Poor Self-Regulation in Teens Associated with Circadian Rhythms and Daytime Sleepiness

 

Findings support later start times for middle schools and high schools

November 3, 2016—Chronic insufficient sleep is at epidemic levels in U.S. teens and has been associated with depression, substance use, accidents, and academic failure. Poor self-regulation or an inability to alter thinking, emotions, and behaviors to meet varying social demands is thought to be a key link between inadequate sleep in teens and poor health and school-related outcomes. However, a study led by Judith Owens, MD, MPH, at Boston Children's Hospital and Robert Whitaker, MD, MPH, at Temple University found that the number of hours teens sleep on school nights may not be the main problem. Instead, daytime sleepiness and a tendency to be a "night owl," referred to as an evening chronotype, appear to be more strongly associated with poor self-regulation. Findings were published online November 3 by Pediatrics.
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Well-Being Linked with When and How People Manage Emotions

November 2, 2016—Reframing how we think about a situation is a common strategy for managing our emotions, but a new study suggests that using this reappraisal strategy in situations we actually have control over may be associated with lower well-being. The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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When You Don't Feel Valued in a Relationship, Sleep Suffers

August 17, 2016—We spend up to one-third of our life asleep, but not everyone sleeps well. For couples, it turns out how well you think your partner understands and cares for you is linked to how well you sleep. The results are published in Social Personality and Psychological Science.

"Our findings show that individuals with responsive partners experience lower anxiety and arousal, which in turn improves their sleep quality," says lead author Dr. Emre Selçuk, a developmental and social psychologist at Middle East Technical University in Turkey.
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Positive Teacher-Student Relationships Boost Good Behaviour in Teenagers for up to Four Years

August 9, 2016—A new study has found that, for students around the age of 10-11 years old, having a positive relationship with a teacher can markedly influence the development of ‘prosocial’ behaviors such as cooperation and altruism, as well as significantly reduce problem classroom behaviors such as aggression and oppositional behavior.  

The research also found that beneficial behaviors resulting from a positive teacher-student relationship when a child is on the cusp of adolescence lingered for up to four years—well into the difficult teenage years.
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Common Brain Changes Found in Children with Autism, ADHD and OCD

 

MRI study shows shared brain biology is linked to symptoms that occur across different conditions

July 27, 2016—A team of Toronto scientists has found similarities in brain impairments in children with autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

The study, published this month in the American Journal of Psychiatry, involved brain imaging of white matter in 200 children with autism, ADHD, OCD or no diagnosis. White matter is made up of bundles of nerve fibers that connect cell bodies across the brain, and enable communication between different brain regions.
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Regardless of Age or Health Conditions, Many Seniors Have Not Retired from Sex

July 26, 2016, CHAMPAIGN, IL— Despite societal perceptions that older adults' love lives are ancient history, many seniors are anything but retired from sex, a new study suggests.

Many seniors consider sexual activity essential to their well-being, happiness and quality of life. And some of these vivacious seniors are finding their golden years to be an optimal time for exploring new dimensions of their sexuality, said researcher Liza Berdychevsky, a professor of recreation, sport and tourism at the University of Illinois.
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Disrupted Immunity in the Fetal Brain Linked to Autism and Schizophrenia

June 27, 2014—Disrupted fetal immune system development, such as that caused by viral infection in the mother, may be a key factor in the later appearance of certain neurodevelopmental disorders. This finding emerges from a Weizmann Institute study published in Science on June 23, 2016.

The study may explain, among other things, how the mother's infection with the cytomegalovirus (CMV) during pregnancy, which affects her own and her fetus's immune system, increases the risk that her offspring will develop autism or schizophrenia, sometimes years later. This increased risk of neurodevelopmental diseases had been discovered many years ago in epidemiological studies and confirmed in mouse models. The Weizmann study, led by Dr. Ido Amit and Prof. Michal Schwartz, of the Immunology and Neurobiology Departments, respectively, provides a possible explanation for this increase on the cellular and the mechanistic molecular levels.
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At Any Skill Level, Making Art Reduces Stress Hormones

Cortisol lowers significantly after just 45 minutes of art creation

June 15, 2016—Whether you're Van Gogh or a stick-figure sketcher, a new Drexel University study found that making art can significantly reduce stress-related hormones in your body.

Although the researchers from Drexel's College of Nursing and Health Professions believed that past experience in creating art might amplify the activity's stress-reducing effects, their study found that everyone seems to benefit equally.

"It was surprising and it also wasn't," said Girija Kaimal, EdD, assistant professor of creative arts therapies. "It wasn't surprising because that's the core idea in art therapy: Everyone is creative and can be expressive in the visual arts when working in a supportive setting. That said, I did expect that perhaps the effects would be stronger for those with prior experience."
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How Can a Family Function Better? Get outside Together

June 14, 2016—Getting out in nature, even for just a 20-minute walk, can go a long way toward restoring your attention. But does it have the same effect when you make it a family activity?

Family studies researchers at the University of Illinois have looked at the benefits of spending time in nature as a family, and theorize that families who regularly get outside together tend to function better.
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Teenage Boys Who Show Empathy Attract More Girlfriends Than Boys Who Don't

Landmark study shows the extent that teen males and females select empathic classmates as friends

June 8, 2016—Boys high in cognitive empathy attracted an average of 1.8 more girl friendships than low empathy counterparts, as revealed by a landmark study titled "When Empathy Matters: The Role of Sex and Empathy in Close Friendships."

The Australian Research Council-funded research, led by Professor Joseph Ciarrochi at the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education at Australian Catholic University, has been published in the Journal of Personality. It is the first study to examine the extent that adolescent males and females select empathic classmates as friends. And the conclusion based on a study of 1,970 Year 10 students in Queensland and New South Wales (average age of 15.7 years) is that girls are more likely to nominate empathic boys as friends.
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To Strengthen an Opinion, Simply Say It Is Based on Morality

The 'moral' label instantly makes opinions more resistant to change

May 31, 2016—Simply telling people that their opinions are based on morality will make them stronger and more resistant to counterarguments, a new study suggests. Researchers found that people were more likely to act on an opinion—what psychologists call an attitude—if it was labeled as moral and were more resistant to attempts to change their mind on that subject. The results show why appeals to morality by politicians and advocacy groups can be so effective, said Andrew Luttrell, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in psychology at The Ohio State University.
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Friends 'Better Than Morphine'

 

Larger social networks release more pain-killing endorphin

April 28, 2016—People with more friends have higher pain tolerance, Oxford University researchers have found.
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Infant Attention Span Suffers When Parents' Eyes Wander during Playtime

Eye-tracking study first to suggest connection between caregiver focus and key cognitive development indicator in infants

April 28, 2016—Caregivers whose eyes wander during playtime—due to distractions such as smartphones or other technology, for example—may raise children with shorter attention spans, according to a new study by psychologists at Indiana University.

The work, which appears online today in the journal Current Biology, is the first to show a direct connection between how long a caregiver looks at an object and how long an infant's attention remains focused on that same object.
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Nurturing during Preschool Years Boosts Child's Brain Growth

Mothers' support linked to robust growth of brain area involved in learning, memory, stress response

April 25, 2016—Children whose mothers were nurturing during the preschool years, as opposed to later in childhood, have more robust growth in brain structures associated with learning, memory and stress response than children with less supportive moms, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

"This study suggests there's a sensitive period when the brain responds more to maternal support," said first authorJoan L. Luby, MD, a Washington University child psychiatrist at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
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Asleep Somewhere New, One Brain Hemisphere Keeps Watch

PROVIDENCE, RI; April 21, 2016—People who go to bed wary of potential danger sometimes pledge to sleep "with one eye open." A new Brown University study finds that isn't too far off. On the first night in a new place, the research suggests, one brain hemisphere remains more awake than the other during deep sleep, apparently in a state of readiness for trouble.

The study in Current Biology explains what underlies the "first-night effect," a phenomenon that poses an inconvenience to business travelers and sleep researchers alike.
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Study Links Environment and Parenting to Childhood Self-Control

April 14, 2016—University of Texas at Arlington researchers have found that by age 3 environmental influences such as parenting are relevant factors in the development of toddlers' self-control when they are asked not to do something they want to do, such as run into the street or eat a forbidden snack.
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New Study Supports Link between Omega-3 Supplements and Reduced Depression

March 18, 2016—According to the World Health Organization, depression is a major cause of disease burden worldwide, affecting an estimated 350 million people. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, in 2014, an estimated 15.7 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States had at least one major depressive episode in the past year.
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New Study Shows Emotional Cost for Parents Who Put on a Happy Face for Their Children

February 23, 2016—How do parents feel when they regulate their emotional expressions in ways that do not match their genuine feelings? Recent research suggests that parents' attempts to suppress negative and amplify positive emotions during child care can detract from their well-being and high-quality parent-child bonds. The findings were published in the March 2016 edition of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
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Study Focuses on Attention Bias Modification Treatment in Depressed Adolescents

February 24, 2016—A study to be published in the March 2016 issue of theJournal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) reports that adolescents with major depression who performed a computer-based task designed to shift attention from sad to neutral to positive word associations showed reductions in negative attention biases and clinician-rated depressive symptoms.

11% of American adolescents suffer from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Facing a broad range of psychosocial and health problems, these youths are five times more at risk to attempt suicide than peers without psychiatric illness. A novel computer-based task, attention bias modification (ABM), designed to shift attention away from negative stimuli, was found to reduce depressive symptoms in adults.
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Giving Support to Others, Not Just Receiving It, Has Beneficial Effects

Feb. 11, 2016—Social support has well-known benefits for physical and mental health. But giving support—rather than receiving it—may have unique positive effects on key brain areas involved in stress and reward responses, suggests a new study.
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Researchers Confirm Attitude toward Aging Can Have a Direct Effect on Cognitive Ability

January 29, 2016—Negative attitudes to aging affect both physical and cognitive health in later years, new research reveals. The study from the Irish Longitudinal Study on aging (TILDA), at Trinity College Dublin, further reveals that participants with positive attitudes towards aging had improved cognitive ability.

Speaking about the findings, lead researcher Deirdre Robertson commented: "The way we think about, talk about and write about aging may have direct effects on health. Everyone will grow older and if negative attitudes towards aging are carried throughout life they can have a detrimental, measurable effect on mental, physical and cognitive health."
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Teens Take Fewer Risks around Slightly Older Adults

January 28, 2016—Adolescents are known risk takers, especially when they're surrounded by same-aged peers. But new research suggests that being in a group that includes just one slightly older adult might decrease teens' propensity to engage in risky behavior.

The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

"The take home message is that decision making in groups of adolescents and young adults is more prudent when a somewhat older adult is present," explains psychological scientist and lead researcher Laurence Steinberg of Temple University. "The findings are important because they provide guidance to organizations that must decide on the age mix of their work teams."
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Study Reveals Why Your Brain Makes You Slip up When Anxious

Neuroscientists have identified the brain network system that causes us to stumble and stall

January 20, 2016—As musicians, figure skaters and anyone who takes a driving test will know, the anxiety of being watched can have a disastrous effect on your performance.

Now neuroscientists at the University of Sussex's Sackler Centre and Brighton and Sussex Medical School have identified the brain network system that causes us to stumble and stall just when we least want to.
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PTSD More 'Tuned' to Angry Faces Because of Over-Connected Brain Circuits

 

Understanding the brain's responses to angry faces could help diagnosis

January 20, 2016—Soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more 'tuned' to perceive threatening facial expressions than people without PTSD because of more over-connected brain circuits, according to a new study published in the journal Heliyon. The researchers behind the study, from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Armed Forces, say understanding how this works could help researchers develop better ways to assess when soldiers are ready to be redeployed.
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Childhood Trauma Associated with Worse Impulse Control in Adulthood, Study Finds

 

Abuse or neglect associated with worse executive function in adults, whether or not they have bipolar disorder

January 20, 2016—The scars of childhood abuse and neglect affect adults' brains for decades to come, including their ability to process and act on information both quickly and accurately, new research suggests.

That kind of quick "go or don't go" thinking is crucial to everyday situations like driving or rare events like reacting to an emergency. And it appears to be less accurate and more impulsive in adults who suffered physical, emotional or sexual trauma in their early years than in those who did not, the study finds.
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Brain Regions of PTSD Patients Show Differences during Fear Responses

DURHAM, NC; December 15, 2015—Regions of the brain function differently among people with post-traumatic stress disorder, causing them to generalize non-threatening events as if they were the original trauma, according to new research from Duke Medicine and the Durham VA Medical Center.

Using functional MRI, the researchers detected unusual activity in several regions of the brain when people with PTSD were shown images that were only vaguely similar to the trauma underlying the disorder. The findings, reported in the Dec. 15, 2015, issue of the journalTranslational Psychiatry, suggest that exposure-based PTSD treatment strategies might be improved by focusing on tangential triggers to the initial event.
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It Is about Me

 

Researchers see role of narcissism in customized products

December 9, 2015—Researchers say a rising trend in narcissism is cause for retailing and manufacturing firms offering customizable products to rethink their marketing strategies.

Writing in the Journal of Retailing, marketing and psychology researchers from the University St. Gallen, Washington State University and Ruhr University Bochum offer insights into how firms can increase the uniqueness of self-designed products by examining consumers' narcissistic behavior.
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How Lack of Sleep Tampers with Your Emotions

December 8, 2015—Cranky or grumpy after a long night? Your brain's ability to regulate emotions is probably compromised by fatigue. This is bad news for 30 percent of American adults who get less than six hours of sleep per night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A new Tel Aviv University study has identified the neurological mechanism responsible for disturbed emotion regulation and increased anxiety due to only one night's lack of sleep. The research reveals the changes sleep deprivation can impose on our ability to regulate emotions and allocate brain resources for cognitive processing.
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Text Messages That End in a Period Seen as Less Sincere

BINGHAMTON, NY; December 8, 2015—If you don't want to send the wrong message, watch how you punctuate your texts. Text messages that end with a period are perceived to be less sincere than messages that do not, according to newly published research from Binghamton University.
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Eating Disorder Prevention Program Reduces Brain Reward Response to Supermodels

Objective brain imaging detects the neural effects of a behavioral prevention program

December 7, 2015—Change your attitude. Change your behavior. Change your brain. Discussing the costs of pursuing the unrealistic thin beauty ideal reduces its value for teens.

