Group walks in nature enhance mental health and well-being, finds a study out of Edge Hill University in the United Kingdom. Researchers investigated the mental, emotional and social well-being of more than 1,500 people, half of whom regularly participated in an outdoor group walking program. The researchers found that consistent walking in nature was linked with significantly lower rates of depression and enhanced mental health and well-being. In addition, walkers who had recently experienced stressful life events, such as a serious illness, death of a loved one, marital separation or unemployment, experienced a mood boost after outdoor group walks (Ecopsychology, September).
A low-cost, one-time intervention that teaches teens about personality traits may prevent depression among high school freshmen, according to research by University of Texas at Austin psychologists. Scientists assigned 600 ninth-graders from three different high schools to participate in an intervention or a control activity. In the intervention, students read a passage that described how people's personalities are subject to change, and then wrote a narrative on the topic to be shared with future ninth graders. Students in the control group read a passage that focused on the changeable nature of athletic ability. Nine months later, a follow-up survey showed that rates of clinically significant depressive symptoms rose by 39 percent among students in the control group, while students who learned about the malleability of personality showed no such increase in depressive symptoms (Clinical Psychological Scienceopens in new window, online Sept. 15).
Sharing an experience with another person seems to intensify that experience, according to a study led by Yale University psychologists. In one experiment, 23 female college students were paired with participants — who in reality were part of the research team — and asked to taste two chocolates, one at the same time as the second participant and the other while the second participant was looking at a booklet of paintings. Although the chocolate samples were presented as two different chocolates, they were taken from the same bar of 70 percent dark chocolate. Students reported the chocolate they had tasted at the same time as the other participant as more flavorful than the chocolate they had tasted while the other participant was looking at the booklet. To find out whether sharing makes any experience more pleasant or intensifies positive or negative feelings, the researchers asked another group of paired students to taste a bitter "chocolate substitute" — a 90 percent dark chocolate bar — which pre-testing revealed to be unpleasant. This time, the students said that they liked the "shared" chocolate less. They also reported feeling more absorbed in the tasting experience and more in tune with the other participant when they tasted the chocolates at the same time (Psychological Scienceopens in new window, online Oct. 1).
Black women are more likely than white women to want to major in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) when they enter college, but are less likely to earn degrees in these fields, according to a study by Tulane University psychologists. Analyzing data from 1.7 million college freshmen collected from 1990 to 1999, the researchers found that 23 percent of black women said they planned to major in STEM fields compared with 16 percent of white women. The researchers also surveyed 838 college students ages 18 to 56 at four universities in 2013, and found that 38 percent of black women had declared a major in a STEM field, whereas only 19 percent of white women had. Research by the National Science Foundation, however, shows that among women who earned undergraduate degrees in 2010, only 8 percent of black women earned degrees in a STEM field, compared to 10 percent of white women (Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, online Sept. 22).
People appear to drink more alcohol on gym days, according to a study led by Northwestern University scientists. One hundred and fifty study participants, ages 18 to 89, recorded their physical activity and alcohol use with their smartphones at the end of the day for 21 days, at three different times throughout one year. The findings suggest that on days when people exercise more, they drink more alcohol. As for why, researchers speculate that perhaps people reward themselves for working out by having more to drink or that being physically active leads them to encounter more social situations where alcohol is consumed (Health Psychologyopens in new window, online Sept. 15).
Adolescents with cerebral palsy report a similar quality of life to their able-bodied peers, according to a study conducted at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. Researchers compared 431 adolescents with cerebral palsy with matched controls in the general population on their responses to a questionnaire asking about quality of life in the previous week across 10 areas of life, such as mood and emotions, self-perception, autonomy and school. They found that adolescents with cerebral palsy rated their quality of life as comparable to teens in the control group, and reported better quality of life in several areas, including moods and emotions, self-perception, autonomy, relationships with parents and school life. Only in the category of social support from friends and peers did adolescents with cerebral palsy report significantly lower life quality than their able-bodied peers (The Lancetopens in new window, online Oct. 7).
You are more likely to serve and eat unhealthy foods when you're near someone who is overweight, according to a study conducted by psychologists at Southern Illinois and Cornell universities. Researchers enlisted an actress to wear a prosthesis that added 50 pounds to her normally average weight, and then assigned 82 undergraduate college students to eat a spaghetti and salad lunch with her while she portrayed one of four scenarios: eating a healthy meal of more salad and less pasta while she wore the prosthesis; eating that same meal without the prosthesis; eating a less healthy meal of more pasta and less salad while she wore the prosthesis; and eating that same less healthy meal without the prosthesis. The researchers found that when the actress appeared overweight, the other participants served and ate nearly 32 percent more pasta regardless of whether she served herself mostly pasta or mostly salad. And when the actress served herself more salad, the other participants served and ate 43 percent less salad when she wore the prosthesis than when she did not (Appetiteopens in new window, December).
Practicing religion may protect against suicide, according to a study conducted by Tel Aviv University researchers. Scientists conducted home interviews with 620 Jewish adolescents and their mothers, assessing socio-demographic characteristics and mental health, including suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Participants were also asked to define their degree of religiosity as "secular," "observant" or "ultra-Orthodox," the three main categories of Judaism in Israel. They found that religious Jewish teens exhibited 45 percent fewer behaviors linked to suicide risk behavior, including attempted suicide, than their secular Jewish peers (European Psychiatry, October).
