Traffic stop disparities
Disparities in how police officers treat Black and White Americans are reflected in subtle differences in officers’ tones of voice during routine traffic stops, according to research in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Researchers collected 250 audio clips of predominantly male officers speaking for 10 seconds from body camera footage of traffic stops of men in a midsize U.S. city. Across three studies, the researchers asked a total of 414 White, Black, Latinx, and Asian men and women to rate the officers’ tones of voice. The participants, who did not know the race of the person being pulled over, perceived that when officers spoke to Black men at traffic stops, their tones of voice conveyed less warmth, respect, and ease than when they spoke to White men. In two additional studies with a total of 404 participants, the researchers found that listening to officers speaking with a negative tone eroded people’s trust in police. DOI: 10.1037/pspa0000270opens in new window
Job demands affect exercise
People with high-pressure jobs and little control over their work are less likely to exercise after leaving the office, according to research in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. In the first of two studies, 100 participants in the United States took part in a call center workplace simulation. Half performed high-demand tasks and half performed low-demand tasks. After completing their tasks, participants rode a stationary bicycle for as long as they wanted. Participants in the high-demand condition cycled less than those in the low-demand condition. In a second study, 144 participants were split into four groups based on a combination of high- or low-demand tasks and high or low control over their job. Again, participants with more demanding jobs cycled less. Though there was no direct association between level of job control and time spent cycling, there was an indirect effect of level of job control on cycling time through its impact on participants’ sense of self-determination. DOI: 10.1037/xap0000333opens in new window
Suicide risk higher in marijuana users
According to a study in JAMA Network Open, marijuana use is associated with increased risk of suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. Researchers analyzed data from a nationally representative sample of 281,650 adults ages 18 to 34 years in the United States. They assessed participants’ self-reported levels of marijuana use and prevalence of major depressive episodes. They found that even people who used marijuana on a less-than-daily basis were more likely to have suicidal ideation and to plan or attempt suicide than those who did not use the drug at all, with this effect larger for women than men. Among people with depression, 35% of participants who did not use marijuana had suicidal ideation, compared with 44% of those with nondaily marijuana use, 53% of those who used marijuana daily, and 50% of those who had a marijuana use disorder. Similar patterns held for suicidal plans and attempts among people with depression. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.13025opens in new window
Read and write to forestall dementia
Being mentally active in old age can stave off dementia by as much as 5 years, suggests a study in Neurology. Researchers followed 1,903 older adults enrolled in a longitudinal study in the United States for an average of about 7 years. Participants, who were primarily in their 70s and 80s at the start of the study, had annual clinical evaluations to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. They also reported how frequently they engaged in seven cognitively stimulating activities, including visiting a library; reading magazines, newspapers, or books; writing letters; putting together puzzles; and playing cards and board games. During the study period, 457 participants were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The mean age of onset of Alzheimer’s disease was 94 for those participants with the highest level (above 90th percentile) of late-life cognitive activity and 89 for those with the lowest level (10th percentile and below). Neither education nor early life cognitive activity was associated with age of Alzheimer’s onset. In 695 participants whose brains were examined postmortem, cognitive activity was found to be unrelated to neural markers of Alzheimer’s and other dementias, suggesting that late-life cognitive activity doesn’t influence brain pathology itself, but rather boosts cognitive reserve—the ability to cope with the pathology. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000012388opens in new window
Daydreaming akin to sleep
Daydreaming is characterized by sleeplike activity in the brain, suggests research in Nature Communications. Researchers asked 26 well-rested participants in Australia to perform two boring tasks requiring sustained attention. During the tasks, participants were randomly interrupted and asked to self-report their mental state: on task, mind wandering (thinking of something else), or mind blanking (thinking of nothing). The researchers continuously assessed the participants’ pupil size and measured their brain activity with electroencephalography (EEG). When participants reported their minds were wandering or blanking, their performance dropped, they declared feeling more tired, their pupil size decreased, and their brain activity revealed the presence of slow waves that are commonly observed after sleep onset. According to the researchers, these results indicate that the inattentive mind may result from portions of the brain entering a sleeplike state. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23890-7opens in new window
Enjoy school, get better grades
Research in npj Science of Learning indicates that children who enjoy school at age 6 tend to have higher academic achievement 10 years later. Researchers analyzed data from a longitudinal study that began in 1991 of 12,135 children and their parents in the United Kingdom. They found that children who liked their teachers were more than 9 times more likely to enjoy school than those who did not. Also, girls were twice as likely as boys to report enjoying school, non-White children were almost twice as likely as their White counterparts to say they enjoyed school, and children with higher cognitive abilities were also more likely to enjoy school. At age 16, those children who reported enjoying school at age 6 scored, on average, 14.4 points higher on a compulsory exam—a difference of almost three grade levels—even after controlling for cognitive ability and family socioeconomic status. They were also 29% more likely to obtain above-average grades. DOI: 10.1038/s41539-021-00092-wopens in new window
The lonely live shorter, less-active lives
A study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society indicates that lonely older adults are more likely to live shorter lives than their peers and spend less of their remaining life in good health. Researchers interviewed 3,449 participants in Singapore age 60 and above three times between 2009 and 2015 about their health and level of loneliness. They found that 60-year-olds who reported being sometimes or mostly lonely lived 3 to 5 years less, on average, than did their less-lonely peers. Similar findings were obtained for 70- and 80-year-olds. The researchers also found that participants who felt lonelier lived fewer years in a self-rated state of good health and more years feeling limited in their activities of daily living. DOI: 10.1111/jgs.17343opens in new window
Sustaining success