Scientists at Oregon Research Institute (ORI) have published unique research results indicating that a brief dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program (Body Project) alters how young women's brains respond to images of thin supermodels.
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Contact with Nature May Mean More Social Cohesion, Less Crime

 

Human exposure to nature is linked to safer communities with better social and community interactions

November 25, 2015—Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of contact with nature for human well-being. However, despite strong trends toward greater urbanization and declining green space, little is known about the social consequences of such contact. In the December issue of BioScience, an international, interdisciplinary team reports on how they used nationally representative data from the United Kingdom and stringent model testing to examine the relationships between objective measures and self-reported assessments of contact with nature, community cohesion, and local crime incidence. The results in the report, by Netta Weinstein of Cardiff University and others, were notable
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ADHD Meds May Be a Prescription for Bullying

ANN ARBOR: November 20, 2015--Kids and teens who take medications like Ritalin to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are twice as likely to be physically or emotionally bullied by peers than those who don't have ADHD, a new University of Michigan study found. At even higher risk were middle and high school students who sold or shared their medications--those kids were four-and-a-half times likelier to be victimized by peers than kids without ADHD. The main findings are the same for both sexes, said the study's lead author.
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Study: Preschoolers Need More Outdoor Time at Child Care Centers

November 12, 2015—A new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds child care centers play a pivotal role when it comes to the physical activity levels of preschoolers. Yet few children get to experience outdoor recess time as it is scheduled. Only 3 in 10 children had at least 60 minutes of a full child-care day outdoors for recess, as is recommended by guidelines.
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Study Finds Teasing Girls about Weight Is More than a Playground Joke

 

Researchers examine unhealthy eating behaviors, body perception in minority girls

November 10, 2015—Current research about childhood obesity has illustrated the complexity of the epidemic--how it intertwines with hunger, poverty, food deserts and socioeconomic status. A new University of Houston study examined a practice that may seem like a harmless playground antic, but could have long-lasting and harmful effects to a young girl's perception of herself and of food.
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Math Anxiety Doesn't Equal Poor Math Performance

November 4, 2015—Experiencing math anxiety—nervousness and discomfort in relation to math—impairs math performance for some students, but new research shows that it's linked with improved performance for others, at least to a degree.
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Study: How Depressive Thoughts Persevere, Interfere with Memory in People with Depression

November 3, 2015—Intrusive, enduring, depressive thoughts are an ever-present part of daily life for people with depression. A first of its kind study from the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas published earlier this year in the Journal of Affective Disorders shows that depressive thoughts are maintained for longer periods of time for people with depressed mood, and this extended duration may reduce the amount of information that these individuals can hold in their memory. The findings have far-reaching implications for understanding how depression damages memory, as well as how depression develops and persists over the course of an individual's lifetime.
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The Power of Thank You: Research Links Gratitude to Positive Marital Outcomes

October 21, 2015—A key ingredient to improving couples' marriages might just be gratitude, according to new University of Georgia research. The study was recently published in the journal Personal Relationships. "We found that feeling appreciated and believing that your spouse values you directly influences how you feel about your marriage, how committed you are to it, and your belief that it will last," said study co-author Ted Futris, an associate professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
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Exercise Reduces Suicide Attempts by 23 Percent among Bullied Teens

 

Findings show importance of exercise for all teens as high schools cut physical education and sports programs

September 21, 2015—As high schools across the country continue to reduce physical education, recess, and athletic programs, a new study shows that regular exercise significantly reduces both suicidal thoughts and attempts among students who are bullied.
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Teens with Bulimia Recover Faster When Parents Are Included in Treatment

 

Findings of largest randomized clinical trial challenge old belief to only treat patients individually

September 18, 2015—Involving parents in the treatment of adolescents with bulimia nervosa is more effective than treating the patient individually, according to a newly-published study.
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Research on Attractiveness and Mating Challenges Some Commonly-Held Beliefs

 

Researchers look at what people find 'desirable' and 'essential' in a long-term partner based on 2 of the largest national studies of mate preferences ever conducted

September 16, 2015—Chapman University has published research on what people find "desirable" and "essential" in a long-term partner based on two of the largest national studies of mate preferences ever conducted. This research supports the long-held belief that people with desirable traits have a stronger "bargaining hand" and can be more selective when choosing romantic partners, but it also challenges other commonly held mating beliefs.
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To Email or Not to Email? For Those in Love, It's Better than Leaving a Voice Message

September 1, 2015—In her hit single, Carly Rae Jepsen may have sung, "Here's my number, so call me maybe." But according to a new research study from Indiana University, she might be more successful in finding love if she asked him to send her an email. The research, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, suggests that, in this digital age, an email can be more effective in expressing romantic feelings than leaving a voicemail message.
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Close Friendships in Adolescence Predict Health in Adulthood

August 31, 2015—Teens are often warned to beware the undue influence of peer pressure, but new research suggests that following the pack in adolescence may have some unexpected benefits for physical health in early adulthood. The study was published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Psychological scientists Joseph P. Allen, Bert N. Uchino, and Christopher A. Hafen found that physical health in adulthood could be predicted based on the quality of close friendships in adolescence. In addition, efforts to conform to peer norms were actually linked to higher quality health in adulthood.
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Stepchildren Who View Former Stepparents as Family Maintain Relationships after Divorce

 

Without legal or genetic ties, stepparent-stepchild relationships face uncertainty after breakups

COLUMBIA, MO; August 10, 2015—Remarriages often combine two families into one stepfamily unit. When that stepfamily unit dissolves after a divorce, little is known about the relationships between former stepparents and stepchildren. Now, researchers in the University of Missouri College of Human Environmental Sciences found stepchildren's views of former stepparents depended on emotional reactions to the divorce, patterns of support or resource exchanges, and parental encouragement or discouragement to continue step-relationships. Whether stepchildren maintained relationships with their former stepparents largely depended on whether stepchildren viewed their former stepparents as family.
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How Spiritual Beliefs Relate to Cancer Patients' Physical, Mental, and Social Well-Being

August 10, 2015—Research reveals that most individuals with cancer have religious and spiritual beliefs, or derive comfort from religious and spiritual experiences. But what impact does this have on patients' health? Recent analyses of all published studies on the topic--which included more than 44,000 patients--shed new light on the associations of religion and spirituality with cancer patients' mental, social, and physical well-being. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the analyses indicate that religion and spirituality have significant associations with patients' health, but there was wide variability among studies regarding how different dimensions of religion and spirituality relate to different aspects of health.
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Positive Reinforcement Plays Key Role in Cognitive Task Performance in ADHD Kids

BUFFALO, NY; July 30, 2015—A little recognition for a job well done means a lot to children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)—more so than it would for typically developing kids.

That praise, or other possible reward, improves the performance of children with ADHD on certain cognitive tasks, but until a recent study led by researchers from the University at Buffalo, it wasn’t clear if that result was due to heightened motivation inspired by positive reinforcement or because those with ADHD simply had greater room for improvement at certain tasks relative to their peers without such a diagnosis.
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Why Alfred Hitchcock Grabs Your Attention

July 27, 2015—The movies of Alfred Hitchcock have made palms sweat and pulses race for more than 65 years. Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have now learned how the Master of Suspense affects audiences' brains.
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Sex and Violence May Not Really Sell Products

 

Review of 53 studies suggests advertisers may be wasting money

COLUMBUS, OH; July 21, 2015—If there's one thing advertisers think they know, it is that sex and violence sell. A new analysis, however, provides some of the best evidence to date that this widely accepted adage just isn't true.
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Comparing Your Partner to Someone Else's? Find Yours Comes up Short?

 

University of Toronto psychologists explain what happens when people compare their partner to someone else's

TORONTO; July 21, 2015—When Julie compares her husband George to her friend's husband Sam, she can't help but notice that Sam is better at helping his children with homework. But rather than be upset about George's shortcomings in the children's homework arena, Julie reasons that since she enjoys doing homework with their children, it's not that important that George do it. What Julie has just done is protect her partner (and their relationship!) from the negative implications of her own comparison. But not all members of a couple engage in these justifying explanations of their partner's behaviours or characteristics.
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Massive Study: Birth Order Has No Meaningful Effect on Personality or IQ

CHAMPAIGN, IL; July 16, 2015—For those who believe that birth order influences traits like personality and intelligence, a study of 377,000 high school students offers some good news: Yes, the study found, first-borns do have higher IQs and consistently different personality traits than those born later in the family chronology. However, researchers say, the differences between first-borns and "later-borns" are so small that they have no practical relevance to people's lives.
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Strong Family Bonds Reduce Anxiety in Young People with Lived Experience of Domestic Violence

July 9, 2015—Strong relationships with other family members can help raise self-esteem and reduce anxiety for some young people who grow up in homes affected by parental domestic violence.
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Faster Weight Gain Can Be Safe for Hospitalized Anorexia Patients

 

New study challenges current standard recommendations.

July 8, 2015—A new study led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers of patients hospitalized with anorexia nervosa shows that a faster weight gain during inpatient treatment—well beyond what national standards recommend—is safe and effective.
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Pupil Response Predicts Depression Risk in Kids

July 7, 2015—How much a child's pupil dilates in response to seeing an emotional image can predict his or her risk of depression over the next two years, according to new research from Binghamton University.
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Brain Imaging Shows How Children Inherit Their Parents' Anxiety

Madison, WI; July 6, 2015—In rhesus monkey families, just as in humans, anxious parents are more likely to have anxious offspring. And a new study in an extended family of monkeys provides important insights into how the risk of developing anxiety and depression is passed from parents to children.
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Restraint and Confinement Still an Everyday Practice in Mental Health Settings

July 6, 2015—Providers of mental-health services still rely on intervention techniques such as physical restraint and confinement to control some psychiatric hospital patients, a practice which can cause harm to both patients and care facilities, according to a new study from the University of Waterloo.
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Why Don't Men Live as Long as Women?

July 6, 2015—Across the entire world, women can expect to live longer than men. But why does this occur, and was this always the case?
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Significant Reduction in Serious Crimes After Juvenile Offenders Given Emotional Awareness Training

July 3, 2015—Scientists believe that a simple two-hour emotional awareness course aimed at making young offenders less aggressive could hold the key to significantly reducing the seriousness of their future crimes. In the first ever study of its kind, psychologists from Cardiff University recorded a 44% drop in the severity of crimes committed by persistent reoffenders, six months following the completion of a course designed to improve their ability to recognise other people's emotions. The findings are published today in PLOS ONE journal.
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New Study Explores Bystander Intervention in Cyberbullying

July 2, 2015—Cyberbullying is drawing increasing attention, with online activity soaring and a larger number of bullying cases resulting in tragedy. “Bystander Intervention in Cyberbullying” a new study published in the National Communication Association’s Communication Monographs reveals specific online conditions under which witnesses to cyberbullying are likely (or unlikely) to intervene in defense of a victim.   
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"Foodies" May Have a Health Advantage over Less Adventurous Eaters

 

Profiling the Adventurous Eater

July 2, 2015—Think you're a foodie? Adventurous eaters, known as "foodies," are often associated with indulgence and excess. However, a new Cornell Food and Brand Lab study shows just the opposite —adventurous eaters weigh less and may be healthier than their less-adventurous counterparts.
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Doing Good Deeds Helps Socially Anxious People Relax

 

Being busy with acts of kindness helps socially anxious people to not shy away from others

July 1, 2015—Being busy with acts of kindness can help people who suffer from social anxiety to mingle more easily. This is the opinion of Canadian researchers Jennifer Trew of Simon Fraser University and Lynn Alden of the University of British Columbia, in a study published in Springer's journal Motivation and Emotion.
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Children from High Conflict Homes Process Emotion Differently, Could Face Social Challenges

June 29, 2015— Children of parents who are frequently in conflict process emotion differently and may face more social challenges later in life compared with children from low conflict homes, according to the author of a new study published in the Journal of Family Psychology.
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As Siblings Learn How to Resolve Conflict, Parents Pick up a Few Tips of Their Own

URBANA, IL; June 25, 2015— When children participated in a program designed to reduce sibling conflict, both parents benefited from a lessening of hostilities on the home front. But mothers experienced a more direct reward. As they viewed the children's sessions in real time on a video monitor and coached the kids at home to respond as they'd been taught, moms found that, like their kids, they were better able to manage their own emotions during stressful moments.
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Resiliency Training Program Helps Teens Deal with Today's Stresses

 

Study documents successful application of Benson-Henry Institute program at Boston high school

June 22, 2015—Amid reports that rank today's teens as the most stressed generation in the country, a new study offers hope for helping them effectively manage stress and build long-term resiliency. A pilot study, published in the spring issue of the journal Advances in Mind-Body Medicine, describes how a stress-reduction/resiliency-building curriculum developed by the Benson-Henry Institute (BHI) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) helped a group of Boston-area high school students significantly reduce their anxiety levels, increase productivity and effectively manage stress over time.
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Research with Thieving Puppets Demonstrates Toddlers' Caring Sides

June 18, 2015—An experiment conducted by the University of Manchester has shown that three and five-year-old children will intervene to protect others from theft and distress, even when not personally affected.
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Nearly Half of African-American Women Know Someone in Prison

June 12, 2015—African-American adults—particularly women—are much more likely to know or be related to someone behind bars than whites, according to the first national estimates of Americans' ties to prisoners.
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Some Forms of Cyberbullying Less Emotionally Harmful than Face-to-Face Harassment, Study Finds

 

Bullying and harassment that occurs both in-person and online takes highest toll

WASHINGTON; June 3, 2015—While online bullying is often accompanied by face-to-face bullying, cyberbullying that starts and stays online is no more emotionally harmful to youngsters than harassment that only occurs in-person and may actually be less disturbing because it's likelier to be of shorter duration and not involve significant power imbalances, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.
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Nearly One-Third of Early Adulthood Depression Could Be Linked to Bullying in Teenage Years

 

Antibullying interventions at school may help reduce depression in later years

June 2, 2015—Bullying in teenage years is strongly associated with depression later on in life, suggests new research published in The BMJ this week.
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Extra Love and Support Doesn't Make up for Being a Helicopter Parent

June 1, 2015—It's time for helicopter parents to land and stay grounded. New research by professors at Brigham Young University revealed that parental warmth cannot neutralize the consequences of helicopter parenting. Additionally, a lack of warmth makes the negative effects worse.
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How We Make Emotional Decisions

Cambridge, MA; May 28, 2015—Some decisions arouse far more anxiety than others. Among the most anxiety-provoking are those that involve options with both positive and negative elements, such choosing to take a higher-paying job in a city far from family and friends, versus choosing to stay put with less pay. MIT researchers have now identified a neural circuit that appears to underlie decision-making in this type of situation, which is known as approach-avoidance conflict. The findings could help researchers to discover new ways to treat psychiatric disorders that feature impaired decision-making, such as depression, schizophrenia, and borderline personality disorder.
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Sharing Doesn't Hurt

May 19, 2015—Preschoolers already recognize what it feels like to be left out when goodies are being shared. In a new study, Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich show that 3-year-olds can anticipate negative feelings in others, and adjust their own behavior in response.
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Awe May Promote Altruistic Behavior

 

Sense of something greater than the self encourages cooperative behavior, study says

May 19, 2015—Inducing a sense of awe in people can promote altruistic, helpful and positive social behavior acording to research published by the American Psychological Association.
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Stable Overall Suicide Rate Among Young Children Obscures Racial Differences

May 18, 2015—The overall suicide rate among children ages 5 to 11 was stable during the 20 years from 1993 to 2012 but that obscures racial differences that show an increase in suicide among black children and a decrease among white children, according to an article published online by JAMA Pediatrics.
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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Linked to Accelerated Aging

May 8, 2015—In recent years, public health concerns about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have risen significantly, driven in part by affected military veterans returning from conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere. PTSD is associated with number of psychological maladies, among them chronic depression, anger, insomnia, eating disorders and substance abuse.
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Online Training Can Teach Psychotherapists Evidence-Based Treatments, Study Finds

 

Approach could speed adoption of new treatments

May 5, 2015—Employing online training programs to teach psychotherapists how to use newer evidence-based treatments can be as successful as in-person instruction, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
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How Our View of What Makes Us Happy Has Changed in 80 Years

May 4, 2015—Our view of what makes us happy has changed markedly since 1938. That is the conclusion of the psychologist Sandie McHugh from the Univeristy of Bolton who has recreated a famous study of happiness conducted in Bolton in 1938. She will present her study today, Tuesday, 5 May 2015, to the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society in Liverpool.
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Can a Parent's Concerns Predict Autism?

