Sustaining attention, self-assurance with age, and more scientific studies

Research in Psychological Bulletin suggests that no matter how engaging, the longer a task takes, the harder it is to sustain attention. Researchers analyzed and combined data from more than 10,000 people who had participated in 68 different mind-wandering studies. Participants in these studies completed tasks of varying types and difficulty while researchers periodically interrupted them to gauge their focus. These tasks mostly took place in quiet environments with no outside distractions. The researchers found that mind-wandering increased in frequency over time during task performance, with the mind off track at least half the time toward the end of tasks.
DOI: 10.1037/bul0000424opens in new window

Research in Psychology and Aging shows that, when it comes to self-control, younger adults are more susceptible to peer influence than middle-age and older individuals. Researchers asked 157 adults ages 18 to 80 in the United States to respond to randomly timed surveys via text message asking if they had experienced a craving or desire (e.g., having a glass of wine or checking social media) in the previous 3 hours. If they did experience a craving or desire, they were asked to report whether the desire conflicted with personal goals (such as healthy living or saving money) and whether other people were urging them to indulge. Participants also rated the strength of both the urge and the conflict, and shared whether they acted on the craving. Results showed that when desires were experienced in the presence of others enacting that desire, middle-age and older adults found it easier to control their urges to partake than younger adults.
DOI: 10.1037/pag0000790opens in new window

A study in Scientific Reports indicates that people with depression have higher body temperatures. Researchers analyzed data from 20,880 participants who wore a device that measures body temperature and self-reported their body temperature and depression symptoms multiple times per day. The 7-month study began in early 2020 and included data from participants in 106 countries. The results showed that with each increasing level of depression symptom severity, participants had higher self-reported and sensor-assessed body temperatures. The researchers offered several possible explanations for the link between body temperature and depression, including high levels of inflammation, low skin conductance, and neurotransmitter imbalance. The researchers suggest the overall findings could inspire new treatment approaches for depression.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-51567-wopens in new window

Despite recent concerns to the contrary, the popular antidiabetes and weight-loss drug semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic) carried a lower risk of suicidal ideation in patients with Type 2 diabetes or obesity than other such medications, according to a study in Nature Medicine. An analysis of 1,572,885 patients with Type 2 diabetes in the United States indicated that those taking semaglutide—a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist—had a significantly lower risk of suicidal ideation compared with patients taking other antiobesity medications. A separate analysis of 240,618 patients who were overweight or obese showed that those taking semaglutide had a significantly lower risk of suicidal ideation compared with those on non-GLP-1 antiobesity medications.
DOI: 10.1038/s41591-023-02672-2opens in new window

According to a study in JAMA Psychiatry, across the globe, more than 1 in 10 people ages 5 to 24 had a diagnosable mental disorder in 2019, and more than 1 in 100 had a substance use disorder (SUD). Using data from the Global Burden of Disease study, researchers found that in 2019, 293 million of 2.5 billion individuals (11.63%) ages 5 to 24 had at least one diagnosable mental disorder, and 31 million (1.22%) had an SUD. By age group, the prevalence of mental disorders was 6.80% for ages 5 to 9, 12.40% for ages 10 to 14, 13.96% for ages 15 to 19, and 13.63% for ages 20 to 24. In terms of burden, around one fifth of all disease-related disability was attributable to mental disorders among this population. Additionally, those in the 5-to-24 age group encompass about one fourth of the mental disorder burden across the entire life span.
DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.5051opens in new window

The powerful psychedelic compound known as DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine) shows promise in reducing symptoms of depression, according to a study in Scientific Reports. Researchers administered intravenous DMT to 13 healthy participants with previous DMT experience from numerous countries. The participants took a placebo the following week. The researchers measured mental health outcomes including depression and anxiety symptoms at baseline and 1 week after the DMT and placebo sessions. In a separate study, 25 participants received DMT and the placebo in a pseudo-balanced order across four dosing sessions on two separate days, with a two-week gap between sessions. The researchers found significant reductions in depression symptoms following DMT administration in both studies. The researchers also discovered an association between the intensity of DMT-induced “oceanic boundlessness”—a feeling of oneness with the world—and improvements in mental health outcomes, suggesting the qualitative aspects of the psychedelic experience might play a crucial role in its therapeutic potential. In addition, a significant reduction in neuroticism was observed in the second study, while no changes were observed for anxiety, well-being, optimism, or meaning in life.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53363-yopens in new window