World-class youth and adult athletes take different paths to success, according to a meta-analysis published in Perspectives on Psychological Science. Researchers examined 51 studies involving 6,096 athletes, including 772 world-class athletes. They found that, compared with less-skilled youth athletes, world-class youth started in their sport at an earlier age, spent less time doing other sports, had more practice time with coaches, and reached milestones more quickly. On the other hand, as compared with less-skilled adult athletes, world-class adult athletes started their sport and reached milestones at a later age and accumulated less coach-led practice time in their primary sport but more such time in other sports. The findings suggest that playing several sports at a young age, rather than specializing in one, leads to greater long-term success. DOI: 10.1177/1745691620974772opens in new window
Tooth loss linked to dementia
Losing teeth is a risk factor for cognitive impairment and dementia, according to a study in JAMDA: The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 14 studies with 34,704 participants, 4,689 of whom had diminished cognitive function. They found that participants with tooth loss were 1.48 times more likely to develop cognitive impairment and 1.28 times more likely to be diagnosed with dementia. Risks for these conditions increased with each additional lost tooth. However, there was no association between tooth loss and cognitive impairment or dementia for participants who wore dentures. The researchers suggest that tooth loss may reflect socioeconomic disadvantages that are also risk factors for cognitive impairment and dementia or that nutritional deficiencies arising from difficulty chewing may contribute to these conditions. DOI: 10.1016/j.jamda.2021.05.009opens in new window
Links between TBI and ADHD
Children who have a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) are more likely to have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than are children with no such injuries or other types of brain injuries, indicates research in JAMA Pediatrics. Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 24 studies from 1981 to 2020 that included 12,374 children ages 4 to 18 who had experienced a TBI and 43,491 children who had not. They found that children who experienced severe TBIs were about 4 to 6 times more likely to also have an ADHD diagnosis. No association was found of ADHD with concussions or with mild or moderate TBI. In addition, the incidence of pre-TBI ADHD diagnoses (16%) was greater than the incidence of ADHD among children in general (11%), which suggests that ADHD is a risk factor for TBI. The data also allow for the possibility that severe TBI can contribute to the onset of ADHD. DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2033opens in new window
Toxic offices breed depression
Difficult workplaces can greatly increase employees’ risk of depression, indicates research in BMJ Open. Researchers surveyed 1,084 Australian full-time employees about their employers’ management practices and assessed them for symptoms of major depressive disorder. They found that workplaces with management practices that fail to protect workers’ mental health and safety were associated with a threefold increase in risk for new major depression symptoms, especially among men. In addition, long working hours were related to a higher number of new cases of severe symptoms of major depression, but not to new cases of milder symptoms. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044133opens in new window
Handwriting fosters literacy skills
Handwriting helps people learn spelling and reading skills faster and better than do typing or video exercises, suggests research in Psychological Science. Researchers taught 42 adult participants in the United States the Arabic alphabet in a variety of ways. All participants watched videos showing the letters being written along with their names and sounds. After watching the video for each letter, a third of the participants saw a quick flash of a letter on the screen and responded whether it was the same letter they’d just seen, a third had to find and press the letter on a keyboard, and a third had to copy the letter with pen and paper. After six sessions, all participants recognized the letters and made few errors when tested. But the handwriting group achieved proficiency faster than the other groups, some in just two sessions. The handwriting group was also better able than the other groups to write words with the letters, use them to spell new words, and use them to read unfamiliar words. DOI: 10.1177/0956797621993111opens in new window
Blame the pandemic
Research in Social Psychological and Personality Science suggests that couples who blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for their stress were more satisfied in their relationships. Researchers analyzed daily self-reports from 191 participants in the United States during April and May 2020 and again 7 months later. They found that although participants were more unhappy in their relationships when experiencing higher levels of stress, the harmful effects of stress on relationships were weaker among those who blamed the pandemic for their problems. This effect, which was more pronounced in women than in men, did not weaken over the 7-month period. DOI: 10.1177/19485506211022813opens in new window
Internet gaming disorder
A study in Psychiatry Research suggests that about 1 in 20 university students may exhibit addictive behavior related to online gaming. Researchers interviewed 2,984 undergraduate and graduate students at a university in the United States between 2007 and 2015 about their online gaming habits and other use of technology. They found that 5.3% had internet gaming disorder, a clinical condition characterized by using the internet and/or an electronic device for at least 15 hours per week and meeting at least five behavioral criteria, such as lying about gaming habits and inability to stop gaming. The researchers also found that students with this disorder were at greater risk than other students for suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, major depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder, nonrestorative sleep, excessive fatigue, fewer close friends, and poor to fair health. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114043opens in new window
Music earworms disrupt sleep
Listening to music can cause sleep disruptions, suggests research in Psychological Science. In the first of two studies, researchers surveyed 199 online participants in the United States about music listening habits, how often they experienced musical earworms (i.e., songs that continually run through one’s mind), and sleep quality. They found that 87% of participants believed that music improves sleep. However, participants who spent more time listening to music throughout the day were more likely to report persistent nighttime earworms, which were associated with poorer sleep quality. In the second study, conducted in a U.S. sleep lab, 48 participants listened to one of three popular songs before falling asleep. The researchers found that participants who experienced an earworm had greater difficulty falling asleep, had more nighttime awakenings, and spent more time in light stages of sleep. The negative effects of earworms were greater for instrumental versions of the songs. DOI: 10.1177/0956797621989724opens in new window
The pandemic has increased eating disorders
During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitalizations resulting from restrictive eating disorders (including anorexia nervosa and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder) increased among young people, indicates a study in Pediatrics. Researchers reviewed records at a large hospital in the midwestern United States for patients ages 10 to 23 who were admitted for restrictive eating disorders from March 2017 through March 2021. They recorded 125 total admissions during the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic (April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021), which was more than double the average number of admissions in the same 12-month periods in the previous 3 years. The number of admissions per month rose steadily over the course of the pandemic period. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2021-052201opens in new window