 

Researchers find many parents notice signs of autism spectrum disorder in their young children far before an official diagnosis

Edmonton; April 23, 2015—As co-director of the University of Alberta's Autism Research Centre, Lonnie Zwaigenbaum has devoted much of his career to understanding how to identify autism as early as possible. But despite his years of experience, Zwaigenbaum says many physicians like him would do well to seek other expert advice when working with children not yet diagnosed—that of the parents of these young patients.
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New Super-Fast MRI Technique Views Images at 100 Frames per Second

Demonstrated with Song 'If I Only Had a Brain'

April 21, 2015—In order to sing or speak, around one hundred different muscles in our chest, neck, jaw, tongue, and lips must work together to produce sound. Beckman researchers investigate how all these mechanisms effortlessly work together—and how they change over time.
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Mentally Stepping Back from Problems Helps Youth Deal with Negative Emotions

April 15, 2015—Adolescence is a time of frequent and intense emotional experiences, but some youth handle their emotions better than others. Why do some young people react adaptively while others ruminate? A new study of adolescents shows that youth who mentally take a step back from their own point of view when thinking about something troubling can deal with negative emotions more effectively and become less upset by them.
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Children Who Understand Others' Perspectives Found to Be More Popular Among Peers

April 15, 2015—Preschoolers and school-age children who are good at identifying what others want, think, and feel are more popular in school than their peers who aren't as socially adept. That's the conclusion of a new meta-analysis--a type of study that looks at the results of many different studies--out of Australia.
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Childhood Self-Control Linked to Enhanced Job Prospects Throughout Life

April 14, 2015—Parents who work to instill self-control in their children will see them reap the benefits not only in the short-term but throughout their working life, according to new research in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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Civic Engagement May Stave off Brain Atrophy, Improve Memory

 

Meaningful activities experienced with others may reverse the normal brain shrinkage associated with the aging process

April 14, 2015—Instead of shrinking as expected, as part of the normal aging process, the memory center in the brains of seniors maintained their size and, in men, grew modestly after two years in a program that engaged them in meaningful and social activities, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research suggests. At the same time, those with larger increases in the brain's volume over two years also saw the greatest improvements on memory tests, showing a direct correlation between brain volume and the reversal of a type of cognitive decline linked to increased risk for Alzheimer's disease.
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Children of Holocaust Survivors More Anxious About Iranian Nuclear Threat than Their Peers

 

Same group also found to possess more ominous outlook on the world in general, Bar-Ilan University study finds

April 14, 2015—As preparations are made to observe Holocaust Remembrance Day (Thursday, April 16), a new Bar-Ilan University study reveals that the adult children of Holocaust survivors are more preoccupied with the threat of a nuclear Iran than their peers whose parents are not Holocaust survivors.
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Personalized Computer Feedback Can Mitigate Problem Gambling Behaviors in College-Aged Adults

COLUMBIA, MO; April 13, 2015 ­—More than 1.6 million college-aged adults meet the criteria for problem gambling. This can lead to difficulties at work, school or home, and with relationships, personal finances, and mental and physical health. Counseling for problem gamblers can be expensive and time consuming; but a new study from the University of Missouri has found that college-aged adults who were diagnosed as problem gamblers significantly changed their behaviors after receiving personalized feedback from computers.
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Research Debunks Commonly Held Belief About Narcissism

 

Overuse of 'I' and 'me' not associated with pathology, study finds

WASHINGTON; April 6, 2015—Contrary to popular belief, excessive use of first-person singular pronouns such as "I" and "me" does not necessarily indicate a narcissistic tendency, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
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Cold, Callous and Untreatable? Not All Psychopaths Fit the Stereotype

 

Many mask unmanageable emotion, can be helped with right therapy

April 6, 2015—Movie villains from Norman Bates to Hannibal Lecter have popularized the notion of the psychopath as cold, cruel, lacking in empathy and beyond the reach of treatment. A new study in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology suggests that this monolithic view, shared by some treatment professionals, is not only wrong but prevents many diagnosed with psychopathy, or precursors of it, from receiving therapies that could help them live happier, more productive lives.
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Element of Surprise Helps Babies Learn

April 2, 2015—Infants have innate knowledge about the world and when their expectations are defied, they learn best, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found.
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Bystander Effect Can be Seen in Preschoolers

 

Like adults, children are less likely to come to the rescue when others are available

March 24, 2015—Children as young as 5 years old are less likely to help a person in need when other children are present and available to help, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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Project to Reduce Violence in Panama City with Improved Parenting

March 23, 2015—University of Manchester researchers have piloted a parenting trial aimed at improving child behaviour in Panama City, which has the eighth-highest murder rate in the world.  As part of this process, the researchers from The University of Manchester's School of Psychological Sciences tested a parenting intervention in six primary schools in low income neighbourhoods in the city. Anilena Mejia led the pilot study: "We felt that a lack of resources shouldn't mean that children and parents in poorer areas receive less help than those in wealthier countries," she said. "The idea behind this pilot was to establish if a simple level of support could make a difference."
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Family Support during Deployment Reduces Suicidal Thoughts in Veterans

Boston, MA; March 16, 2015—Family support during deployment is an important protective factor against post-deployment suicidal ideation according to a new study in the journal Anxiety, Stress and Coping. Suicidal ideation includes thoughts that can range from fleeting consideration of suicide to the development of a specific plan for killing oneself. Research on suicidal ideation in veterans who served in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in Iraq has revealed a number of important predictors of suicidal ideation.
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Prescription for Living Longer: Spend Less Time Alone

 

New study finds isolation a risk factor for all ages, incomes

March 11, 2015—Ask people what it takes to live a long life, and they'll say things like exercise, take Omega-3s, and see your doctor regularly. Now research from Brigham Young University shows that loneliness and social isolation are just as much a threat to longevity as obesity.
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How Parents May Help Create Their Own Little Narcissists

One sign: You think your child is 'more special' than others

COLUMBUS, OH; March 9, 2015—Children whose parents think they're God's gift to the world do tend to outshine their peers—in narcissism. In a study that aimed to find the origins of narcissism, researchers surveyed parents and their children four times over one-and-a-half years to see if they could identify which factors led children to have inflated views of themselves.
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Heritability of Autism Spectrum Disorder Studied in UK Twins

March 4, 2015—Substantial genetic and moderate environmental influences were associated with risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and broader autism traits in a study of twins in the United Kingdom, according to an article published online by JAMA Psychiatry. Much of the evidence to date highlights the importance of genetic influences on the risk of autism and related traits. But most of these findings are drawn from samples of individuals which may miss people with more subtle manifestations and may not represent the broader population, according to the study background.
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Marriage More Likely to End in Divorce When Wives Get Sick, According to ISU Study

AMES, IA; March 4, 2015—Countless couples have recited the words, 'in sickness and in health' on their wedding day with the intention of honoring those vows. But as it turns out, that may be easier said than done. A new Iowa State University study analyzed the divorce rate for couples in which either spouse was diagnosed with a serious illness. The study, published in the March issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, found a 6 percent higher probability of divorce for couples in which wives got sick compared to marriages in which wives remained healthy. However, a husband's illness did not increase the risk for divorce.
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Men Tend to Be More Narcissistic than Women

BUFFALO, NY; March 4, 2015—With three decades of data from more than 475,000 participants, a new study on narcissism from the University at Buffalo School of Management reveals that men, on average, are more narcissistic than women. Forthcoming in the journal Psychological Bulletin, the study compiled 31 years of narcissism research and found that men consistently scored higher in narcissism across multiple generations and regardless of age.
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Oxytocin May Enhance Social Function in Psychiatric Disorders

March 4, 2015—Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, have shown inducing the release of brain oxytocin may be a viable therapeutic option for enhancing social function in psychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. The study results are published today in the advance online edition of Neuropsychopharmacology.
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Losing a Spouse Often Too Hastily Linked to Depression

March 3, 2015—A new study by researchers at KU Leuven, in Belgium, has found that loneliness brought about by the death of a spouse can trigger a wider network of depression-like symptoms - but that doctors are often too quick to attribute these symptoms to depression.
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Predicting Consumer Preferences? Do NOT Walk a Mile in Their Shoes

February 25, 2015—Salespeople have long believed that by imagining themselves as the customer, they can steer clear of their own personal preferences and make decisions that will appeal to consumers in general. According to a new study in the Journal of Marketing Research, the reality is exactly the opposite. "Ironically, putting oneself in the customer's shoes makes managers even more likely let their own feelings get in the way," write authors Johannes D. Hattula (Imperial College London), Walter Herzog (Otto Beisheim School of Management), Darren W. Dahl (University of British Columbia), and Sven Reinecke (University of St. Gallen). "Envisioning oneself as a consumer who is making personal choices causes the manager's true personal preferences to kick in."
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Cyberbystanders: Most Don't Try to Stop Online Bullies

 

While most don't directly intervene, many take indirect measures

COLUMBUS, OH; February 24, 2015—In a new study, 221 college students participated in an online chat room in which they watched a fellow student get “bullied” right before their eyes. Only 10 percent of the students who noticed the abuse directly intervened, either by confronting the bully online or helping the victim.
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Growth Hormone Improves Social Impairments in Those with Autism-Linked Disorder

February 19, 2015—A growth hormone can significantly improve the social impairment associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in patients with a related genetic syndrome, according to a pilot study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published yesterday on Pub Med, a public database of biomedical topics maintained by the National Institutes of Health (study originally published in the December 12 issue of the journal Molecular Autism).
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Workplace Bullying a Vicious Circle

February 17, 2015—Bullying at work grinds victims down and makes them an 'easy target' for further abuse according to new research from the University of East Anglia. A study published today reveals a 'spiral' of abuse in which the victims of bullying become anxious, leaving them less able to stand up for themselves and more vulnerable to further harassment. The research suggests that employers should not only crack down on workplace bullies, but also help victims gain the skills to cope with difficult situations.
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Schizophrenia: Impaired Activity of the Selective Dopamine Neurons

 

German-American team of researchers finds neurophysiological correlates for cognitive and emotional symptoms in a schizophrenia mouse model.

February 17, 2015—Schizophrenia is not only associated with positive symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, but also with negative symptoms e.g. cognitive deficits and impairments of the emotional drive. Until now, the underlying mechanisms for these negative symptoms have not been well characterized. In the current edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) a German-American team of researchers, with the cooperation of the Goethe University, reports that a selective dopamine midbrain population that is crucial for emotional and cognitive processing shows reduced electrical in vivo activity in a disease mouse model.
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The Neural Basis of 'Being in the Mood'

 

Researchers discover neurons that combine social information with hormonal state in female mice.

January 11, 2015—What determines receptivity or rejection towards potential sexual partners? For people, there are many factors that play a part, appearance, culture, age, are all taken into account. But what part does the internal state of the individual play?
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Can't Sing? Do It More Often

 

Regular practice may be as crucial to singing on pitch as it is for learning an instrument

February 9, 2015—If you've ever been told that you're "tone deaf" or "can't carry a tune," don't give up. New research out of Northwestern University suggests that singing accurately is not so much a talent as a learned skill that can decline over time if not used.
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Early Help is Crucial in Anorexia Nervosa

 

New research underlines the importance of getting help before chronicity sets in

Montreal; February 7, 2015— A study led by Howard Steiger, PhD, head of Montreal's Douglas Mental Health University Institute Eating Disorders Program (EDP), in collaboration with Linda Booij, a researcher with Sainte-Justine Hospital and an assistant professor at Queen's University, is the first to observe effects suggesting that the longer one suffers from active anorexia nervosa (AN), the more likely they are to show disorder-relevant alterations in DNA methylation.
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Brain Scans Predict Effectiveness of Talk Therapy to Treat Depression

 

Researchers lead first brain connectivity study pointing toward a new image-based diagnostic model

CHAPEL HILL, NC; February 4, 2015—UNC School of Medicine researchers have shown that brain scans can predict which patients with clinical depression are most likely to benefit from a specific kind of talk therapy.
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Compound Found in Grapes, Red Wine May Help Prevent Memory Loss

February 4, 2015—A compound found in common foods such as red grapes and peanuts may help prevent age-related decline in memory, according to new research published by a faculty member in the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.
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The Brain's Social Network: Nerve Cells Interact like Friends on Facebook

February 4, 2015—Neurons in the brain are wired like a social network, report researchers from Biozentrum, University of Basel. Each nerve cell has links with many others, but the strongest bonds form between the few cells most similar to each other. The results are published in the journal Nature.
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There Is Not a Single Type of Schizophrenia, as Thought, but 8 Different Genetic Diseases

 

Researchers break new ground in what could be an important first step towards better diagnosis and treatment of this disease

February 3, 2015—Scientists from the universities of Granada (Spain) and Washington in St Louis (US) have found that there is not a single type of schizophrenia, but that it consists of a group made up of eight genetically different types of diseases, each of which presents its own set of symptoms.
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Concentrating on Word Sounds Helps Reading Instruction and Intervention

 

Study findings point to the value of word sounds over visual processing during reading instruction or when diagnosing and treating reading disorders

BUFFALO, NY; January 28, 2015—A neuroimaging study by a University at Buffalo psychologist suggests that phonics, a method of learning to read using knowledge of word sounds, shouldn't be overlooked in favor of a whole-language technique that focuses on visually memorizing word patterns, a finding that could help improve treatment and diagnosis of common reading disorders such as dyslexia.
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Impaired Brain Activity Linked to Emotion Regulation Challenges in Autism

 

UNC researchers find that the bigger the differences in brain activity related to emotion regulation, the more severe the autism

CHAPEL HILL, NC; January 27, 2015—Tantrums, irritability, self-injury, depression, anxiety. These symptoms are associated with autism, but they're not considered core symptoms of the disorder. Researchers from the UNC School of Medicine are challenging this assertion. They have used functional MRI to show that—when it comes to the ability to regulate emotions—brain activity in autistic people is significantly different than brain activity in people without autism.
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Job Seekers with 'Learning' Attitude Have More Success

COLUMBIA, MO; January 21, 2015—Many New Year's resolutions often involve finding a different career path. A new joint study by University of Missouri and Lehigh University researchers found that job seekers with attitudes focused on "learning" from the job-seeking process will have more success finding their dream jobs.
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Connection between Childhood Adversity and Psychiatric Disorders Seen at Cellular Level

PROVIDENCE, RI; January 20, 2015—In a new study published online in Biological Psychiatry, researchers from Butler Hospital identify an association between biological changes on the cellular level and both childhood adversity and psychiatric disorders. These changes in the form of telomere shortening and alterations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), are important in the aging process, and this new research provides evidence that psychosocial factors—specifically childhood adversity and psychiatric disorders—may also influence these cellular changes and could lead to accelerated aging.
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Researchers Discover 'Idiosyncratic' Brain Patterns in Autism

PITTSBURGH; January 19, 2015—Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been studied for many years, but there are still many more questions than answers. For example, some research into the brain functions of individuals with autism spectrum have found a lack of synchronization ('connectivity') between different parts of the brain that normally work in tandem. But other studies have found the exact opposite—over-synchronization in the brains of those with ASD.
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A New Neural Circuit Controls Fear in the Brain

 

Researchers discover a pathway in that mouse brain that regulates fear memory and behavior

Cold Spring Harbor, NY; January 19, 2015—Some people have no fear, like that 17-year-old kid who drives like a maniac. But for the nearly 40 million adults who suffer from anxiety disorders, an overabundance of fear rules their lives. Debilitating anxiety prevents them from participating in life's most mundane moments, from driving a car to riding in an elevator. Today, a team of researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) describes a new pathway that controls fear memories and behavior in the mouse brain, offering mechanistic insight into how anxiety disorders may arise.
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The Secret of Empathy

 

Stress from the presence of strangers prevents empathy, in both mice and humans

January 15, 2015—The ability to express empathy—the capacity to share and feel another's emotions—is limited by the stress of being around strangers, according to a new study published today in the journal Current Biology.
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People Can Be Convinced They Committed a Crime That Never Happened

