COVID and partner aggression
According to research in Psychology of Violence, reports of physical and psychological intimate partner aggression increased 6- to 8-fold after shelter-in-place restrictions were put in place at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers asked 510 online participants in the United States—half of whom identified as a sexual or gender minority—in April 2020 to answer questions related to the period prior to and after the onset of COVID-19 in their community. Participants answered questions about pandemic-related stress, heavy-drinking habits, and acts of physical and psychological aggression toward their partner. The researchers found that physical aggression increased from an average of two incidents per year pre-pandemic to 15 incidents per year once shelter-in-place restrictions began. Reports of psychological aggression increased from 16 incidents per year to 96. While incidence of intimate partner aggression remained high among heavy drinkers, rates among this group did not increase during lockdown. DOI: 10.1037/vio0000395opens in new window
Imposter phenomenon
Women and early career academics working in fields that prize raw talent or genius are more likely to experience impostor feelings—a sense of inadequacy despite evidence of competence and success—suggests research in the Journal of Educational Psychology. Researchers analyzed survey responses of 4,870 academic faculty, postdoctoral fellows, medical residents, and graduate students from nine public and private universities in the United States representing more than 80 science and humanities fields. Participants quantified their experiences of impostor feelings and the extent to which their field is driven by individual brilliance. The researchers found that the more participants in each field perceived professional success to require exceptional intelligence or innate skill, the more women and early career academics reported feeling like impostors compared with other academics. The results were especially pronounced among women from racial and ethnic groups that are traditionally underrepresented in academia. DOI: 10.1037/edu0000669opens in new window
Body image ages well
A study in Body Image indicates that satisfaction with body size, shape, and appearance gradually increases as people age, with later years characterized by the highest levels of self-confidence. Researchers asked 15,264 people in New Zealand between the ages of 18 and 94 to rate from 1 to 7 how happy they were with their body image during the period between 2010 and 2015. The average rating for women across all age groups was 4.05, while for men it was 4.41. Increases in body confidence were more dramatic among women as they got older (moving from 3.80 in the youngest group to 4.33 in the oldest), whereas men tended to have a more positive overall attitude toward their bodies that gradually improved in their later years (moving from 4.64 in the youngest group to 4.89 in the oldest). DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.06.007opens in new window
Scientific misinformation
People who trust in science are less likely to be duped by misinformation, unless that misinformation appears to be backed by scientists, suggests research in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Researchers asked 532 online participants to read an article about the fictitious “Valza virus,” which, according to the article, had been created as a government bioweapon and subsequently covered up. The researchers found that people with a greater trust in (or understanding of) science were less likely to believe the conspiracy. However, participants with a high belief in science were more likely to believe the article if it quoted fake scientists backing the conspiracy claim. Results were similar for a second study involving an article about genetically modified foods causing tumors. In a final study, participants were less likely to believe a conspiracy if they had first been asked to think about the importance of critically evaluating evidence. DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104184opens in new window
COVID disrupts brain connections
Some COVID-19 survivors report significantly higher symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTS), and these symptoms are associated with disruption of the function of large-scale brain connections, according to a study in Neurobiology of Stress. Researchers collected fMRI data and self-reported PTS symptoms from 50 COVID-19 survivors along with data from matched control participants. The COVID-19 survivors were discharged in early 2020 from hospitals in Wuhan, China, and were tested about 6 months post-discharge. The researchers found that the COVID-19 survivors self-reported significantly more PTS symptoms than the controls. Survivors also exhibited disorganized activity in the supplementary motor area of the brain and abnormal brain connectivity patterns over time between sensorimotor and visual networks, both of which were associated with PTS symptoms. DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2021.100377opens in new window
PTSD predicts complicated grief
Among individuals who survive a trauma resulting in the loss of a close friend or loved one, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can predict complicated grief—persistent, intense sadness and an inability to cope or accept the loss—years after the trauma, indicates research in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Researchers interviewed 275 bereaved survivors of the 2011 gun-violence massacre on Utøya island in Norway that left 69 dead at 4, 14, and 30 months after the event. They found that participants who reported PTSD symptoms were more likely to also report symptoms of complicated grief. Participants who experienced PTSD symptoms 1 year after the attack experienced even greater symptoms of complicated grief 2 years later. The researchers also found that complicated grief did not predict later PTSD, suggesting that targeting PTSD symptoms may mitigate later development of complicated grief. DOI: 10.1037/tra0001087opens in new window
National parochialism
According to a Nature Communications study, people cooperate more readily with people from their own country than with those from other countries. Researchers asked 18,411 participants from 42 countries to complete a prisoner’s dilemma task in which they were given 10 monetary units and had to decide how many to keep and how many to give to a partner. Before playing, participants were told that any money given away or received would be doubled. Despite the optimal result being both parties always giving away all of their money, the researchers found that participants were more likely to do so when their partner was a fellow countryman than when they came from a different nation. The result held regardless of whether participants’ decisions were to be made public, whether the money exchanged was imaginary or real, and whether partners were from culturally different or similar nations. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24787-1opens in new window
Religiosity shapes drug use attitudes
