Mass layoffs may trigger increased suicide attempts and other suicide-related behaviors among some teenagers, according to research from Duke University scientists. The study is based on information from a nationally representative survey of 403,457 adolescents from 1997 to 2009, as well as data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics that looked at mass layoffs and closings nationwide. Researchers found that when 1 percent of a state's working population lost jobs, suicide-related behaviors increased by 2 to 3 percentage points among all teen girls and black adolescents in the following year. Among girls, thoughts of suicide and suicide plans rose. Among black teens, thoughts of suicide, suicide plans and suicide attempts all increased (American Journal of Public Health, online Aug 14).
Our brains respond to cues about a person's trustworthiness in a split second, according to research conducted by New York University psychologists. The researchers monitored activity in the amygdalas of 31 study participants while they were exposed to a series of facial images — both actual strangers' faces and artificially generated faces whose visual cues for trustworthiness could be manipulated as established in previous research. Participants saw the faces for just milliseconds and then immediately saw an irrelevant "mask" image thought to prevent subjects from consciously perceiving the faces. The scientists found that specific regions of the amygdala exhibited activity tracking how trustworthy a face appeared — even though participants were not consciously aware of seeing any of the faces (The Journal of Neuroscience, Aug. 6).
In addition to problems with math, dyscalculia is linked to difficulties in reading and spelling, finds research conducted at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich. Scientists tested 1,633 third- and fourth-graders from 125 schools in Munich on reading, spelling and arithmetic skills. They found that about 57 percent of the children who had an arithmetic-related learning disorder — referred to as dyscalculia — also suffered from a reading or spelling disability. Previous research has shown the disorder affects 3 percent to 6 percent of schoolchildren. The study also revealed that gender appears to play a role in determining susceptibility to specific learning disorders: While deficits in spelling were more prevalent among boys, girls were more likely to display dyscalculia. Reading difficulties, however, appeared to be equally prevalent in both genders (PLOS ONE, July 29opens in new window).
Brief counseling for drug use doesn't work, according to a study by Boston University researchers. Scientists tested the effectiveness of two interventions on 528 adult primary-care patients with at least weekly risky drug use. They assigned participants to three groups: one that received a 10- to 15-minute structured interview conducted by health educators; a second that received a 30- to 45-minute intervention based on motivational interviewing, with a 20- to 30-minute follow-up session by counselors; and a third that received no brief intervention. The researchers found that none of the interventions reduced participants' continued use of marijuana, cocaine or opioids, at both six weeks and six months post-intervention, based on self-report and hair testing for drug use (JAMA, Aug. 6).
Depressed preschoolers were two-and-a-half times more likely to suffer from the condition later on in their school years than children who were not depressed at very young ages, according to a study conducted at Washington University in St. Louis. Investigators followed 246 children, now ages 9 to 12, who were enrolled in the study at ages 3 to 5 years old. The children and their primary caregivers took part in up to six annual and four semiannual assessments in which caregivers were interviewed about their children's sadness, irritability, guilt, sleep, appetite and decreased pleasure in activity and play. Researchers also used two-way mirrors to evaluate child-caregiver interactions, as earlier research had shown that a lack of parental nurturing is a risk factor for depression recurrence. The results showed that 51 percent of the 74 children diagnosed with depression as preschoolers also were depressed as school-age kids. Only 24 percent of the 172 children who were not depressed as preschoolers went on to develop depression during their elementary and middle school years. A portion of the incidence of later depression was associated with non-supportive parental behavior (American Journal of Psychiatry, Julyopens in new window).
Reading Harry Potter books can make children more tolerant of minorities, finds a two-part study led by scientists at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy. Researchers first asked Italian high school students how many Harry Potter books they had read and which character — Harry or his nemesis Voldemort — they more closely identified with. They then asked students about their views on gay individuals. The researchers found that students who read more books in the series were more likely to have positive feelings toward gay people, and this effect was enhanced in students who identified with Harry. In a separate experiment, 34 Italian fifth-graders filled out a questionnaire gauging their views on immigrants. Then, for six weeks, half the children read and discussed excerpts from the Harry Potter books tinged with a focus on tolerance or prejudice. The other half read and discussed unrelated topics from the series. The researchers found that children had significantly less prejudice and more empathy for immigrants in the group that discussed tolerance issues — though only if the participant identified strongly with Harry (Journal of Applied Social Psychology, online July 23).
Talking to strangers may improve your mass-transit commute, according to a study led by researchers from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The scientists asked Chicago train and bus commuters to talk to strangers, sit in solitude or commute as they typically do. Findings showed that while many commuters predicted they would have a more negative commute if they talked to strangers, they reported a more positive experience and improvement in well-being when they did (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, online July 14).opens in new window
Books, videos and other items designed to create or enhance an experience can make shoppers just as happy as life experiences, according to a study by psychologists at San Francisco State University. Researchers asked 370 consumers about a recent purchase and how happy that purchase made them. They also asked how much the purchase satisfied any of three key psychological needs: identity expression, or how the purchase reflected the consumer's values; competence, or how it allowed the consumer to use skills and knowledge; and relatedness, or how the purchase brought the consumer closer to others. The researchers found that while life experiences help consumers feel closer to others, experiential products such as books, sporting goods, video games or musical instruments allowed them to use and develop new skills and knowledge, resulting in similar levels of happiness (Journal of Consumer Psychology, online July 2opens in new window).