January 15, 2015—Evidence from some wrongful-conviction cases suggests that suspects can be questioned in ways that lead them to falsely believe in and confess to committing crimes they didn't actually commit. New research provides lab-based evidence for this phenomenon, showing that innocent adult participants can be convinced, over the course of a few hours, that they had perpetrated crimes as serious as assault with a weapon in their teenage years.
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Shoulder to the Wheel: Parental Intervention Improves Teen Driving

January 14, 2015—Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of teenage death in America. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seven 16- to 19-year-olds die every day as a result of injuries incurred from road crashes. But attempts to address the problem through legislation and technological innovation have yielded limited results.
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Advanced 3-D Facial Imaging May Aid in Early Detection of Autism

 

Screening could lead to further genetic analysis and advancements in the study and treatment of the disorders

COLUMBIA, MO; January 14, 2015—Autism is a spectrum of closely related disorders diagnosed in patients who exhibit a shared core of symptoms, including delays in learning to communicate and interact socially. Early detection of autism in children is the key for treatments to be most effective and produce the best outcomes.
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Just Like Mom and Dad: Sleep Boosts Memory Consolidation in Infants

January 13, 2015—Sleep facilitates memory consolidation—not just in adults, but also in infants during their first year of life. A new study using a new experimental design that assesses declarative memories (i.e. memories for facts and events) has revealed that napping helps infants to develop their memory and retain new behaviours they have learnt.
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The Recess Swap

 

Holding recess before lunch increases fruit and veggie consumption and decreases waste

January 13, 2015—Students participating in the National School Lunch Program are required to select a fruit and a vegetable side. This regulation is intended to get students to eat more fruits and vegetables; however, just because an apple and green beans made it on to the tray doesn't mean that they will be eaten. Many schools have reported that fruits and vegetables are feeding trash cans rather than students. This new study published in Preventive Medicine shows that one simple no-cost change, holding recess before lunchtime, can increase fruit and vegetable consumption by 54%. "
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iPhone Separation Linked to Physiological Anxiety, Poor Cognitive Performance

COLUMBIA, MO; January 8, 2015—Cell phone use has become a common part of life as mobile devices have become one of the most popular ways to communicate. Even so, very little research exists on the impact of cell phone usage and specifically what happens when people are separated from their phones. Now, research from the University of Missouri has found that cell phone separation can have serious psychological and physiological effects on iPhone users, including poor performance on cognitive tests.
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Withdrawal or Expecting Your Lover to Mind-Read Hurts Relationships, but in Different Ways

January 8, 2015—When you have a conflict with your spouse or significant other, do you withdraw like a turtle into its shell? Or perhaps you expect your partner to be a mind reader about what ticks you off? Those are two of the most common types of disengagement in relationships, and both can be harmful, but in different ways and for different reasons, says researcher Keith Sanford, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and neuroscience in Baylor University's College of Arts & Sciences.
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Families with Mentally Ill Members All Need Help

January 7, 2015—Listening to older sisters of mentally ill siblings discuss their mothers' difficult caregiving experiences made Case Western Reserve University co-investigator M. Jane Suresky wonder if something important about families was missed in a prior study that focused on women caregivers of mentally ill family members.
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Chapman University Publishes Research on Jealousy

 

Impact of sexual vs. emotional infidelity

ORANGE, CA; January 7, 2015—In the largest study to date on infidelity, Chapman University has learned men and women are different when it comes to feeling jealous. In a poll of nearly 64,000 Americans this study provides the first large-scale examination of gender and sexual orientation differences in response to potential sexual versus emotional infidelity in U.S. adults.
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Hey, Guys: Posting a Lot of Selfies Doesn’t Send a Good Message

Posting more online photos of yourself may suggest anti-social traits

COLUMBUS, OH; January 6, 2015—The picture isn’t pretty for guys who post a lot of selfies on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram.
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The Surprising Influence of Human Speech on Young Infants

 

Listening to human speech has consequences for infants that go beyond learning words

EVANSTON, IL; January 5, 2015—America's preoccupation with the "word gap"—the idea that parents in impoverished homes speak less to their children, which, in turn, predicts outcomes like school achievement and income later in life—has skyrocketed in recent years, leading to a rise in educational initiatives aiming to narrow the achievement gap by teaching young children more words.
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Children with Autism Who Live with Pets Are More Assertive

 

Dogs, cats and other animals may improve social skills of children with autism

COLUMBIA, MO; December 30, 2014—Dogs and other pets play an important role in individuals' social lives, and they can act as catalysts for social interaction, previous research has shown. Although much media attention has focused on how dogs can improve the social skills of children with autism, a University of Missouri researcher recently found that children with autism have stronger social skills when any kind of pet lived in the home.
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Physical Violence Linked to Disruption of Stress Hormone in Women

 

Findings may explain why these women develop health-related problems, say UO and Oregon Social Learning Center scientists

EUGENE, OR; December 22, 2014—A new study links physical violence against women by male partners to a disruption of a key steroid hormone that opens the door potentially to a variety of negative health effects.
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OCD Patients' Brains Light up to Reveal How Compulsive Habits Develop

December 19, 2014—Misfiring of the brain's control system might underpin compulsions in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), according to researchers at the University of Cambridge, writing in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
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Helping Parents Understand Infant Sleep Patterns

December 19, 2014—Most parents are not surprised by the irregularity of a newborn infant's sleep patterns, but by six months or so many parents wonder if something is wrong with their baby or their sleeping arrangements if the baby is not sleeping through the night. Healthcare providers, specifically nurse practitioners, can help parents understand what "normal" sleep patterns are for their child, according to researchers.
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Hugs Help Protect against Stress and Infection, Says Study

PITTSBURGH; December 17, 2014—Instead of an apple, could a hug-a-day keep the doctor away? According to new research from Carnegie Mellon University, that may not be that far-fetched of an idea.
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Certain Parenting Tactics Could Lead to Materialistic Attitudes in Adulthood

COLUMBIA, MO; December 16, 2014—With the holiday season in full swing, many parents may be tempted to give children all the toys and gadgets they ask for or use the expectation of gifts to manage children’s behavior. Now, a new study from the University of Missouri and the University of Illinois at Chicago suggests that parents who overuse material goods as part of their parenting strategy may be setting children up for difficulties later in adulthood.
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Social Connections Keep Workers on Board

December 15, 2014—Contrary to popular belief, new research suggests that some employees adapt well to pressures caused by changes in the workplace, but only if they are well connected at work socially and are a good fit for the organization.
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Study Sheds New Light on Relationship between Personality and Health

December 11, 2014— Researchers have found new evidence that explains how some aspects of our personality may affect our health and wellbeing, supporting long-observed associations between aspects of human character, physical health and longevity.
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The Ups and Downs of Support from Friends When Teens Experience Peer Victimization

 

New study looks at depressive symptoms and delinquency among harassed youth

December 10, 2014—There are pros and cons to the support that victimized teenagers get from their friends. Depending on the type of aggression they are exposed to, such support may reduce youth’s risk for depressive symptoms. On the other hand, it may make some young people follow the delinquent example of their friends, says a team of researchers from the University of Kansas in the US, led by John Cooley. Their findings are published in Springer’s Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment.
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Half of US Kids Exposed to Traumatic Social or Family Experiences during Childhood

 

Adverse childhood experiences impact child health and school outcomes

December 8, 2014—Nearly half of all children in the United States are exposed to at least one social or family experience that can lead to traumatic stress and impact their healthy development—be it having their parents divorce, a parent die or living with someone who abuses alcohol or drugs—increasing the risk of negative long-term health consequences or of falling behind in school, suggests new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
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Evidence for ‘Bilingual Advantage’ May Be Less Conclusive Than Previously Thought

December 5, 2014—Study results that challenge the idea that bilingual speakers have a cognitive advantage are less likely to be published than those that support the bilingual-advantage theory, according to new research published inPsychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. This research suggests that a publication bias in favor of positive results may skew the overall literature on bilingualism and cognitive function.
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Brain Research Reveals New Hope for Patients with Anorexia Nervosa

 

Dresdner neuroimaging study of anorexia nervosa uncovers a positive side effect of weight restoration therapy: Brain shrinkage is reversible

December 3, 2014—Researchers from TU Dresden have uncovered good news for anorexia sufferers. Their novel findings obtained by measuring "cortical thickness" for the first time in the eating disorder are now published in the renowned journal "Biological Psychiatry."
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Girls, Boys Affected Differently by Witnessing Parental Violence

December 2, 2014—Witnessing violence by parents or a parent’s intimate partner can trigger for some children a chain of negative behaviors that follows them from preschool to kindergarten and beyond, according to researchers at Case Western Reserve University.
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Brain Representations of Social Thoughts Accurately Predict Autism Diagnosis

 

New findings from Carnegie Mellon identify altered 'thought-markers' of autism

PITTSBURGH, PA; December 2, 2014—Psychiatric disorders—including autism—are characterized and diagnosed based on a clinical assessment of verbal and physical behavior. However, brain imaging and cognitive neuroscience are poised to provide a powerful advanced new tool. Carnegie Mellon University researchers have created brain-reading techniques to use neural representations of social thoughts to predict autism diagnoses with 97 percent accuracy. This establishes the first biologically based diagnostic tool that measures a person's thoughts to detect the disorder that affects many children and adults worldwide.
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Perceptions, Referrals by Medical Providers Affect Mental-Health Treatment Disparities

December 2, 2014—Disparities in mental-health treatment are known to be associated with patients' racial and ethnic backgrounds. Now, a large study by researchers with UC Davis has found one possible reason for those disparities: Some racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to be assessed and referred for treatment by their medical providers.
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How Early Trauma Influences Behaviour

 

Traumatic and stressful events during childhood increase the risk to develop psychiatric disorders, but to a certain extent, they can also help better deal with difficult situations later in life. Researchers have studied this phenomenon in mice to learn how these effects could be transmitted to the next generation.

December 1, 2014—Traumatic events leave their mark. People exposed to a traumatic experience early in life are more likely to be affected by illnesses such as borderline personality disorder or depression. However such experience can also have positive effects in certain circumstances. Thus, moderate stress in childhood may help a person develop strategies to better cope with stress in adulthood.
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Fathers' Engagement with Baby Depends on Mother

 

When moms are well-prepared for parenthood, fathers less involved

COLUMBUS, OH; November 19, 2014—Fathers’ involvement with their newborns depends on mothers’ preparation for parenthood, even for fathers who show the most parenting skills, a new study suggests.
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Mother's Soothing Presence Makes Pain Go Away—and Changes Gene Activity in Infant Brain

 

Research led by NYU Langone Medical Center offers insight into short-term effects of maternal caregiving on a developing brain

November 18, 2014—A mother's "TLC" not only can help soothe pain in infants, but it may also impact early brain development by altering gene activity in a part of the brain involved in emotions, according to new study from NYU Langone Medical Center.
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Childhood Adversity Hinders Genetic Protection against Problem Drinking in White Men

November 18, 2014—While the influence of heritable factors on the development of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) has been documented in family pedigree and twin studies for decades, identification of specific genetic variants that influence AUDs continues to be challenging. The ADH1B gene has consistently been implicated in problem drinking, but rarely incorporated into gene/environment investigations of alcohol phenotypes. A study examining the joint effects of variation in ADH1B and childhood adversity on heaviness of alcohol consumption and AUD symptoms has found that, under conditions of childhood adversity, the genetic variant on the ADH1B allele that typically protects against problem drinking does not exert its protective effects in European-American men.
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Pain from Rejection and Physical Pain Show Some Differences

November 18, 2014—Over the last decade, neuroscientists have largely come to believe that physical pain and social pain are processed by the brain in much the same way. But a new study led by the University of Colorado shows that the two kinds of pain actually use distinct neural circuits, a finding that could lead to more targeted treatments and a better understanding of how the two kinds of pain interact.
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Fatigue, Irritability, and Demoralization Can Affect Your Heart Health

 

Mount Sinai study shows vital exhaustion may raise risk of cardiovascular disease

November 17, 2014—Fatigue, increased irritability, and feeling demoralized, may raise a healthy man or woman's risk of first-time cardiovascular disease by 36 percent, according to a study led by researchers at Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai Roosevelt hospitals presented on Nov. 17 at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2014 in Chicago, IL.
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Oxytocin Helps in Overcoming Fear

 

Researchers at the University of Bonn Hospital show that the bonding hormone inhibits the fear center in the brain

November 13, 2014—Frightening experiences do not quickly fade from memory. A team of researchers under the guidance of the University of Bonn Hospital has now been able to demonstrate in a study that the bonding hormone oxytocin inhibits the fear center in the brain and allows fear stimuli to subside more easily. This basic research could also usher in a new era in the treatment of anxiety disorders. The study has been published online in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
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Facial Motion a Clue to Difficulties in Social Interaction among Autistic Adults

 

People with ASD struggle to recognise changing facial expressions

November 13, 2014—People on the autistic spectrum may struggle to recognise social cues, unfamiliar people or even someone's gender because of an inability to interpret changing facial expressions, new research has found.
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How Does the Brain Develop in Individuals with Autism?

 

New mouse model for autism: Mutated gene causes parts of the brain to degenerate, leading to behavioral deficits, geneticists from Heidelberg publish study in Molecular Psychiatry, better understanding can help deal with disease

November 12, 2014—Geneticists at Heidelberg University Hospital's Department of Molecular Human Genetics have used a new mouse model to demonstrate the way a certain genetic mutation is linked to a type of autism in humans and affects brain development and behavior.
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Federal Legislation Ignores PTSD Toll on Civilians

November 11, 2014— Federal laws explicitly addressing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have overwhelmingly focused on the needs of military personnel and veterans, according to a new analysis published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress.
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Progress in Understanding Bipolar Disorder

 

Experts review advances in understanding and treatment of bipolar disorder

November 11, 2014—Several lines of research have opened exciting new frontiers in scientific understanding and clinical management of bipolar disorder (formerly referred to as manic-depression). Recent advances in bipolar disorder research are described in this month's special issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
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Skin-to-Skin Contact between Mothers and Infants Is Important after Cesarean Birth

 

Skin-to-skin contact supports breastfeeding, bonding and better health outcomes

November 11, 2014—Research during the past 30 years has found many benefits of skin-to-skin contact between mothers and newborns immediately after birth, particularly with aiding breastfeeding. However, in some hospitals, skin-to-skin contact following cesarean birth is not implemented, due to practices around the surgery. A recent Quality Improvement (QI) project demonstrated that women's birth experiences were improved by implementing skin-to-skin contact after cesarean surgery.
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Why 'I'm so Happy I Could Cry' Makes Sense

New Haven, CT; November 11, 2014—The phrase "tears of joy" never made much sense to Yale psychologist Oriana Aragon. But after conducting a series of studies of such seemingly incongruous expressions, she now understands better why people cry when they are happy.
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Reminders of Emotional Support Silence the Brain's Response to Threat

November 7, 2014—Being shown pictures of others being loved and cared for reduces the brain's response to threat, new research from the University of Exeter has found.
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Sense of Meaning and Purpose in Life Linked to Longer Lifespan

November 6, 2014—A UCL-led study of 9,050 English people with an average age of 65 found that the people with the greatest wellbeing were 30% less likely to die during the average eight and a half year follow-up period than those with the least wellbeing.
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New Knowledge about the Human Brain's Plasticity

November 6, 2014—The brain's plasticity and its adaptability to new situations do not function the way researchers previously thought, according to a new study published in the journal Cell. Earlier theories are based on laboratory animals, but now researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have studied the human brain. The results show that a type of support cell, the oligodendrocyte, which plays an important role in the cell-cell communication in the nervous system, is more sophisticated in humans than in rats and mice—a fact that may contribute to the superior plasticity of the human brain.
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Compensation and Punishment: "Justice" Depends on Whether or Not We're a Victim

