Cognitive-behavioral training helps patients with rheumatoid arthritis cope with pain and improves their quality of life, finds a study by scientists at Wayne State University and Duke University. The researchers randomly assigned 262 adults with rheumatoid arthritis to one of two groups. The first group was trained in cognitive-behavioral coping skills, such as relaxation, increasing pleasant activities, changing negative thoughts and problem-solving. The second group took part in educational sessions about the disease. Compared with the education group, patients in the cognitive-behavioral training group had less pain and fewer psychological symptoms for at least a year (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, August).
People in more liberal countries are happier on average than those in less liberal countries, but individually, conservatives are happier than liberals no matter where they live, according to a study conducted at Rutgers University. The researchers analyzed data collected from more than 1.1 million people from 1970 to 2002 in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. To determine if a country leaned liberal or conservative, researchers looked at access to such services as pensions, sickness benefits and unemployment compensation, as well as each country's spending on welfare. Researchers found that people in countries with more liberal policies reported higher life satisfaction than those in countries with less liberal policies, irrespective of their own political views. However, the more conservative citizens reported higher life satisfaction than their liberal counterparts regardless of their government's leanings (Journal of Applied Psychologyopens in new window, online Aug. 25).
Family dinners may help kids cope with cyberbullying, finds research led by McGill University scientists. The study examined data collected from 18,834 students ages 12 to 18 from 49 Wisconsin schools on their experiences with cyberbullying. Nearly 19 percent of the students reported that they had been bullied online in the previous year, and cyberbullying was associated with anxiety, depression, suicide ideation, vandalism and substance use problems. However, children who more regularly had dinner with their families had a lower rate of mental health and substance use problems associated with being bullied online (JAMA Pediatrics, online Sept. 1).
How we react to violence may depend on our individual brain circuitry, according to a study led by scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Researchers split 54 men into two groups — one had more aggressive traits and the other had less aggressive traits. The researchers scanned the participants' brains as they watched violent scenes on the first day; emotional, non-violent scenes on the second day; and nothing on the third day. Participants also had their blood pressure taken every five minutes during sessions. Investigators compared the two groups and found that while watching violent scenes, the aggressive group had less brain activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, a brain region associated with emotion-related decision-making and self-control. The aggressive participants also described feeling more inspired and determined and less upset or nervous than non-aggressive participants when watching violent media, but not emotional, non-violent media. In line with these responses, aggressive participants' blood pressure went down over time when they saw violence, while the non-aggressive participants experienced a rise in blood pressure (PLOS Oneopens in new window, Sept. 10).
Brief depression questionnaires may be linked to unnecessary antidepressant prescriptions, according to research conducted at the University of California, Davis. The researchers selected 595 California primary-care patients who were considered at low risk for depression. The patients were divided into two groups: those who were asked during their office visits to complete brief depression symptom questionnaires and those who were not. Of the 545 patients who did not complete the questionnaires, 10.5 percent were diagnosed with depression and 3.8 percent were prescribed antidepressants. However, of the 50 patients who completed questionnaires, 20 percent were diagnosed with depression and 12 percent were prescribed antidepressants. The findings indicate that more work is needed to understand how brief depression questionnaires are used and interpreted in primary-care settings (Journal of the American Board of Family Medicineopens in new window, September-October).
How expectant parents play with dolls may predict their future parenting behavior, according to research conducted at Ohio State University. Researchers videotaped 182 couples in the third trimester of pregnancy while they played with a doll that they were told represented the baby they were about to have. Researchers then analyzed how the couples interacted with each other around the doll, examining how much they cooperated and their levels of playfulness and family warmth. The couples were videotaped again nine months after their babies' births. The results showed that couples acted similarly toward each other with their real babies as they did with the dolls, in both positive and negative ways. These findings suggest that using a doll can help predict which couples may be headed for co-parenting conflicts when their babies arrive (Journal of Family Psychology, Augustopens in new window).
A combination of drug therapy and parent education appears to help reduce aggressive and serious behavioral problems in children, according to research led by researchers at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. The study involved 168 children ages 6 to 12 who had been diagnosed with ADHD and disruptive behavior disorder and who displayed significant physical aggression. Scientists divided the children into two groups. In the "basic" group, children received the stimulant drug OROS methylphenidate and their parents were trained in behavior management procedures for nine weeks. In the "augmented" group, both children and parents received the "basic" treatment, and the children also took the drug risperidone. Researchers found that children in the augmented group showed less anger, irritability and aggression, according to parents (Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatryopens in new window, September).
Shared pain brings people together, suggests a study by scientists at the University of New South Wales in Australia. In one experiment, researchers asked 54 students to submerge their hands in a bucket of water, locate a metal ball and place it in an underwater container. For one group, the water was painfully cold, while for the other the water was room temperature. The students were also asked to perform an upright wall squat (a sometimes painful exercise) or to balance on one leg, with the option of switching legs to avoid fatigue (a less painful exercise). Participants then rated statements designed to measure how they felt about their group. The researchers found that those who performed the painful tasks reported a greater degree of bonding than did those who performed the less painful versions (Psychological Scienceopens in new window, online Sept. 5).