Contrary to previous assumptions, preschoolers are able to gauge the strength of their memories, according to research led by University of California, Davis, psychologists. Scientists asked 81 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds to view drawings of items, such as a piano or a balloon. Half of the images were presented once, and the other half were shown twice. Researchers then presented the children with a pair of images: one they had seen and a new one they had not seen. The children were instructed to pick the image they'd seen in the previous task. After making their choice, the preschoolers rated how confident they were that their choices were correct, sorting their answers into two boxes — one for responses they were confident about and the other for responses they thought might be mistaken. Only 4- and 5-year-olds reported being less confident in their incorrect than their correct memory responses, the findings showed. These children were also more confident about images they'd seen twice and were more likely to use confidence level as the basis of their decision on whether to show researchers their answers for a reward. The study also showed that 3-year-olds who had scored well reported higher confidence overall than kids who hadn't scored as well (Psychological Sciencopens in new windowe, online July 11opens in new window).
Teen insomnia is linked to depression and anxiety, according to a study led by a University of Adelaide psychologist. Researchers surveyed more than 300 Australian high school students ages 12 to 18 about their sleep habits, mental health and the time of day they were most active. The scientists found that teens with insomnia were more likely to have depression, generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder. In addition, participants who were more active at night were more likely to have depression and/or insomnia. This group was also more likely to have obsessive-compulsive disorder, separation anxiety and social phobia, although these disorders were often not independently linked with insomnia (Sleep Medicine, Augustopens in new window).
A woman's professional self-identity affects the child-care balance between parents, according to a study conducted at Cambridge University. Researchers surveyed 148 couples with at least one child age 6 years or younger, exploring how individuals' priorities and ideologies help shape decisions about parenting. They found that the more a woman identifies with her profession, the more paid hours she works and the less time she spends with her children, but the more equal the child-care balance is between members of a couple. However, the more a woman identifies herself with motherhood, the less time the father spends with the children. The researchers also found that while the more a man identifies himself as a parent the more time he spends with his children, this has no bearing on the mother's time with the children (Psychology of Women Quarterly, online May 13opens in new window).
Video game-playing for less than an hour a day is linked with better-adjusted children and teenagers, according to research performed at Oxford University. Investigators questioned nearly 5,000 U.K. 10- to 15-year-olds about how much time they typically spent on console-based or computer-based games, as well as how satisfied they were with their lives, their levels of hyperactivity, inattention and empathy, and how well they got along with their peers. Compared with non-players and those who played very frequently, kids who played video games for less than an hour reported the highest levels of sociability and were most likely to say they were satisfied with their lives. They also appeared to have fewer friendship and emotional problems and reported less hyperactivity than the other groups (Pediatrics, online Aug. 4opens in new window).
A weight-management program has been found to reduce depression among black women, finds research out of Duke University. The study followed 185 low-income black women ages 25 to 44 whose body mass index ranged between 25 and 35 and who were receiving primary-care services at community health centers. At the start of the study, about 20 percent of the women were moderately to severely depressed. Half of the women took part in a personalized weight-gain-prevention intervention where they tracked behavioral goals — for example, no fast food — for a year. Participants also had monthly calls with a personal health coach, and some took advantage of a YMCA membership. The other half of the women were placed in a control group that received usual care from their physicians. After one year, 11 percent of intervention participants said they still felt depressed compared with 19 percent of the control group, the researchers found (American Journal of Public Health, online July 17opens in new window).
Seeing e-cigarette use encourages young adult tobacco users to light up, according to a study led by University of Chicago scientists. Investigators recruited 60 young adult smokers and told them they were being tested on their responses to different social interactions. Each participant was then paired with an actor pretending to be a participant, who smoked an e-cigarette or a regular cigarette as the pair had a conversation. At multiple points before and after this interaction, the researchers assessed the real participants' urges to smoke. The study found that participants' desires to smoke both regular and e-cigarettes increased when their partners smoked. However, observing regular cigarette use did not increase participants' desire to smoke an e-cigarette. As a control, researchers also had actors drink from a bottle of water while engaging in conversation with the participant to mimic hand-to-mouth behavior, and they found no increase in participants' desire for either regular or e-cigarettes in this scenario (Tobacco Control, online May 21).
Community service programs for youth are more beneficial when they are accompanied by structured time for reflection and discussion, according to a meta-analysis by researchers at Utrecht and Rutgers universities. The study assessed findings from 49 studies from around the world conducted from 1980 to 2012 involving 25,000 participants ages 12 to 20. The investigators found that community service had a positive effect on school grades, school motivation, self-esteem, identity, tolerance, social skills, civic responsibility and volunteering. However, programs that included structured reflection showed a substantial beneficial effect, while those without reflection yielded a negligible effect (Child Development, online July 24opens in new window).
An intervention focused on strengthening families can reduce inflammation in low-income children, according to research led by a Northwestern University psychologist. Researchers randomly assigned 272 mothers and their 11-year-old children to a control group or a seven-week training program focused on improving parenting, smoothing communication between parents and children, and helping the children develop strategies for dealing with stress, racism and peer pressure around sex, drugs and alcohol. When the children turned 19, researchers collected blood samples to measure the extent of inflammation — a chronic over-activation of parts of the immune system that can impair long-term health. Children who had participated in the training program had significantly less inflammation than children in the control group (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Aug. 5opens in new window).
— Amy Novotney