October 28, 2014—We’re more likely to punish wrongdoing as a third party to a non-violent offense than when we’re victimized by it, according to a new study by New York University psychology researchers. The findings, which appear in the journal Nature Communications, may offer insights into how juries differ from plaintiffs in seeking to restore justice.
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Menopausal Symptoms May Be Lessened with Young Children in the House

BLOOMINGTON, IN; October 27, 2014—A new study by researchers at The Kinsey Institute and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has found that the timeless, multicultural tradition of grandmothering might have an unexpected benefit: helping some women temper their hot flashes and night sweats during menopause.
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Receiving Gossip about Others Promotes Self-Reflection and Growth

October 24, 2014—Gossip is pervasive in our society, and our penchant for gossip can be found in most of our everyday conversations. Why are individuals interested in hearing gossip about others' achievements and failures? Researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands studied the effect positive and negative gossip has on how the recipient evaluates him or herself. The study is published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
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Relationships Benefit When Parents, Adult Children Connect through Multiple Channels

LAWRENCE, KS; October 24, 2014—"Call your mother" may be the familiar refrain, but research from the University of Kansas shows that being able to text, email and 'Facebook' dad may be just as important for young adults.  
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Music Therapy Reduces Depression in Children and Adolescents

October 23, 2014—Researchers at Queen's University Belfast have discovered that music therapy reduces depression in children and adolescents with behavioural and emotional problems. In the largest ever study of its kind, the researchers in partnership with the Northern Ireland Music Therapy Trust, found that children who received music therapy had significantly improved self-esteem and significantly reduced depression compared with those who received treatment without music therapy.
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Two Days Later: Adolescents' Conflicts Spill Over between Home and School

October 23, 2014—The lives of adolescents at home and at school may seem quite separate, but recent research has highlighted important connections. Family conflict and problems at school tend to occur together on the same day and sometimes even spill over in both directions to the next day, with family conflict increasing the likelihood of problems at school and vice versa. Now a new study has found that conflicts at home spill over to school and school problems influence problems at home up to two days later, and that negative mood and psychological symptoms are important factors in the process.
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Daydreaming Can Help Boost Mental Performance

October 23, 2014—New research led by Cornell University neuroscientist Nathan Spreng shows for the first time that engaging brain areas linked to so-called “off-task” mental activities (such as mind-wandering and reminiscing) can actually boost performance on some challenging mental tasks. The results advance our understanding of how externally and internally focused neural networks interact to facilitate complex thought, the authors say.
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Teens Whose Parents Exert More Psychological Control Have Trouble with Closeness, Independence

October 23, 2014—For teenagers, learning to establish a healthy degree of autonomy and closeness in relationships (rather than easily giving in to peer pressure) is an important task. A new longitudinal study has found one reason adolescents struggle with balancing autonomy and closeness in relationships: parents' psychological control. Teens whose parents exerted more psychological control over them when they were 13 had more problems establishing friendships and romantic relationships that balanced closeness and independence, both in adolescence and into early adulthood.
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Might versus Right: Bullies, Allies and Victims

October 21, 2014—Every year when the World Day of Bullying Prevention peeks over the October horizon, the year’s bullying research gets a thorough going-over by school administrators, parents and politicians. It isn’t that no one cares the rest of the year; rather, having an “awareness day” gives everyone a chance to take stock. How far have we come? What have we learned? Are we all on the same page?
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Association between Air Toxicants and Childhood Autism

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 22, 2014 – Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were more likely to have been exposed to higher levels of certain air toxicants during their mothers' pregnancies and the first two years of life compared to children without the condition, according to the preliminary findings of a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health investigation of children in southwestern Pennsylvania.
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Bullying in Schools Is Still Prevalent, American Report Says

CLEMSON; October 22, 2014—Despite a dramatic increase in public awareness and anti-bullying legislation nationwide, the prevalence of bullying is still one of the most pressing issues facing American youth, according to a report by researchers from Clemson University and Professional Data Analysts Inc., and published by the Hazelden Foundation.
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Even Depressed People Believe That Life Gets Better

October 21, 2014—Adults typically believe that life gets better—today is better than yesterday was and tomorrow will be even better than today. A new study shows that even depressed individuals believe in a brighter future, but this optimistic belief may not lead to better outcomes. The findings are published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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Siblings of Children with Autism Can Show Signs at 18 Months

October 20, 2014—About 20% of younger siblings of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will develop the condition by age 3. A new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers has found that 57% of these younger siblings who later develop the condition already showed symptoms at age 18 months.
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Orphanage Care Linked to Thinner Brain Tissue in Regions Related to ADHD

October 14, 2014—Under the rule of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, thousands of Romanian children were placed in overcrowded orphanages with bleak conditions and minimal human contact. Even after the 1989 revolution, the legacy of institutionalization continued. Only recently has research and public concern over early childhood environments caused changes in policies.
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Not Playing Politics: How to Stay Friends When Your Views Differ

October 13, 2014—As the political posturing amps up in advance of the midterm elections, you know you can always turn off the TV or the radio when you don’t agree with the viewpoint on Obamacare, gun control or policy in the Middle East.
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Trying to Share Our 'Epic' Moments May Leave Us Feeling Left Out

October 6, 2014—We might love to reminisce and tell others about our extraordinary experiences—that time we climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, got to taste a rare wine, or ran into a celebrity on the street—but new research suggests that sharing these extraordinary experiences may come at a social cost. The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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How Curiosity Changes the Brain to Enhance Learning

October 2, 2014—The more curious we are about a topic, the easier it is to learn information about that topic. New research publishing online October 2 in the Cell Press journal Neuron provides insights into what happens in our brains when curiosity is piqued. The findings could help scientists find ways to enhance overall learning and memory in both healthy individuals and those with neurological conditions.
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Support from Grandparents Reduces Behavioral Problems, But May Lead to Children's Weight Gain

 

Overall, Grandparents' support linked to parents' willingness to have additional children and child well-being

October 2, 2014—Grandparents can significantly influence parents' decisions to have additional children and the well-being of grandchildren, according to a recent study completed at the University of Eastern Finland.
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Who Are the Men and Boys Suffering from Anorexia?

September 29, 2014—A new study by researchers from the University of Montreal reveals the current state of knowledge about anorexia in men and boys. "Most of the knowledge about anorexia pertains to females. However, about 10% of persons affected are males, and we believe this figure is underestimated," says Laurence Corbeil-Serre, lead author of the study. "Our results show that there appear to be similarities between the behavioural symptoms of males and females, but certain particularities can be identified in males, especially related to personality, gender identity, and sexual orientation."
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How Empathy Can Spark Aggression

September 26, 2014—Empathy is typically seen as eliciting warmth and compassion—a generally positive state that makes people do good things to others. However, empathy may also motivate aggression on behalf of the vulnerable other. Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo, examined whether assessed or elicited empathy would lead to situation-specific aggression on behalf of another person, and to explore the potential role of two neurohormones in explaining a connection between empathy and aggression. The study is published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
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Talk Therapy, Not Medication, Best for Social Anxiety Disorder, Large Study Finds

 

But many lack access to trained therapists, choose medication or nothing at all to treat the common mental illness

September 25, 2014—While antidepressants are the most commonly used treatment for social anxiety disorder, new research suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is more effective and, unlike medication, can have lasting effects long after treatment has stopped.
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Family-Based Therapies Can Treat Anorexia in Teens, Study Finds

September 24, 2014—Two different family-based therapies are both effective at combating anorexia nervosa in teenagers, according to the largest study ever to compare two such treatments for the life-threatening eating disorder.
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Hold On, Tiger Mom

 

Research by a UC Riverside assistant professor refutes the idea that the traditional, strict 'Chinese' upbringing, advocated for in the book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, is superior

September 22, 2014—Less supportive and punitive parenting techniques used by some Chinese parents might lead to the development of skewed self-understanding and school adjustment difficulties in their children and leave them vulnerable to depression and problem behaviors, according to a paper recently published by a University of California, Riverside assistant professor and other researchers.
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Fighting Parents Hurt Children’s Ability to Recognize and Regulate Emotions

September 17, 2014—Exposure to verbal and physical aggression between parents may hurt a child’s ability to identify and control emotions, according to a longitudinal study led by NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

The findings, which appear in the journal Development and Psychopathology, also suggest that household chaos and prolonged periods of poverty during early childhood may take a substantial toll on the emotional adjustment of young children.
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Evidence of Genetic Link to PTSD in Soldiers Exposed to Childhood Trauma

September 16, 2014—While abnormalities in the adrenergic and noradrenergic systems, both integral in the fight-or-flight response, are thought to play a role in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), until now there has been no genetic evidence of this connection. A collaborative study just released by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the University of Michigan found an interaction between the ADRB2 gene and childhood adversity. For individuals with two or more experiences of childhood trauma, such as abuse, genotype was associated with risk for adult PTSD symptoms. These findings are significant for the study of the physiology of PTSD, for the treatment and prevention of stress-related illnesses, and may have implications for treating pain, which has also been linked to the ADRB2 gene.
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A Wife’s Happiness is More Crucial than Her Husband’s in Keeping Marriage on Track

 

Rutgers Study Finds Research offers insight into link between marital quality and well-being later in life

September 12, 2014—When it comes to a happy marriage, a new Rutgers study finds that the more content the wife is with the long-term union, the happier the husband is with his life no matter how he feels about their nuptials.
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World Suicide Prevention Day: Young People Who Have Attempted Suicide Disadvantaged on the Job Market

September 8, 2014—People who have attempted suicide when young are less likely to have a successful professional career later in life. This was discovered in a joint study by the Swedish Karolinska Institutet and MedUni Vienna. The prospect of long-term unemployment later in life threatens many people who have attempted suicide once or more. However, they make up an even larger proportion of the statistics for long-term sick leave and disability pensions.
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Stigma as a Barrier to Mental Health Care

September 5, 2014—Over 60 million Americans are thought to experience mental illness in a given year, and the impacts of mental illness are undoubtedly felt by millions more in the form of family members, friends, and coworkers. Despite the availability of effective evidence-based treatment, about 40% of individuals with serious mental illness do not receive care and many who begin an intervention fail to complete it. A new report, published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, investigates stigma as a significant barrier to care for many individuals with mental illness.While stigma is one of many factors that may influence care seeking, it is one that has profound effects for those who suffer from mental illness:
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Reacting to Personal Setbacks: Do You Bounce Back or Give Up?

 

Rutgers researchers find the ability to persist may depend on how the news is delivered

September 4, 2014—Sometimes when people get upsetting news—such as a failing exam grade or a negative job review—they decide instantly to do better the next time. In other situations that are equally disappointing, the same people may feel inclined to just give up.
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Dad Is Important for His Children's Development

September 3, 2014—A sensitive and attentive father has a positive influence on his child’s development, but only if he spends a considerable amount of time with the child during its first year.
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Experiences Make You Happier than Possessions: Before and After

September 2, 2014—To get the most enjoyment out of our dollar, science tells us to focus our discretionary spending on experiences such as travel over material goods. A new Cornell University study shows that the enjoyment we derive from experiential purchases may begin even before we buy.
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Rediscovering Our Mundane Moments Brings Us Unexpected Pleasure

September 2, 2014—We like to document the exciting and momentous occasions in our lives, but new research suggests there is value in capturing our more mundane, everyday experiences, which can bring us unexpected joy in the future.
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Why Plants in the Office Make Us More Productive

August 31, 2014—'Green' offices with plants make staff happier and more productive than 'lean' designs stripped of greenery, new research shows.
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Meaningful Relationships Can Help You Thrive

August 29, 2014—Deep and meaningful relationships play a vital role in overall well-being, says new research. Past studies have shown that individuals with supportive and rewarding relationships have better mental health, higher levels of subjective well-being and lower rates of morbidity and mortality. A paper published in Personality and Social Psychology Review provides an important perspective on thriving through relationships.
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Warm Thanks: Gratitude Can Win You New Friends

August 28, 2014—Parents have long told their children to mind their Ps and Qs, and remember to say thank you. Now the evidence is in on why it matters. But a new UNSW Australia-led study has shown for the first time that thanking a new acquaintance for their help makes them more likely to seek an ongoing social relationship with you.
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Outsourcing Parenthood? It Takes a Village and the Marketplace to Raise a Child

August 26, 2014—Ask any parent raising kids in today's fast-paced society and chances are they would agree that there are only so many hours in the day. Recognizing a need for help, many businesses now offer traditional caregiving services ranging from planning birthday parties to teaching children how to ride a bike. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, by outsourcing traditional parental duties, modern-day parents feel they are ultimately protecting parenthood.
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How Parents of Anxious Children Can Avoid the 'Protection Trap'

 

Anxiety in kids one of the most common disorders

Tempe, AZ; Aug. 25, 2014—Parents naturally comfort their children when they are scared, but new research shows that some reactions may actually reinforce their children's feelings of anxiety.
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Learning by Watching, Toddlers Show Intuitive Understanding of Probability

August 25, 2014— Most people know children learn many skills simply by watching people around them. Without explicit instructions youngsters know to do things like press a button to operate the television and twist a knob to open a door. Now researchers have taken this further, finding that children as young as age 2 intuitively use mathematical concepts such as probability to help make sense of the world around them.
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Use a Rule of Thumb to Control How Much You Drink

AMES, IA; August 22, 2014—Sticking to a general rule of pouring just a half glass of wine limits the likelihood of overconsumption, even for men with a higher body mass index. That’s the finding of a new Iowa State and Cornell University study to be published in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Drug Policy.
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Once a Cheater, Always a Cheater?

August 21, 2014—Once a cheater, always a cheater? The adage might be true, suggests a University of Denver study.
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Study: Bigger Weddings, Fewer Partners, Less 'Sliding,' Better Marriages

August 19, 2014—The more people who attend your wedding to share in the launch of your marriage, the better the chances you will be happily married years down the road. And, somewhat counter-intuitively, the more relationships you had prior to your marriage, the less likely you are to report a high-quality marriage.
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'Super-Parent' Cultural Pressures Can Spur Mental Health Conditions in New Moms and Dads

SAN FRANCISCO; August 18, 2014—Mental health experts in the past three decades have emphasized the dangers of post-partum depression for mothers, but a University of Kansas researcher says expanding awareness of several other perinatal mental health conditions is important for all new parents, including fathers.
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Stuck in Neutral: Brain Defect Traps Schizophrenics in Twilight Zone

August 17, 2014—People with schizophrenia struggle to turn goals into actions because brain structures governing desire and emotion are less active and fail to pass goal-directed messages to cortical regions affecting human decision-making, new research reveals.
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Can Fiction Stories Make Us More Empathetic?

