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Different types of childhood abuse can increase the risk of mental illness as well as sexual dysfunction, experts say, but the biological mechanism by which this occurs has been unknown.

For the past four decades, the "marshmallow test" has served as a classic experimental measure of children's self-control: will a preschooler eat one of the fluffy white confections now or hold out for two later? The original research began at Stanford University in the late 1960s. Walter Mischel and other researchers famously showed that individual differences in the ability to delay gratification on this simple task correlated strongly with success in later life. Longer wait times as a child were linked years later to higher SAT scores, less substance abuse, and parental reports of better social skills.

The damage is similar to that seen in aging, Duke researchers report. The study may help explain why people from abusive backgrounds have more risk of disease.

This video is part of the course Psychopharmacology Survey which is designed to help psychologists, family therapists, clinical social workers, substance abuse counselors and other mental health professionals develop a working knowledge of pharmacological agents and drug treatment strategies. For more info and to register go here: http://www.ce-psychology.com/psychoph...

When Nancy Lublin started texting teenagers to help with her social advocacy organization, what she found was shocking - they started texting back about their own problems, from bullying to depression to abuse. So she's setting up a text-only crisis line, and the results might be even more important than she expected.