not show any discrepancies. CONCLUSION: According to their pre-CFS intelligence assessments, CFS patients started with appropriate secondary school levels at the age of 12. Our data suggest that CFS may be accompanied by a decline in general cognitive functioning. Given the critical age for intellectual development, we recommend a timely diagnosis followed by appropriate treatment of CFS in adolescents. What is Known: • Adolescent chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating condition with major impact on social and intellectual development. • Most patients report concentration problems, with subsequent poor performance at school. Little is known about the influence of CFS on intellectual performances. What is New: • IQ scores of CFS adolescents are lower than the IQ scores of healthy peers with an equivalent school level. • There is a decrease in intelligence performance across time when current IQ scores are compared with pre-CFS cognitive achievement. Healthy controls do not show any discrepancies between their current IQ, school level and previous cognitive functioning. This suggest that adolescent CFS may be accompanied by a decline in general cognitive functioning.

The intellectual, neurological, and neuropsychological outcome of patients with non-phenylketonuric-hyperphenylalaninaemia (PKU-HPA) (serum phenylalanine levels under free diet < 600 mumol/l) has not been systematically studied so far. We therefore tested 28 patients (mean age = 21.8, SD = 4.2 years) for IQ (WAIS-R/WISC-R), school performance, job career, clinical neurological examination, fine motor performance (motor performance task), and selective and sustained attention (stroop task, Dot Pattern Exercise from the Sonneville visual attention task). In addition, cranial MRI (1.5 T unit) was obtained in 10 of these patients. Clinical-neurological examination revealed no significant abnormalities in the non-PKU-HPA patients. They also had a normal IQ (mean = 101.9, SD = 13.6). Compared to their healthy siblings, they attended a normal school and had a normal job career. The motor performance task revealed no deficits in fine motor abilities. The patients performed normally in the stroop task and the dot pattern exercise. Their MRIs were normal. Our results indicate that patients with non-PKU-HPA are not at risk for developing intellectual, neurological, and neuropsychological impairment, as described for patients with treated mild or classical phenylketonuria. From this point of view a dietary treatment is not necessary in patients with hyperphenylalaninaemia.

Intellectual development, speech and school performance of preterm infants with birth weight appropriate for gestational age are reported in two separate investigations: a longitudinal study of 97 preterm children and 93 term children as a control group, and a cross-sectional study of 249 preterm children. Both preterm groups were regarded as high risk groups with respect to number of outborns, distribution of gestational age and perinatal risk factors. Intellectual outcome at 5 and 7 years of age in the majority of the preterm children was comparable to that of the term children. However, 8% of the preterm boys and 2% of the preterm girls achieved lower IQ scores than any of the term children. Between 15% and 17% of the preterm boys and 9%–12% of the preterm girls did not attend school at grade level, compared to 4% and 2% in the term group, respectively. Intellectual and neurological development and school performance were higher interrelated in the preterm than in the term children. Articulation defects, stuttering and dysgrammatism occurred more frequently in the preterm than in the term children and in boys more so than in girls.

The neurodevelopmental outcome and school performance of 50 appropriate for gestational age (AGA) and 33 small for gestational age (SGA) very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants, compared to a control group (41 Term infants) were assessed at 8 years of age. The incidence of major handicaps among AGA and SGA/VLBW infants respectively, was 16% and 6%. No major handicap was found in the control group. The incidence of neurodevelopmental abnormalities (NDA) among AGA's (40%) and SGA's (57.6%) compared with the control group (31.7%) was found to be significantly higher. School failure occurred more frequently among VLBW infants (22.9%) and was related in children with NDA — and more particularly among AGA's — to the presence of language disorders of associated NDA. Evaluation of the consequences of NDA and school problems for later academic and professional achievement now requires further follow-up studies.