August 11, 2014—Empathy is important for navigating complex social situations, and is considered a highly desirable trait. Raymond Mar, a psychologist at York University in Canada, discussed how exposure to narrative fiction may improve our ability to understand what other people are thinking or feeling in his session at the American Psychological Association's 122nd Annual Convention.
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Trauma before Enlistment Linked to High Suicide Rates among Military Personnel, Veterans

 

Child abuse, sexual victimization, prior suicidal behavior significant risk factors

WASHINGTON, DC; August 9, 2014—High rates of suicide among military service members and veterans may be related to traumatic experiences they had before enlisting, making them more vulnerable to suicidal behavior when coping with combat and multiple deployments, according to the findings of several recent studies presented at the American Psychological Association's 122nd Annual Convention.
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Expecting to Teach Enhances Learning, Recall

 

Student mindset has big impact on learning, study finds

August 8, 2014—"When compared to learners expecting a test, learners expecting to teach recalled more material correctly, they organized their recall more effectively and they had better memory for especially important information," said lead author John Nestojko, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in psychology in Arts & Sciences at the Washington University in St. Louis.
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Aggressive Behavior Increases Adolescent Drinking, Depression Doesn't

August 6, 2014—Adolescents who behave aggressively are more likely to drink alcohol and in larger quantities than their peers, according to a recent study completed in Finland. Depression and anxiety, on the other hand, were not linked to increased alcohol use. The study investigated the association between psychosocial problems and alcohol use among 4074 Finnish 13- to 18-year-old adolescents. The results were published in Journal of Adolescence.
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Girls Feel They Must 'Play Dumb' to Please Boys, Says Research

August 5, 2014—Girls feel the need to play down their intelligence to not intimidate boys, concludes research by a sociologist who spent three months amongst a class of school children.
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Our Brains Judge a Face's Trustworthiness—Even When We Can't See It

August 5, 2014—Our brains are able to judge the trustworthiness of a face even when we cannot consciously see it, a team of scientists has found. Their findings, which appear in the Journal of Neuroscience, shed new light on how we form snap judgments of others.
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Anorexia Fueled by Pride About Weight Loss

 

Rutgers study finds that positive emotions could play a role in the deadly disorder

August 4, 2014—Positive emotions—even those viewed through a distorted lens—may play an exacerbating role in fueling eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, which has a death rate 12 times higher for females between the ages of 15 and 24 than all other causes of death combined, according to a Rutgers study.
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A Blood Test for Suicide?

 

Alterations to a single gene could predict risk of suicide attempt

July 30, 2014—Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered a chemical alteration in a single human gene linked to stress reactions that, if confirmed in larger studies, could give doctors a simple blood test to reliably predict a person's risk of attempting suicide.
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The Social Origins of Intelligence in the Brain

CHAMPAIGN, IL; July 29, 2014—By studying the injuries and aptitudes of Vietnam War veterans who suffered penetrating head wounds during the war, scientists are tackling—and beginning to answer—longstanding questions about how the brain works.
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Children with Disabilities Benefit from Classroom Inclusion

 

Language skills improve when preschoolers with disabilities are included in classes with typical peers

COLUMBUS, OH; July 28, 2014—The secret to boosting the language skills of preschoolers with disabilities may be to put them in classrooms with typically developing peers, a new study finds.
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Experiences at Every Stage of Life Contribute to Cognitive Abilities in Old Age

July 24, 2014—Early life experiences, such as childhood socioeconomic status and literacy, may have greater influence on the risk of cognitive impairment late in life than such demographic characteristics as race and ethnicity, a large study by researchers with the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center and the University of Victoria, Canada, has found.
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Early Warning Sign in Babies at Risk for Autism

 

Researchers at the University of Miami find that early joint attention predicts later autism symptoms

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (July 24, 2014)—Some babies are at risk for autism because they have an older sibling that has the disorder. To find new ways to detect Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) earlier in life, researchers are exploring the subtleties of babies' interactions with others and how they relate to the possibility and severity of future symptoms.
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Study Finds Greater Odds of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Those with Military Service

July 23, 2014—Men and women who have served in the military have a higher prevalence of adverse childhood events (ACEs), suggesting that enlistment may be a way to escape adversity for some.
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Extra Exercise Helps Depressed Smokers Kick the Habit Faster

 

New research shows quitting cigarettes is a more complicated struggle when mental health is a factor

July 22, 2014—People diagnosed with depression need to step out for a cigarette twice as often as smokers who are not dealing with a mood disorder. And those who have the hardest time shaking off the habit may have more mental health issues than they are actually aware of.
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Are State Medicaid Policies Sentencing People with Mental Illnesses to Prison?

July 22, 2014—Researchers from the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics have linked tighter Medicaid policies governing antipsychotic drugs with increased incarceration rates for schizophrenic individuals.
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CEOs Who Motivate with 'Fightin' Words' Shoot Themselves in the Foot

 

Research shows violent rhetoric affects employee ethics

July 22, 2014—Heading into the war room to fire up the troops? Declaring war on the competition to boost sales? Well, CEO, you might want to tamp down them's fightin' words—you could be shooting yourself in the foot.
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Children as Young as Three Recognise 'Cuteness' in Faces of People and Animals

July 21, 2014—Children as young as three are able to recognise the same ‘cute’ infantile facial features in humans and animals which encourage caregiving behaviour in adults, new research has shown.
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Mom Was Wrong: You Should Talk to Strangers

 

New study finds commuters have a more positive experience when they connect with strangers

July 17, 2014—An interesting social paradox plays out every morning around the world as millions of people board commuter trains and buses: Human beings are one of the most social species on the planet, yet when in close proximity with one another—sitting inches away on a train—we routinely ignore each other.
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Eye Movements Reveal Difference between Love and Lust

July 17, 2014—Soul singer Betty Everett once proclaimed, “If you want to know if he loves you so, it’s in his kiss.” But a new study by University of Chicago researchers suggests the difference between true love and mere lust might be in the eyes after all.
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Researchers Find Impaired Self-Face Recognition in Those with Major Depressive Disorder

July 16, 2014—Neuropsychological impairment has long been established as a fundamental characteristic of depression, but a specific pattern of impairment that is widely recognized has not been summarized. However, new research has found self-serving bias and self-recognition bias to be impaired in individuals suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) compared with a control group. This research lays the groundwork for further study on the etiology and pathological mechanisms of major depressive disorder.
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Defects in Fatty Acid Transport Proteins Linked to Schizophrenia and Autism

July 15, 2014—Using diverse methodologies, neuroscientists from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute report that defects in Fatty Acid Binding Proteins (FABPs) may help to explain the pathology in some cases of schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. After identifying mutations in FABPs from patients, the group led by Senior Team Leader Takeo Yoshikawa determined that the genetic disruption of Fabps in mice mimics disease behaviors seen in patients. This work suggests that disruption of FABPs could be a common link underlying some forms of these two prevalent mental disorders.
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Study: Young Women with Sexy Social Media Photos Seen as Less Competent

BEND, OR; July 14, 2014—Girls and young women who post sexy or revealing photos on social media sites such as Facebook are viewed by their female peers as less physically and socially attractive and less competent to perform tasks, a new study from Oregon State University indicates.
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Teaching the Brain to Reduce Pain

July 10, 2014—People can be conditioned to feel less pain when they hear a neutral sound, new research from the University of Luxembourg has found. This lends weight to the idea that we can learn to use mind-over-matter to beat pain.  The scientific article was published recently in the online journal PLOS One.
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New Research Examines Women Who Kill Their Children

July 10, 2014—Research by the University of Huddersfield’s Dr Helen Gavin will make an impact on psychiatrists, psychologists and other clinicians around the world who are trying to comprehend and reduce child-killing by women.
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Study Cracks How the Brain Processes Emotions

July 9, 2014—Although feelings are personal and subjective, the human brain turns them into a standard code that objectively represents emotions across different senses, situations and even people, reports a new study by Cornell University neuroscientist Adam Anderson.
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Why People with Bipolar Disorder Are Bigger Risk-Takers

July 9, 2014—Researchers at the Universities of Manchester and Liverpool have discovered that circuits in the brain involved in pursuing and relishing rewarding experiences are more strongly activated in people with bipolar disorder—guiding them towards riskier gambles and away from safer ones.
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Same Genes Drive Maths and Reading Ability

July 8, 2014—Around half of the genes that influence how well a child can read also play a role in their mathematics ability, say scientists from UCL, the University of Oxford and King's College London who led a study into the genetic basis of cognitive traits.
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Working Memory: Potential Key to Early Academic Achievement

 

New research digs for the roots of illiteracy

July 8, 2014—Working memory in children is linked strongly to reading and academic achievement, a new study from the University of Luxembourg and partner Universities from Brazil* has shown. Moreover, this finding holds true regardless of socio-economic status. This suggests that children with learning difficulties might benefit from teaching methods that prevent working memory overload. The study was published recently in the scientific journal Frontiers in Psychology.
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Smart and Socially Adept

 

Study by UCSB economist finds that individuals who demonstrate both qualities achieve greatest success in the workplace

July 7, 2014—Wanted: Highly skilled individual who is also a team player. In other words, someone who knows his or her stuff and also plays well with others. Two qualities are particularly essential for success in the workplace: book smarts and social adeptness. The folks who do well tend to demonstrate one or the other. However, according to research conducted by UC Santa Barbara economist Catherine Weinberger, the individuals who reach the highest rungs on the corporate ladder are smart and social. Her findings appear in a recent online issue of the Review of Economics and Statistics.
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Teen Dating Violence Cuts Both Ways: 1 in 6 Girls and Guys Are Aggressors, Victims or Both

 

ER-based study reinforces need for screening to get teens help

ANN ARBOR, MI; July 7, 2014—Dating during the teen years takes a violent turn for nearly 1 in 6 young people, a new study finds, with both genders reporting acts like punching, pulling hair, shoving, and throwing things.
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For a Holistic Approach to POW Trauma

 

Tel Aviv University researcher cautions against psychological 'tunnel vision'

July 7, 2014—In a new study conducted with Dr. Sharon Dekel of Harvard University's Department of Psychiatry and slated for publication in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, Prof. Solomon examines the co-morbid effects of war captivity and war trauma on prisoners of war. While symptoms of psychological illness are often pigeon-holed as specific individual disorders, Prof. Solomon argues against a narrow "tunnel vision" in treating POWs such as Bowe Bergdahl, who remains in rehabilitation after being held in captivity for five years by the Taliban.
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Antidepressant Drugs Do Not Improve Well-Being In Children And Adolescents

July 5, 2014—A study published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics analyzing the use of antidepressant drugs in children and adolescents questions the effect of antidepressant drugs on overall well-being.
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Researchers Find Genetic Link to Autism Known as CHD8 Mutation

 

Discovery affects half of 1 percent of autism patients but could lead way for more genetic testing

July 3, 2014—In a collaboration involving 13 institutions around the world, researchers have broken new ground in understanding what causes autism. The results are being published in Cellmagazine July 3, 2014: "Disruptive CHD8 Mutations Define a Subtype of Autism in Early Development."
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How You Cope with Stress May Increase Your Risk for Insomnia

DARIEN, IL; July 2, 2014—A new study is the first to identify specific coping behaviors through which stress exposure leads to the development of insomnia.
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Behavioral Therapy in Pediatric Antidepressant Treatment Reduces Likelihood of Relapse

DALLAS; July 2, 2014—Cognitive behavioral therapy in addition to medication improves the long-term success of treatment for children and adolescents suffering from depression, a new UT Southwestern Medical Center study indicates.
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Study Finds Online Bullying Creates Offline Fear at School

HUNTSVILLE, TX; July 1, 2014—Cyberbullying creates fear among students about being victimized at school, a recent study by Sam Houston State University found. While traditional bullying still creates the most fear among students, cyberbullying is a significant factor for fear of victimization at school among students who have experienced bullying or disorder at school, such as the presence of gangs. The fear from cyberbullying is most prominent in minority populations.
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Gestures That Speak

 

Gesticulating while speaking is not just a 'colorful' habit

June 23, 2014—Have you ever found yourself gesticulating—and felt a bit stupid for it—while talking on the phone? You're not alone: it happens very often that people accompany their speech with hand gestures, sometimes even when no one can see them. Why can't we keep still while speaking? "Because gestures and words very probably form a single 'communication system,' which ultimately serves to enhance expression intended as the ability to make oneself understood," explains Marina Nespor, a neuroscientist at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) of Trieste. Nespor, together with Alan Langus, a SISSA research fellow, and Bahia Guellai from the Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défence, who conducted the investigation at SISSA, has just published a study in Frontiers in Psychology which demonstrates the role of gestures in speech "prosody."
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Kids with Strong Bonds to Parents Make Better Friends, Can Adapt in Relationships

Urbana, IL; June 19, 2014—What social skills does a three-year-old bring to interactions with a new peer partner? If he has strong bonds to his parents, the child is likely to be a positive, responsive playmate, and he'll be able to adapt to a difficult peer by asserting his needs, according to a new University of Illinois study published in Developmental Psychology.
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Childhood Maltreatment Associated with Cerebral Grey Matter Abnormalities

 

Abuse could lead to permanent brain damage

June 18, 2014—An international study has analysed the association between childhood maltreatment and the volume of cerebral grey matter, responsible for processing information. The results revealed a significant deficit in various late developing regions of the brain after abuse.
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Moral Tales with Positive Outcomes Motivate Kids to Be Honest

June 18, 2014—A moral story that praises a character's honesty is more effective at getting young children to tell the truth than a story that emphasizes the negative repercussions of lying, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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MRI Technique May Help Prevent ADHD Misdiagnosis

Oak Brook, IL; June 17,2014—Brain iron levels offer a potential biomarker in the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and may help physicians and parents make better informed treatment decisions, according to new research published online in the journal Radiology.
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In Managing Boundaries Between Work and Home, Technology Can Be Both “Friend” and “Foe”

 

When it comes to managing boundaries between work and home life, technology is neither all good nor all bad, according to ongoing research from the University of Cincinnati.

June 16, 2014—When it comes to managing boundaries between work responsibilities and home life, technology is our “frenemy.” Mobile technology, in particular, can be alternately used to maintain, erase or manage home and work boundaries along a spectrum. 
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Anxious Children have Bigger “Fear Centers” in the Brain

Philadelphia, PA; June 16, 2014—The amygdala is a key "fear center" in the brain. Alterations in the development of the amygdala during childhood may have an important influence on the development of anxiety problems, reports a new study in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry.
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Emotional Contagion Sweeps Facebook, Finds New Study

Ithaca, NY; June 15, 2014—When it hasn't been your day—your week, your month, or even your year—it might be time to turn to Facebook friends for a little positive reinforcement. According to a new study by social scientists at Cornell University, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Facebook, emotions can spread among users of online social networks.
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With Distance Comes Greater Wisdom, Research Finds

June 9, 2014—If you're faced with a troubling personal dilemma, such as a cheating spouse, you are more likely to think wisely about it if you consider it as an observer would, says a study led by a professor at the University of Waterloo.
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Argument with Dad? Find Friendly Ears to Talk It Out

June 06, 2014—With Father's Day approaching, San Francisco State University researchers have some advice for creating better harmony with dad. In a recent study, he found that when an adolescent is having an argument with their father and seeks out others for help, the response he or she receives is linked to well-being and father-child relationships.
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Multilingual or Not, Infants Learn Words Best When It Sounds like Home

June 4, 2014—Growing up in a multilingual home has many advantages, but many parents worry that exposure to multiple languages might delay language acquisition. New research could now lay some of these multilingual myths to rest, thanks to a revealing study that shows both monolingual and bilingual infants learn a new word best from someone with a language background that matches their own.
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Does Practice Make Perfect? Or Are Some People More Creative than Others? If so, Why?