People with borderline personality disorder (BPD) tend to prefer introspective musical genres, such as classical or jazz, over rebellious genres like heavy metal or punk, suggests research in Psychology of Music. Researchers analyzed the preferences of 549 participants in Poland with BPD symptoms across 14 musical genres. They also measured the reasons people indicate that they listen to music using a scale that included items related to self-awareness, social connectivity, and emotional and arousal regulation. They found that participants with higher BPD symptom severity preferred reflective and complex musical genres, such as classical or jazz, while showing less interest in intense and defiant genres like heavy metal or punk. The researchers found that the more severe the BPD symptoms, the less participants valued music for its capacity to foster self-awareness and social bonds, resulting in a decreased preference for rebellious music.
DOI: 10.1177/03057356231222293opens in new window

Whether it’s job applicants, actors auditioning for a role, or Tinder dates, the later we meet and evaluate people in a sequence, the more negatively we rate them, suggests research in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Across six studies, where a total of 13,892 online participants used a variety of methods to rate photos and videos of others that explored numerous scenarios (e.g., evaluating random photos of Facebook users), researchers found that participants’ descriptions of people they encountered in a sequence became increasingly specific—and more negative—over time.
DOI: 10.1037/pspa0000383opens in new window

According to a study in Science, machine learning models can mimic how children learn language, offering new insights into early language acquisition. Researchers outfitted a single child with a head-mounted camera to capture video and audio recordings from the age of 6 months to 25 months. They fed 600,000 video frames paired with 37,500 transcribed utterances derived from 61 hours of video to a machine learning model designed to learn multimodal representations—a combination of visual and auditory elements. The researchers then presented the model with the target word and an array of four different image options and had it match images to target words. The results showed that the model could learn many words and concepts that occurred in the child’s everyday experience. Furthermore, the model could generalize some learned words to very different images than those presented during training, reflecting an ability also seen in lab tests of young children.
DOI: 10.1126/science.adi1374opens in new window

People with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a cerebellum about 2% smaller than unaffected individuals, according to a study in Molecular Psychiatry. The study could not indicate whether a smaller cerebellum predisposes a person to PTSD or whether PTSD shrinks the brain region. Researchers used MRI to scan the brains of 4,215 adults from around the world, about a third of whom had been diagnosed with PTSD. They found that participants with PTSD had cerebellums about 2% smaller than those without the disorder, with reduced volume in specific areas within the cerebellum related to emotion and memory. Furthermore, those with more severe forms of the disorder had an even smaller overall cerebellar volume.
DOI: 10.1038/s41380-023-02352-0opens in new window

According to research in the Industrial Relations Journal, many workplace wellness interventions have little to no benefit for individual employees. Researchers surveyed matched pairs of workers (46,336 in all) in the same workplace (233 organizations in all) and compared well-being measures from workers who participated in 90 different wellness programs—including resilience training, mindfulness, time management courses, and well-being apps—with those of their colleagues who did not participate. Across multiple self-reported well-being measures, wellness program participants appeared no better off. There was one notable exception: Employees allowed to do charity or volunteer work reported improved well-being. The researchers suggested that organizational interventions, such as changes to scheduling, management practices, performance review, job design, benefits, and pay, may be more beneficial for improving well-being in the workplace.
DOI: 10.1111/irj.12418opens in new window

Sexist men have a greater interest in engaging in sexual relationships with robots, suggests research in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. Researchers presented 212 adults (157 women and 55 men) in Canada with an online survey to assess their levels of sexism, social dominance orientation, and sociosexual orientation in relation to their interest in both “robofriendship” and “robosexuality.” They found that hostile sexism—defined as an adversarial view of gender relations in which women are perceived as seeking to control men—predicted greater interest in robosexuality, particularly for men, and diminished interest in robofriendship. Conversely, women of all levels of sexism, social dominance orientation (defined as an individual’s preference for less hierarchical intergroup relations), and sociosexual orientation exhibited a greater interest in robofriendship than men. However, women high in social dominance orientation indicated a greater interest in sexual relationships with robots compared with women low in social dominance orientation. Finally, participants who were generally more open to casual sex showed less interest in sexual relationships with robots.
DOI: 10.1177/02654075241234377opens in new window