Children show an intuitive understanding of probability and other math concepts as early as age 2, suggests research led by University of Washington scientists. Thirty-two 2-year-old children watched as researchers played a game in which they placed a wooden block onto a box located near a marble-dispensing machine. One block activated the machine two-thirds of the time, while another different colored and shaped block triggered the machine only one-third of the time. After the children watched 12 run-throughs using the different blocks, researchers had the children play the game themselves, and most picked the block with the greater success rate over the other block (Developmental Science, online July 16).
Depression often goes untreated among people with Parkinson's disease, according to a study by Northwestern University investigators, who examined data from more than 7,000 people with Parkinson's disease using the National Parkinson's Foundation patient database. The researchers found that although nearly a quarter of the people reported depression symptoms, only one-third of them had been prescribed antidepressants and even fewer had seen a mental health professional. A year later, the researchers followed up with the remaining two-thirds of patients with depressive symptoms who had not received treatment. They found that less than 10 percent received referrals for psychological counseling or prescriptions for antidepressants (Journal of Parkinson's Diseaseopens in new window, online July 17).
Perfectionism is a bigger risk factor in suicide than many realize, especially those that occur without warning, according to a research review led by a York University psychologist. The researchers summarized data showing that perfectionists are at greater risk due to co-occurring risk factors, such as hopelessness. Socially prescribed perfectionism is identified as a consistent predictor of suicidal tendencies. The authors conclude that people under great pressure whose work requires precision — such as physicians, lawyers, architects and those in leadership roles — have elevated risk for perfectionism-related suicide. The authors say there is a need to design preventive programs tailored for key personality features, such as perfectionism, to enhance people's resilience (Review of General Psychology, September).
Teenage girls can be taught to tell an adult if they are worried about a peer's eating or weight, according to a study led by a psychologist at Laurel School's Center for Research on Girls in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Immediately before a class presentation on the early signs of eating disorders and the importance of early intervention, researchers surveyed 116 eighth-grade and ninth-grade girls about whether they would tell an adult if they were worried about a friend's eating or weight. Shortly after the presentation and again four months later, the girls demonstrated an increased willingness to alert an adult to the signs of an eating disorder in a peer (Eating Disorders, online Aug. 4).
Mindfulness training helps patients experiencing memory loss as well as their caregivers, suggests research conducted at Northwestern University. In the study, 37 adults — including 17 patients and 20 caregivers — took part in eight sessions of mindfulness training designed specifically for the needs of patients with early-stage dementia and their caregivers. Afterward, the researchers found lower depression scores and improved ratings on sleep quality and quality of life for both groups (American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias, online Aug. 25).
Older adults with depression and mild cognitive impairment often experience accelerated brain aging, according to a study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Investigators collected blood samples and performed PET and MRI brain scans on 80 adults over age 65 who were in remission after being treated for major depression. Nearly half had mild cognitive impairment. The researchers found that the participants with cognitive impairment were more likely to have differences in the biologic activity of 24 proteins that help regulate immune and inflammatory pathways, intracellular signaling, cell survival, and protein and lipid balance. In addition, brain scans showed that the cognitively impaired group was more likely to have cerebrovascular disease, including small strokes. These results suggest that people with depression and cognitive impairment may be more vulnerable to accelerated brain aging, which in turn puts them at risk for developing dementia, the authors say (Molecular Psychiatryopens in new window, online Aug. 5).
Coping skills help women overcome the distress of unwanted cat calls, demeaning looks and sexual advances, finds research conducted at the University of Tennessee. Psychologists surveyed 270 undergraduate women about their ability to cope with sexually oppressive experiences. They found that young women experience psychological distress when they are being sexually objectified and that women with low resilience are especially vulnerable. They tend to internalize these behaviors, reasoning that their own inferiority is to blame for these bad experiences. The study also showed that women high in resilience seem to cope and adapt better to these negative sexual experiences, possibly because they can manage stress better than those low in resilience (Sex Rolesopens in new window, August).
It may be possible to train the brain to prefer salad over french fries, according to Tufts University scientists. The researchers used fMRI to examine the brains of 13 overweight and obese men and women. Eight of the participants were enrolled in a weight-loss program; the other five were in a control group. Brain scans of the weight-loss program participants revealed changes in areas of the striatum, which is involved in the brain's reward system and associated with learning and addiction. After six months, this area had increased sensitivity to pictures of healthy, lower-calorie foods, indicating an increased reward and enjoyment of healthier food cues. This area also showed decreased sensitivity to pictures of unhealthy higher-calorie foods (Nutrition & Diabetesopens in new window, online Sept. 1).— Amy Novotney