 

Study finds brain integration correlates with greater creativity in product-development engineers

June 4, 2014—Creativity may depend on greater brain integration, according to a new study published in Creativity Research Journal.
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Study Finds That Suicides Are Far More Likely to Occur after Midnight

Darien, IL; June 2, 2014—A new study provides novel evidence suggesting that suicides are far more likely to occur between midnight and 4 a.m. than during the daytime or evening.
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Minority Entrepreneurs Face Discrimination When Seeking Loans

 

Minority small-business owners face more questions, get less help than white counterparts

May 29, 2014—A disheartening new study from researchers at Utah State University, BYU and Rutgers University reveals that discrimination is still tainting the American Dream for minorities.
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Negative Social Interactions Increase Hypertension Risk in Older Adults

 

Women more affected by negative social interactions than men

PITTSBURGH, PA; May 28, 2014—Keeping your friends close and your enemies closer may not be the best advice if you are 50 or older.
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Personal Judgments Are Swayed by Group Opinion, but Only Temporarily

May 23, 2014—We all want to feel like we’re free-thinking individuals, but there’s nothing like the power of social pressure to sway an opinion. New research suggests that people do change their own personal judgments so that they fall in line with the group norm, but the change only seems to last about 3 days. The research is published inPsychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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Maternal Depression Peaks at Four Years Postpartum

May 21, 2014—Maternal depression is more common at four years following childbirth than at any other time in the first 12 months after childbirth, and there needs to be a greater focus on maternal mental health, suggests a new study published today (21 May) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
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PTSD Symptoms Common After an ICU Stay

SAN DIEGO; May 19, 2014—Patients who have survived a stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) have a greatly increased risk of developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a new study presented at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference.
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Favoritism, Not Hostility, Causes Most Discrimination, Says Research Review

May 19, 2014—Most discrimination in the U.S. is not caused by intention to harm people different from us, but by ordinary favoritism directed at helping people similar to us, according to a review published online in American Psychologist.
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Children Who Exercise Have Better Body-Fat Distribution, Regardless of Their Weight

URBANA, IL; May 19, 2014—Maybe the numbers on the scale aren’t alarming, but that doesn’t mean that healthy-weight children get a pass on exercising, according to a new University of Illinois study published in Pediatrics.
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Study Reveals 10 Percent of 16-Year-Olds Surveyed Have Considered Self-Harm

May 16, 2014—One in ten 16-year-olds surveyed in a new study by Queen's University and the University of Ulster have considered self-harm or taking an overdose.
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Mothers’ Symptoms of Depression Predict How They Respond to Child Behavior

May 15, 2014—Depressive symptoms seem to focus mothers’ responses on minimizing their own distress, which may come at the expense of focusing on the impact their responses have on their children, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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Victims Want to Change, Not Just Punish, Offenders

May 14, 2014—Revenge is a dish best served with a side of change. A series of experiments conducted by researchers affiliated with Princeton University has found that punishment is only satisfying to victims if the offenders change their attitude as a result of the punishment.
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Get It Over With: People Choose More Difficult Tasks to Get Jobs Done More Quickly

May 13, 2014—Putting off tasks until later, or procrastination, is a common phenomenon—but new research suggests that “pre-crastination,” hurrying to complete a task as soon as possible, may also be common.
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Researchers Identify Genetic Marker Linked to OCD

 

Finding likely to advance research in little-understood disorder

May 13, 2014—A group of researchers led by Johns Hopkins scientists say they have identified a genetic marker that may be associated with the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), whose causes and mechanisms are among the least understood among mental illnesses.
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Preschool Teacher Depression Linked to Behavioral Problems in Children

 

Study suggests unhealthy classroom climate is contributing factor

May 13, 2014—Depression in preschool teachers is associated with behavioral problems ranging from aggression to sadness in children under the teachers’ care, new research suggests.
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Distance Influences Accuracy of Eyewitness Identification

 

First study to use controlled outside setting and actual people to test eyewitness accuracy across a variety of distances

May 13, 2014—Eyewitness accuracy declines steadily and quite measuredly as the distance increases. Additionally, a good deal of guess work or so-called "false alarms" also comes into play as the distance increases. These findings have implications for the trustworthiness of eyewitness accounts that are used to solve criminal cases. Research led by James Lampinen of the University of Arkansas in the US and published in Springer's journal Psychonomic Bulletin & Review sheds light on the matter.
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No Such Thing as a 'Universal' Intelligence Test

 

Cultural Differences Determine Results Country by Country

May 13, 2014—Researchers at the University of Granada have shown that a universal test of intelligence quotient (IQ) does not exist. Results in this type of test are determined by cultural differences.
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Having a Sense of Purpose May Add Years to Your Life

May 12, 2014—Feeling that you have a sense of purpose in life may help you live longer, no matter what your age, according toresearch published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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Video Stories, Other Bonding Exercises Could Help Foster Families Connect

May 12, 2014—Teenagers and their foster families often say they don't feel connected and have trouble communicating, but few resources exist that nurture their bonding. In a research paper being published in the June issue of Children and Youth Services Review, researchers affiliated with the University of Washington's School of Social Work describe how they tailored a parenting program known to improve communication in non-foster families for use in foster families.
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Autism-Related Protein Shown to Play Vital Role in Addiction

 

May have major implications for understanding and implementation of drug-addiction treatment

BELMONT; May 9, 2014—In a paper published in the latest issue of the neuroscience journal Neuron, McLean Hospital investigators report that a gene essential for normal brain development, and previously linked to Autism Spectrum Disorders, also plays a critical role in addiction-related behaviors.
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Love Makes You Strong: Romantic Relationships Help Neurotic People Stabilize Their Personality

May 9, 2014—It's springtime and they are everywhere: Newly enamored couples walking through the city hand in hand, floating on cloud nine. Yet a few weeks later the initial rush of romance will have dissolved and the world will not appear as rosy anymore. Nevertheless, love and romance have long lasting effects.
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Study Finds ADHD and Trauma Often Go Hand in Hand

 

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder experienced more adversities than those without ADHD

VANCOUVER, BC; May 6, 2014—When children struggle with focusing on tasks, staying organized, controlling their behavior and sitting still, they may be evaluated for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Clinicians, however, shouldn't stop there, according to a study to be presented Tuesday, May 6, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
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Domestic Violence Victims More Likely to Take up Smoking

 

Women who experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their partner were 58 percent more likely to be smokers

May 5, 2014—One third of women around the world have experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of their intimate partners with consequences from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression, to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. Now, in a new study in 29 low-income and middle-income countries, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health have identified yet another serious health risk associated with intimate partner violence (IPV): smoking.
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Stigma: At the Root of Ostracism and Bullying

 

Experts in bullying and children's mental health gather at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting to describe new research and what it means for children's mental health

VANCOUVER, BC; May 5, 2014—Increasing evidence shows that stigma—whether due to a child's weight, sexual orientation, race, income or other attribute—is at the root of bullying, and that it can cause considerable harm to a child's mental health.
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Study Finds Family-Based Exposure Therapy Effective Treatment for Young Children with OCD

 

Children 5 to 8 years old with emerging OCD can benefit from therapies used for older children

PROVIDENCE, RI; May 5, 2014—A new study from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center has found that family-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is beneficial to young children between the ages of five and eight with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The study, now published online in JAMA Psychiatry, found developmentally sensitive family-based CBT that included exposure/response prevention (EX/RP) was more effective in reducing OCD symptoms and functional impairment in this age group than a similarly structured relaxation program.
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Discrimination Associated with Mental Health Woes in Black Teens

 

Researchers find racism a common 'toxic stressor' among African-American, Afro-Caribbean youth

VANCOUVER, BC; May 3, 2014—The vast majority of African-American and Afro-Caribbean youth face racial discrimination, and these experiences are associated with an increased risk of mental health problems, according to a study to be presented Saturday, May 3, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
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Nightmares May Signal a Child Is Being Bullied

 

Study finds victims of bullying are at increased risk of experiencing sleep disturbances

VANCOUVER, BC; May 3, 2014—Many children who are bullied suffer in silence. The trauma can lead to anxiety, depression, psychotic episodes and even suicide.
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Out of Shape? Your Memory May Suffer

May 2, 2014—Here’s another reason to drop that doughnut and hit the treadmill: A new study suggests aerobic fitness affects long-term memory.
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Catastrophic Thoughts about the Future Linked to Suicidal Patients

April 28, 2014—Suicide has been on the increase recently in the United States, currently accounting for almost 40,000 deaths a year. A new study indicates that one important strategy for reducing suicide attempts would be to focus on correcting the distorted, catastrophic thoughts about the future that are held by many who try to kill themselves. Such thoughts are unique and characteristic to those who attempt suicide, says Shari Jager-Hyman of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in the US.
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Paying Closer Attention to Attention

 

Attention problems may be overreported in children with fetal alcohol syndrome disorder

April 24, 2014—Ellen’s (not her real name) adoptive parents weren’t surprised when the school counselor suggested that she might have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Several professionals had made this suggestion over the years. Given that homework led to one explosion after another, and that at school Ellen, who is eleven, spent her days jiggling up and down in her seat, unable to concentrate for more than ten minutes, it seemed a reasonable assumption. Yet her parents always felt that ADHD didn't quite capture the extent of Ellen's issues over the years. 
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Altruistic Adolescents Less Likely to Become Depressed

CHAMPAIGN, IL; April 24, 2014—It is better to give than to receive—at least if you're an adolescent and you enjoy giving, a new study suggests.
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Biting into Whole Foods Can Make Children Rowdy

April 23, 2014—There's a new secret to get your child to behave at the dinner table—cut up their food and they'll relax.
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Do Scare Tactics Motivate?

 

Not so much, say researchers. Teachers' scare tactics lead to lower exam scores than focusing on the benefits of success.

WASHINGTON, DC; April 21, 2014—As the school year winds down and final exams loom, teachers may want to avoid reminding students of the bad consequences of failing a test because doing so could lead to lower scores, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association (APA).
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New Study Suggests A Better Way to Deal with Bad Memories

 

Research uncovers a simple and effective emotion-regulation strategy that has neurologically and behaviorally been proven to lessen the emotional impact of personal negative memories.

April 18, 2014—What’s one of your worst memories? How did it make you feel? According to psychologists, remembering the emotions felt during a negative personal experience, such as how sad you were or how embarrassed you felt, can lead to emotional distress, especially when you can’t stop thinking about it. 
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Scientists Discover Brain's Anti-Distraction System

April 17, 2014—Two Simon Fraser University psychologists have made a brain-related discovery that could revolutionize doctors’ perception and treatment of attention-deficit disorders.
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'Brain Training' May Overcome Tics in Tourette Syndrome, Study Finds

April 17, 2014—Children with Tourette Syndrome (TS) may unconsciously train their brain to more effectively control their tics, finds new research from the University of Nottingham.
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Loud Talking and Horseplay in Car Results in More Serious Incidents for Teen Drivers

April 17, 2014—Adolescent drivers are often distracted by technology while they are driving, but loud conversations and horseplay between passengers appear more likely to result in a dangerous incident, according to a new study from the UNC Highway Safety Research Center.
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The Ilk of Human Kindness

 

Older women with gumption score high on compassion

April 17, 2014—Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that older women, plucky individuals and those who have suffered a recent major loss are more likely to be compassionate toward strangers than other older adults.
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“Date at Your Own Risk”: Coworkers Perceptions of Workplace Romances

 

Study finds honesty is the best policy with coworkers

April 16, 2014—Workplace romances are very common in contemporary organizations. In 2004, The Wall Street Journal reported that 47% of employees were currently involved in a workplace romance, and 19% would engage in one if the opportunity arose. However, little attention has been placed on other colleague reactions to workplace romances, and how they might perceive those involved.
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Kids Misbehave within 10 Minutes of Spanking

 

First-of-its-kind study also finds that parents ignored best practices recommended by spanking advocates

April 15, 2014—A new study based on real-time audio recordings of parents practicing corporal punishment discovered that spanking was far more common than parents admit, that children were hit for trivial misdeeds and that children then misbehaved within 10 minutes of being punished.
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How Mothers Help Children Explore Right and Wrong

 

Concordia study shows that parental talks support children’s understanding of their moral experiences

April 15, 2015—There’s no question that mothers want their children to grow up to be good people—but less is known about how they actually help their offspring sort out different types of moral issues. According to a new study published in Developmental Psychology and led by Holly Recchia, assistant professor in Concordia’s Department of Education and Centre for Research in Human Development, many mums talk to their kids in ways that help them understand moral missteps.
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Study Links Domestic Abuse to Mental Health Problems in New Mothers

April 14, 2014—A new study shows that domestic abuse is closely linked to postpartum mental health problems, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in mothers. The research also found that specific types of abuse are associated with specific mental health problems. The work was done by researchers at North Carolina State University, Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia.
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Hereditary Trauma Traced to RNA Molecules                                              

April 13, 2014—The phenomenon has long been known in psychology: traumatic experiences can induce behavioural disorders that are passed down from one generation to the next. It is only recently that scientists have begun to understand the physiological processes underlying hereditary trauma. "There are diseases such as bipolar disorder, that run in families but can't be traced back to a particular gene", explains Isabelle Mansuy, professor at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. With her research group at the Brain Research Institute of the University of Zurich, she has been studying the molecular processes involved in non-genetic inheritance of behavioural symptoms induced by traumatic experiences in early life. Mansuy and her team have succeeded in identifying a key component of these processes: short RNA molecules.
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Green Space Keeps You From Feeling Blue

Madison, WI; April 11, 2014—If you start feeling better as spring begins pushing up its tender shoots, you might be living proof of a trend discovered in data from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin: The more green space in the neighborhood, the happier people reported feeling.
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There's No Faking It: Your Sexual Partner Knows If You're Really Satisfied

April 10, 2014—There is no point faking it in bed because chances are your sexual partner will be able to tell. A study by researchers at the University of Waterloo found that men and women are equally perceptive of their partners' levels of sexual satisfaction.
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Single Mothers Don't Delay Marriage Just to Boost Tax Credit, Study Says

MADISON, WI: April 10, 2014—When the Earned Income Tax Credit was expanded in 1993, supporters hoped it would reward poor parents for working while critics feared that it might discourage single mothers from marrying or incentivize women to have more children to boost their tax refund.
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Girls View Sexual Violence as Normal

April 8, 2014—New evidence from the journal Gender & Society helps explain what women’s advocates have argued for years—that women report abuse at much lower rates than it actually occurs. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), 44% of victims are under the age of 18, and 60% of sexual assaults are not reported to police.
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The Surprising Truth about Obsessive-Compulsive Thinking

International study finds that 94 percent of people experience unwanted, intrusive thoughts

Montreal, April 8, 2014—People who check whether their hands are clean or imagine their house might be on fire are not alone. New research from Concordia University and 15 other universities worldwide shows that 94 per cent of people experience unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images and/or impulses.
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DNA Changes Found in Blood That Are Directly Related to Changes in the Brain

 

Research linked to stress in mice confirms blood-brain comparison is valid

April 8, 2014—Johns Hopkins researchers say they have confirmed suspicions that DNA modifications found in the blood of mice exposed to high levels of stress hormone—and showing signs of anxiety—are directly related to changes found in their brain tissues.
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Lipid Levels during Prenatal Brain Development Impact Autism

 

Exposure to environmental chemicals known to affect these levels

TORONTO, April 8, 2014—In a groundbreaking York University study, researchers have found that abnormal levels of lipid molecules in the brain can affect the interaction between two key neural pathways in early prenatal brain development, which can trigger autism. And, environmental causes such as exposure to chemicals in some cosmetics and common over-the-counter medication can affect the levels of these lipids, according to the researchers.
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Language Structure: You’re Born with It

April 8, 2014—Humans are unique in their ability to acquire language. But how? A new study published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows that we are in fact born with the basic fundamental knowledge of language, thus shedding light on the age-old linguistic “nature vs. nurture” debate.
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Perceptions of Student Ability, Testing Pressures Hinder Some Science Teachers

 

Boston College researchers find barriers to use of science teaching method

Chestnut Hill, MA ; April 5, 2014—A survey of science teachers finds they support a new approach to science education, but they struggle to believe that all students are capable of exploring science using a method called argumentation, according to researchers from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College.
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Indoor Tanning by Teens Linked to Unhealthy Weight Control Methods

 

Indoor tanning may be marker of eating disorder-related behaviors, suggests recent study