Research suggests that people experiencing a lack of sleep will be in their worst moods in the early morning and their best moods in the early evening. In a study in PLOS Digital Health, researchers analyzed data from 2,602 first-year medical interns in the United States over 2 years. They outfitted the interns with Fitbits to measure continuous heart rate, step count, and sleep data. Participants also reported their mood on a scale from 1 to 10 randomly throughout the day. A total of 489,523 mood reports were collected. The researchers found that the interns’ self-reported moods were lowest around 5 a.m. and highest around 5 p.m. They also found that mood deteriorated the longer the participants were awake beyond their usual bedtime. Lack of sleep made participants’ mood swings more intense.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pdig.0000439opens in new window

According to research in Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, the overall speed of speech is a better indicator of cognitive health than the ability to find the right word. Researchers assessed the speech characteristics and cognitive abilities of 125 healthy adults in Canada, ages 18 to 90. The participants engaged in a picture-naming game, followed by a task describing complex images, with their speech being recorded and analyzed for speed and hesitations. The researchers also assessed different aspects of the participants’ executive function. They found that executive function was directly correlated with participants’ ability to quickly name pictures and their overall speaking rate. They also found that the frequency and duration of pauses participants took to find the right word did not correlate with cognitive health. Overall, the findings suggest that slowed-down speech could signal cognitive decline, while difficulties in word retrieval might be a normal aspect of aging.
DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2024.2315774opens in new window

A study in Economics & Human Biology indicates that people who use cannabis during their teenage years are less likely to attain college and graduate degrees compared with their peers who abstain. Researchers analyzed data from 8,953 participants in the United States surveyed during their teenage years in the mid-1990s about their drug use and who were later reinterviewed when they were ages 33 to 43. The researchers found that teenagers who used cannabis had a notably higher chance of continuing its use into adulthood. Moreover, adolescent users were approximately 10% less likely to attain a college degree and 3% less likely to earn a graduate degree compared with their peers who did not use cannabis during their teenage years. Employing a method to isolate cannabis use from family characteristics and other environmental factors, the researchers claimed the likelihood of completing college and graduate degrees could decrease by as much as 44% and 13%, respectively, for adolescent cannabis users.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2023.101347opens in new window

According to a study in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, prenatal exposure to general anesthesia was linked to a 31% increased risk of developing a disruptive or internalizing behavioral disorder (DIBD) during childhood. Researchers identified 34,271 children in the United States exposed to general anesthesia because of maternal appendectomy or cholecystectomy (removal of the gallbladder) during pregnancy between 1999 and 2013 and 171,355 age-matched controls. They found that prenatal general anesthesia exposure was associated with a 31% increased risk for a subsequent DIBD diagnosis, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, behavioral disorders, developmental speech or language disorders, and autism, with higher risk when the exposure occurred in the second or third trimester of pregnancy. C-sections were not addressed in the study.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bja.2024.01.025opens in new window

Patients admitted to psychiatric wards with an open-door policy experienced the same level of coercive techniques as those admitted to closed-door wards, indicates a study in The Lancet Psychiatry. Researchers randomly assigned 245 psychiatric patients in Norway to one of two wards with an open-door policy (73% admitted involuntarily) and 311 patients to one of three closed-door wards (75% admitted involuntarily) that do not allow patients to leave. They found no significant difference in the proportion of patient stays with exposure to coercive therapeutic techniques, such as involuntary medication, seclusion, and physical and mechanical restraints (26.5% for closed-door wards and 33.4% for open-door wards). In addition, reported incidents of violence against staff were similar in both types of wards; median length of stay was shorter in the open-door wards (16 days) than in the closed-door wards (21 days). Despite experiencing similar treatment techniques, patients in open-door wards rated their experience as less coercive and safer than those in the closed-door wards.
DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(24)00039-7opens in new window