When working moms are happy, their kids are, too, suggests research led by a psychologist at Ball State University. In the study, 174 full-time working mothers and their children, ages 9 to 17, reported on their mood and physical health for eight consecutive evenings. The researchers found that the mothers' positive moods after work were directly related to their children's reporting more positive moods, better sleep quality and longer sleep duration (Journal of Family Psychologyopens in new window, online Sept. 22).
A classroom intervention may help shy children improve their math and critical thinking skills, according to a study led by New York University scientists. Researchers followed nearly 350 children and their parents from 22 elementary schools during kindergarten and into first grade. Half of the schools participating were randomized to a 10-week "INSIGHTS into Children's Temperamentopens in new window" program, which trains parents and teachers how to recognize differences in children and support them in ways that are specific to their temperaments. Their children participated in INSIGHTS classroom activities, using puppets, flashcards, workbooks and videotapes to help them solve daily challenges — such as having a substitute teacher — and understand how people react differently to the same situations. A control group of schools participated in a supplemental afterschool reading program. Researchers found that while all children enrolled in INSIGHTS showed improvements in academic skills, the effects were substantially greater for shy children. They had significant growth in critical thinking skills and stability in math skills over the transition from kindergarten to first grade, compared with shy peers in the control group, who declined in both areas (School Psychology Reviewopens in new window, online Sept. 22).
Living a healthy lifestyle may cut stroke risk in half for women, finds research conducted at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. In the study, 31,696 Swedish women with an average age of 60 completed a 350-item questionnaire about their diets and lifestyles, and were followed for an average of 10 years. The study looked at five factors that make up a healthy lifestyle: having a healthy diet; consuming alcohol in moderation; never smoking; being physically active; and having a healthy body mass index. Compared with women with none of the five healthy factors, women with all five factors had a 54 percent lower risk of stroke. The risk of stroke steadily decreased with each additional healthy lifestyle factor (Neurologyopens in new window, online Oct. 8).
Gay and bisexual youth who are supported by their families are less likely to have high-risk sex, according to a study conducted at Rutgers University. Researchers conducted interviews with 38 gay and bisexual males ages 14 to 21 and at least one of their parents or caretakers. Sons were asked about the nature of their family relationships, what they knew about HIV, whether they engaged in unsafe sexual behaviors and whether parental relationships influenced their decisions to engage in safer sex. Parents were asked about their relationships with their children and their knowledge of HIV, and to assess their own influence on their child's risk behaviors. Reported parent-child closeness — typified by acceptance of the child's sexual orientation and open communication about the importance of safe sex — emerged as the most effective influence in helping youth avoid high-risk sexual behavior (Journal of Marital & Family Therapyopens in new window, online Aug. 7).
Smoking marijuana doesn't make you more creative, finds a study by psychologists at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Researchers randomly assigned 36 regular marijuana users to receive either cannabis with a high concentration of the psychoactive ingredient THC, equivalent to about three joints; cannabis with a low dose of THC, equivalent to one joint; or a placebo. They then asked participants to complete cognitive tests of divergent thinking — in which participants needed to come up with as many uses as they could for a pen — and tests of convergent thinking, for which there was only one correct answer to a question. The researchers found that smokers who ingested the low dose of THC or none at all performed best on both thinking tasks. In fact, the high dose of THC actually had a negative effect on participants' ability to quickly come up with as many solutions as possible to a given problem (Psychopharmacologyopens in new window, online Oct. 7).
By age 5, children are wary of information provided by people who make overly confident claims, finds a study by psychologists at Concordia University and the University of British Columbia. Researchers showed 96 4- and 5-year-olds short videos of two adults talking about animals. The speakers would either make true statements about an animal in a hesitant voice, such as, "Hmm, I guess whales live in the water?" or false statements about the animal in a confident voice, such as, "Oh, I know! Whales live in the ground!" The children were then shown videos of the same two adults speaking about strange animals in the same roles. Researchers then asked the participants whom they believed. Children closer to age 4 were as likely to believe the confident liar as the hesitant truth-teller. But children closer to age 5 were more likely to believe the previously accurate but hesitant individual (PLOS ONEopens in new window, Sept. 25).
Sexting appears to be a precursor to sexual behavior among teens, according to research conducted at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Nearly 1,000 ethnically diverse adolescents completed anonymous surveys detailing their history of sexting, sexual activity and other behaviors as part of a six-year investigation. Researchers examined data from the second and third years of the study and found that the odds of being sexually active as a high school junior were slightly higher for youth who sent sexts the previous year, compared with teens who did not sext. The researchers did not find sexting to be linked with later risky sexual behaviors (Pediatrics, online Oct. 6).
Children with good rhythm may have more advanced grammar skills, according to a study by Vanderbilt University scientists. Researchers tested 25 6-year-olds on their ability to determine if several simple and complex musical rhythms were the same or different, and then tested their grammar skills in sentence production by asking them to describe photos. The researchers found that even after controlling for IQ, music experience and socio-economic status, children who were better at telling apart rhythms were also better at the grammar task (Developmental Scienceopens in new window, online Sept. 7).
— Amy Novotney