According to research in the Journal of Rural Mental Health, people in rural areas of Appalachia and the midwestern United States who regularly attend religious services are more likely to support punitive rather than protective drug policies. Researchers surveyed 3,096 participants from 14 states in Appalachia and the Midwest about their own alcohol and drug use and their attitudes about social support and public policy related to alcohol and drug use. They also asked participants about their religious affiliation, religious service attendance, and religious leaders’ attitudes about substance use support and public policy. The researchers found that while religious affiliation had no impact on either protective or punitive drug policy attitudes, participants’ likelihood to support punishment of drug users increased in correlation with religious service attendance. However, if participants’ religious leaders supported protective policies, they were more likely to also support such policies, and vice versa. DOI: 10.1037/rmh0000188opens in new window
Methamphetamine overdoses soar
Overdose deaths involving psychostimulants other than cocaine—primarily methamphetamine—increased by 180% in recent years, while methamphetamine use increased nearly 50%, according to a study in JAMA Psychiatry. Researchers examined data from a national survey of 195,711 respondents ages 18 to 64 and an overdose database in the United States, both of which covered the years 2015 and 2019. They found that non-cocaine-related overdose deaths increased from 5,526 in 2015 to 15,489 in 2019. Past-year methamphetamine use increased over the 4-year period from 1.4 million people to 2.0 million people. Also, the number of people self-identifying as frequent methamphetamine users increased over that time frame from 615,000 to 1,021,000. DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.2588opens in new window
Few ‘outgrow’ ADHD
Just 10% of children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) completely “outgrow” it, with the rest showing residual symptoms into young adulthood, according to a study in The American Journal of Psychiatry. Researchers followed a group of 558 children with ADHD in the United States from age 8 to age 25. The cohort was assessed eight times, once every 2 years, to evaluate whether they had symptoms of ADHD. The researchers also asked family members and teachers about the participants’ symptoms. Unlike previous research suggesting 50% of ADHD cases are resolved by adulthood, the researchers found that 90% of participants experienced intermittent periods of at least mild symptom remission into young adulthood. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2021.21010032opens in new window
The cost of self-control
According to research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, people are willing to pay to avoid temptation. In the first of four studies, researchers found that 32 participants in the United States who had just started a diet were willing to pay an average of $1.57 from a $10 endowment to proportionately increase the chance that a tempting treat (e.g., a chocolate brownie) would be replaced with a healthy food item for the duration of a 30-minute trial. In three additional studies with 96 participants, new dieters undergoing acute stress paid $3.38 to avoid temptation, those being offered an additional $15 bonus to not eat the treat paid $2.85, and those both under acute stress and working for the $15 bonus paid $2.74. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2018726118opens in new window
Closeness with parents helps teens
Research in the Journal of Family Psychology indicates that children in close, supportive relationships with parents at key points during adolescence have fewer adjustment issues. Researchers surveyed 388 mostly White adolescents from 202 families in the United States who had both a father and a mother. Participant data was gathered at three points between the ages of 12 and 20 and included questions on participants’ weight concerns, depression symptoms, and measurements of self-esteem and parent-child intimacy. The researchers found that father-adolescent closeness was associated with fewer depressive symptoms across adolescence and that mother-adolescent closeness was associated with fewer depressive symptoms during mid-adolescence, around age 15. They also found that father-adolescent intimacy was associated with fewer weight concerns for both girls and boys throughout adolescence. Mother-youth intimacy was associated with higher self-esteem across most of adolescence for girls and early and late adolescence for boys. DOI: 10.1037/fam0000864opens in new window
Social media amplifies moral outrage
Through social learning processes, “likes” and “shares” on social media platforms such as Twitter amplify expressions of moral outrage over time, often resulting in the spread of more extreme views, according to research in Science Advances. Researchers analyzed 12.7 million tweets from 7,331 Twitter users, about half of whom were deemed “politically engaged.” They found that positive feedback for tweets expressing moral outrage increased the likelihood of future expressions of outrage. The researchers also discovered that less politically engaged users were more influenced by likes and shares and, therefore, more likely to express outrage over time. In two additional experimental studies with 240 participants in the United States using a simulated Twitter-like environment where social feedback was manipulated, participants conformed their expressions of outrage to the norms of their social networks, suggesting norm learning also guides online outrage. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe5641opens in new window
IQ lower in COVID survivors
COVID-19 survivors scored lower on an intelligence test compared with those who were never infected, according to research in EClinicalMedicine. Researchers analyzed data from 81,337 participants in the United Kingdom who completed a test measuring different dimensions of cognitive ability between January and December 2020. A total of 12,689 participants reported having experienced COVID-19. After controlling for variables such as age, sex, education level, and preexisting medical conditions, the researchers found that COVID-19 survivors underperformed on the intelligence test compared with those who had not contracted the virus. The greatest discrepancies were observed for tasks requiring reasoning, planning, and problem-solving. Participants who had been sick enough to require a ventilator performed the worst; their deficits were equivalent to a 7-point differential in IQ. While 275 participants took the intelligence test both before and after contracting COVID-19, the researchers were unable to draw conclusions about cause and effect. DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101044opens in new window
Lonely together
People living in high-density neighborhoods, especially those occupying tightly packed apartments, are more likely to feel lonely and socially isolated, suggests a study in Landscape and Urban Planning. Researchers compared health data from 405,925 participants in 22 United Kingdom cities to data about their housing type and neighborhood density. They found that for every additional 1,000 housing units within 1 kilometer of their home, participants’ self-reported loneliness and social isolation increased by 2.8% and 11.4%, respectively. The effects of high-density living were more pronounced in men and retirees, who were 23.5% and 17.4% more likely to report loneliness, respectively, than counterparts living in the lowest residential densities. The negative impact of high-density living was primarily confined to apartment dwellers, as people living in dense neighborhoods of detached housing were less likely to experience loneliness and social isolation. DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104194opens in new window
