In This Issue

A depressive episode in the grown children of depressed parents was only one-tenth as likely among those who reported that religion or spirituality was highly important to them as among those who rated it less highly. On the other hand, Miller et al. (CME, p. 89) found that church attendance and religious denomination over the 10-year period were not related to depression outcome in this high-risk group. In an editorial, Blazer (p. 10) notes that the average age of the offspring in this study was 29 and that young adults' spirituality is less traditional than their parents' beliefs.

Expenses for mental illness and substance abuse treatment increased only slightly after implementation of Oregon's law requiring parity between insurance coverage for these disorders and coverage for other conditions. The changes in the four commercial plans examined by McConnell et al. (p. 31) were similar to those in self-insurance plans exempt from parity. The periods compared were the 2 years before and 2 years after the law took effect in 2007. Management of behavioral health benefits through nonquantitative treatment limitations, such as documentation of medical necessity, prior authorization, and utilization review, was allowed but had to conform with restrictions on medical-surgical coverage. This similarity to the federal parity law implemented in 2009 suggests to editorialist Susan Busch (p. 1) that the new federal requirement of insurance parity will not “break the bank.”