Philadelphia, PA; April 4, 2014—High school students who use indoor tanning also have higher rates of unhealthy weight control behaviors—such as taking diet pills or vomiting to lose weight, reports a study in the April Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, the official journal of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
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Grandparents May Worsen Some Moms' Baby Blues

 

Married and single moms suffer higher rates of depression living with parents

April 4, 2014—Does living with grandparents ease or worsen a mother's baby blues? The answer may depend on the mother's marital status, a new study from Duke University suggests.
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Drawing Conclusions

Researcher finds drawing pictures can be key tool in investigations of child abuse

April 3, 2014—Is a picture worth only a thousand words? According to Dr. Carmit Katz of Tel Aviv University's Bob Shapell School of Social Work, illustrations by children can be a critical tool in forensic investigations of child abuse.
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Infants Are Sensitive to Pleasant Touch

April 2, 2014—Infants show unique physiological and behavioral responses to pleasant touch, which may help to cement the bonds between child and parent and promote early social and physiological development, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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For Most Adolescents, Popularity Increases the Risk of Getting Bullied

WASHINGTON, DC; April 1, 2014—A new study suggests that for most adolescents, becoming more popular both increases their risk of getting bullied and worsens the negative consequences of being victimized.
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Oxytocin, the 'Love' Hormone, Promotes Group Lying, Say Researchers

 

Findings highlight why collaboration turns into corruption

BEER-SHEVA, Israel; April 1, 2014—According to a new study by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and the University of Amsterdam, oxytocin caused participants to lie more to benefit their groups, and to do so more quickly and without expectation of reciprocal dishonesty from their group. Oxytocin is a hormone the body naturally produces to stimulate bonding.
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Kinder, Gentler Med School: Students Less Depressed, Learn More

 

Curriculum changes, resilience training lowers anxiety, SLU research shows                                           

ST. LOUIS; March 31, 2014—Removing pressure from medical school while teaching students skills to manage stress and bounce back from adversity improves their mental health and boosts their academic achievement, Saint Louis University research finds.
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Study: Online Self-Injury Information Often Inaccurate

March 31, 2014—People seeking help or information online about cutting and other forms of self-injury are likely finding falsehoods and myths, according to new research from the University of Guelph.
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Four in 10 Infants Lack Strong Parental Attachments

PRINCETON, NJ; March 27,2014—In a study of 14,000 U.S. children, 40 percent lack strong emotional bonds—what psychologists call "secure attachment"—with their parents that are crucial to success later in life, according to a new report. The researchers found that these children are more likely to face educational and behavioral problems.
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Neurobiologists Find Chronic Stress in Early Life Causes Anxiety, Aggression in Adulthood

Cold Spring Harbor, NY; March 27, 2014— In recent years, a plethora of independently conducted experiments have looked at the impact of chronic, early-life stress upon behavior—both at the time that stress is experienced, and upon the same individuals later in life, during adulthood. Today, a research team led by Associate Professor Grigori Enikolopov of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) reports online in the journal PlOS One the results of experiments designed to assess the impacts of social stress upon adolescent mice, both at the time they are experienced and during adulthood. Involving many different kinds of stress tests and means of measuring their impacts, the research indicates that a "hostile environment in adolescence disturbs psychoemotional state and social behaviors of animals in adult life," the team says.
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Researchers Find New Chemical Involved in Depression Risk

March 26, 2014—Scientists have shown for the first time that a chemical in the brain called galanin is involved in the risk of developing depression.
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Mentally Challenging Jobs May Keep Your Mind Sharp Long after Retirement

ANN ARBOR, MI; March 25, 2014—A mentally demanding job may stress you out today but can provide important benefits after you retire, according to a new study.
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The Unconscious Mind Can Detect a Liar Even When the Conscious Mind Fails

March 24, 2014—When it comes to detecting deceit, your automatic associations may be more accurate than conscious thought in pegging truth-tellers and liars, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
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Diabetes Drug Shows Promise in Reducing Alzheimer's Disease in an Experimental Model

BOSTON; March 24, 2014—Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that the diabetic drug, pramlintide, reduces amyloid-beta peptides, a major component of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the brain and improves learning and memory in two experimental AD models. These findings, which appear online in Molecular Psychiatry, also found AD patients have a lower level of amylin in blood compared to those without this disease. These results may provide a new avenue for both treatment and diagnosis of AD.
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New Study Shows We Work Harder When We Are Happy

March 21, 2014—Happiness makes people more productive at work, according to the latest research from the University of Warwick.
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Can 'Love Hormone' Protect against Addiction?

March 20, 2014—Researchers at the University of Adelaide say addictive behaviour such as drug and alcohol abuse could be associated with poor development of the so-called "love hormone" system in our bodies during early childhood.
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Childhood Abuse May Impair Weight-Regulating Hormones

 

Early stress on endocrine system raises risk of excess belly fat later in life

Washington, DC; March 20, 2014—Childhood abuse or neglect can lead to long-term hormone impairment that raises the risk of developing obesity, diabetes or other metabolic disorders in adulthood, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
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Safety First, Children

 

University of Iowa study examines how parents can teach their children to be safer

March 20, 2014—As parents, we’ve all been there: Watching our children teeter on a chair, leap from the sofa, or careen about the playground, fearing the worst. And, we all wonder, how can we teach them to be safer?
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Social Groups Alleviate Depression

March 19, 2014—Building a strong connection to a social group helps clinically depressed patients recover and helps prevent relapse, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Queensland. Senior Fellow Alexander Haslam, lead author Tegan Cruwys and their colleagues conducted two studies of patients diagnosed with depression or anxiety. The patients either joined a community group with activities such as sewing, yoga, sports and art, or partook in group therapy at a psychiatric hospital.
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Social Feedback Loop Aids Language Development

March 19, 2014—Verbal interactions between parents and children create a social feedback loop important for language development, according to research forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. That loop appears to be experienced less frequently and is diminished in strength in interactions with autistic children.
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Who’s Afraid of Math? Study Finds Some Genetic Factors

Genetics plays a role, but researchers say environment still key

COLUMBUS, OH; March 18, 2014—A new study of math anxiety shows how some people may be at greater risk to fear math not only because of negative experiences, but also because of genetic risks related to both general anxiety and math skills.
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Emotional Children's Testimonies Are Judged as More Credible

MAR 17, 2014—A new study from the University of Gothenburg, show that aspiring lawyers assess child complainants as more credible and truthful if they communicate their statement in an emotional manner. Thus, there is a risk that children that behave in a neutral manner may be perceived as less credible in court.
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What's so Bad about Feeling Happy?

 

Study sheds light on how cultures differ in their happiness beliefs

March 17, 2014—Why is being happy, positive and satisfied with life the ultimate goal of so many people, while others steer clear of such feelings? It is often because of the lingering belief that happiness causes bad things to happen, says Mohsen Joshanloo and Dan Weijers of the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Their article, published in Springer’s Journal of Happiness Studies, is the first to review the concept of aversion to happiness, and looks at why various cultures react differently to feelings of well-being and satisfaction.
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Stimulants Used to Treat ADHD Influence BMI Growth Patterns Through Childhood With a BMI Rebound in Late Adolescence

 

ADHD Stimulant treatment initially slowed BMI Growth: Findings are first to link childhood ADHD treatment to possible later obesity

March 17, 2014—A new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that children treated with stimulants for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experienced slower body mass index (BMI) growth than their undiagnosed or untreated peers, followed by a rapid rebound of BMI that exceeded that of children with no history of ADHD or stimulant use and that could continue to obesity.
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Study Identifies Most Common, Costly Reasons for Mental Health Hospitalizations for Kids

March 17, 2014—Nearly one in 10 children are hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of a mental health condition, and depression alone accounts for $1.33 billion in hospital charges annually, according to a new analysis led by the University of California, San Francisco, Benioff Children's Hospital.
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Male, Stressed, and Poorly Social

 

Stress undermines empathic abilities in men but increases them in women

March 17, 2014—Stressed males tend to become more self-centred and less able to distinguish their own emotions and intentions from those of other people. For women the exact opposite is true. This is the main finding of a study just published in Psychoneuroendocrinology, carried out with the collaboration of the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) of Triest.
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Democrats, Republicans See Each Other as Mindless—Unless They Pose a Threat

March 17, 2014—We are less likely to humanize members of groups we don’t belong to—except, under some circumstances, when it comes to members of the opposite political party. A study by researchers at New York University and Harvard Business School suggests that we are more prone to view members of the opposite political party as human if we view those individuals as threatening.
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Brain Mapping Confirms Patients with Schizophrenia Have Impaired Ability to Imitate

March 14, 2014—According to George Bernard Shaw, "Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery – it's the sincerest form of learning." According to psychologists, imitation is something that we all do whenever we learn a new skill, whether it is dancing or how to behave in specific social situations.
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Husband's Health and Attitude Loom Large for Happy Long-Term Marriages

MARCH 13, 2014— A husband’s agreeable personality and good health appear crucial to preventing conflict among older couples who have been together a long time, according to a study from University of Chicago researchers. The report found that such characteristics in wives play less of a role in limiting marital conflict, perhaps because of different expectations among women and men in durable relationships.
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Study Suggests Potential Association between Soy Formula and Seizures in Children with Autism

MADISON, WI; March 13, 2014—A University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher has detected a higher rate of seizures among children with autism who were fed infant formula containing soy protein rather than milk protein.
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'Love Hormone' Could Provide New Treatment for Anorexia

March 12, 2014—Oxytocin, also known as the 'love hormone', could provide a new treatment for anorexia nervosa, according to new research by a team of British and Korean scientists.
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Youth Who Help Others and Volunteer are Less Likely to Associate with Deviant Peers and Engage in Problem Behaviors

 

Intervention programs should focus on encouraging “prosocial” behaviors in youth

Columbia, MO; March 11, 2014—Prosocial behaviors, or actions intended to help others, remain an important area of focus for researchers interested in factors that reduce violence and other behavioral problems in youth. However, little is known regarding the connection between prosocial and antisocial behaviors.  A new study by a University of Missouri human development expert found that prosocial behaviors can prevent youth from associating with deviant peers, thereby making the youth less likely to exhibit antisocial or problem behaviors, such as aggression and delinquency.
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Giving Potentially Dangerous Employees Organizational Socialization and Close Supervision Can Avoid Tragedy, Say Researchers

March 11, 2014—James Campbell Quick and M. Ann McFadyen of the College of Business management department analyzed FBI reports, case studies and human resource records to focus on the estimated 1 to 3 percent of employees prone to workplace acts of aggression, such as homicide, suicide or destruction of property. The team advances the case for “mindfully observing” employees and found that human resources professionals and supervisors can advance health, wellbeing, and performance while averting danger and violence by identifying and managing high-risk employees, anticipating their needs and providing support and resources.
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Book Review: Mild Autism? Or Something Else?

Back to Normal: Why Ordinary Childhood Behavior Is Mistaken for ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, and Autism Spectrum Disorder
Enrico Gnaulati, PhD. 2013. Beacon Press, Boston. 239 pages.

March 9, 2014—If you have a child with serious forms of autism, with ADHD, or with bipolar disorder, you know what a struggle it can be to secure his or her wellbeing in a society that doesn’t go out of its way for those who are atypical. You know how real your child’s diagnosis is; and how meaningless it could become if it became “watered down,” so to speak, by being mistakenly assigned to children who may, in fact, have very different challenges.
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Preschoolers Outsmart College Students at Figuring out Gizmos

BERKELEY; March 6, 2014—Preschoolers can be smarter than college students at figuring out how unusual toys and gadgets work because they’re more flexible and less biased than adults in their ideas about cause and effect, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Edinburgh.
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Study: Classroom Focus on Social and Emotional Skills Can Lead to Academic Gains

WASHINGTON, DC; March 6, 2014—Classroom programs designed to improve elementary school students’ social and emotional skills can also increase reading and math achievement, even if academic improvement is not a direct goal of the skills building, according to a study to be published this month in American Educational Research Journal (AERJ). The benefit holds true for students across a range of socio-economic backgrounds.
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Experiential Avoidance Increases PTSD Risk following Child Maltreatment

March 5, 2014—Child abuse is a reliable predictor of post-traumatic stress disorder, but not all maltreated children suffer from it, according to Chad Shenk, assistant professor of human development and family studies, Penn State, who examined why some maltreated children develop PTSD and some do not.
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Playing with Barbie Dolls Could Limit Girls' Career Choices, Study Shows

CORVALLIS, OR; March 5, 2014—In one of the first experiments to explore the influence of fashion dolls, an Oregon State University researcher has found that girls who play with Barbie dolls see fewer career options for themselves than for boys.
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New Evidence Confirms IQ Is Not Static: Change is Linked to Brain Cortex Thickness

 

Montreal scientists play key role in long-term international study

March 4, 2014—Rate of change in the thickness of the brain’s cortex is an important factor associated with a person’s change in IQ, according to a collaborative study by scientists in five countries including researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre. The study has potentially wide-ranging implications for the pedagogical world and for judicial cases in which the defendant’s IQ score could play a role in determining the severity of the sentence.
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Frequent Childhood Nightmares May Indicate an Increased Risk of Psychotic Traits

February 28, 2014—Children who suffer from frequent nightmares or bouts of night terrors may be at an increased risk of psychotic experiences in adolescence, according to new research from the University of Warwick.
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Retention Leads to Discipline Problems in Other Kids

 

Kids who are 'held back' may contribute to disruptive middle school environment

DURHAM, NC; February 28, 2014—When students repeat a grade, it can spell trouble for their classmates, according to a new Duke University-led study of nearly 80,000 middle-schoolers.
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The Pain of Social Exclusion

 

'Social' pain hurts physically, even when we see it in others

February 27, 2014—We would like to do without pain and yet without it we wouldn't be able to survive. Pain signals dangerous stimuli (internal or external) and guides our behaviour. Its ultimate goal is to prioritize escape, recovery and healing. That's why we feel it and why we're also good at detecting it in others.
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Effective Treatment for Youth Anxiety Disorders Has Lasting Benefit

 

New study finds majority of youth respond well

Washington D.C., February 27, 2013— A study published in the March 2014 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that the majority of youth with moderate to severe anxiety disorders responded well to acute treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), medication (sertraline), or a combination of both. They maintained positive treatment response over a 6 month follow-up period with the help of monthly booster sessions.
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Study Shows Why Breastfed Babies Are so Smart

 

Two parenting skills deserve the credit

February 26, 2014—Loads of studies over the years have shown that children who were breastfed score higher on IQ tests and perform better in school, but the reason why remained unclear until now.
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Psychological Side-Effects of Anti-Depressants Worse than Thought

LIVERPOOL, UK; February 26, 2014—A University of Liverpool researcher has shown that thoughts of suicide, sexual difficulties and emotional numbness as a result of anti-depressants may be more widespread than previously thought.
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Can Babies Learn to Read? Probably Not, NYU Study Finds

February 25, 2014—Can babies learn to read? While parents use DVDs and other media in an attempt to teach their infants to read, these tools don't instill reading skills in babies, a study by researchers at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development has found.
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Parents' Attitudes about Helping Their Grown Children Affect Their Mental Health

February 24, 2014—Older parents frequently give help to their middle-aged offspring, and their perceptions about giving this help may affect their mental health, according to a team of researchers.
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Culture Influences Young People's Self-Esteem

February 24. 2014—Regardless of our personal values, we base most of our self-esteem on the fulfilment of the dominant values of our culture, reveals a global survey supervised by social psychologist Maja Becker. We can all think of situations that give us a positive image of ourselves, such as success at school or at work, satisfying relationships with friends and family, living up to our moral standards in our interactions with others or having desirable possessions. We can also think of other things we are less proud of and that do not make us feel so good about ourselves. But why are they important? What are the factors that influence our self-esteem?
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