September 26, 2023
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Journal of Emotion looked at the influence of sleep on subjective well-being through an experience sampling study. “In the study we wanted to find out, how various indicators of sleep influence well-being on the next day. We were hoping to find multiple associations between sleep and well-being,” study author Dr. Anita Lenneis, from the University of Warwick’s Department of Psychology, told us. “We pre-registered our ideas of how the results would look like in advance.”
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August 22, 2023
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in JAMA Neurology looked at the characteristics of emergency department visits among older adults with dementia. “This study provides the first estimates of how often older adults with dementia utilize emergency services and the main reasons that drive such care,” study author Lauren Gerlach told us. “We anticipated that patients with dementia would utilize emergency services frequently but were unaware of what the main drivers of care were.”
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August 15, 2023
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Journal of Sex Research looked at bisexual people’s health experience in primary care in English. “The study was part of a larger study where we used data from the General Practice Patient Survey (GPPS) from England across a few years to track whether disclosing/reporting of sexuality had changed over the years,” study author Carrie Llewellyn told us. “We found from this part of the study that reporting of being straight (heterosexual) was declining year on year and hence identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual was increasing.”
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August 4, 2023
by Elizabeth Pratt
Children who read for pleasure experience better mental health during adolescence as well as superior performance in cognitive tests.
Research published in Psychological Medicine found that roughly 12 hours of reading per week was the perfect amount associated with an improvement in brain structure.
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August 1, 2023
by Patricia Tomasi
A recent study looked at paternal and maternal psychiatric history and risk of preterm and early term birth. It was a nation-wide study using Swedish registers. “It has been known for some time that women who are clinically anxious or depressed are more likely to deliver a child prematurely,” study author Michael E. Silverman told us. “Indeed, considerable evidence now exists showing a relationship between various psychiatric illnesses and the likelihood of delivering a premature infant.”
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July 4, 2023
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Journal of Psychological Medicine looked at early-initiated childhood reading for pleasure and its associations with better cognitive performance, mental well-being and brain structure in early teens. “I and my co-authors wanted to understand the effects of reading for pleasure in young children on brain structure, cognition, school academic achievement and mental health,” study author Barbara J. Shakahian told us. “Some of the previously published literature suggested that there should be beneficial effects on cognition, but there had not been a very large scale study, with over 10,000 adolescents before on all these measures together.”
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June 30, 2023
by Elizabeth Pratt
The US Preventive Services Task Force has recommended adults under the age of 65 be screened for anxiety disorders.
This is the first time anxiety screening for this group has been recommended.
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June 27, 2023
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Journal of Athletic Training looked at self-reported mental health measures among incoming collegiate student-athletes who had COVID-19. “We were interested in seeing if a young, highly active group experienced a lasting emotional upheaval following recovery from COVID-19,” study author Melissa Anderson told us. “Based on reports that up to a third of people who had a COVID-19 diagnosis experience persistent psychological symptoms, we expected to see similar results in our study."
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June 20, 2023
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in Frontiers in Public Health looked at how attending live sporting events can predict subjective wellbeing and reduces loneliness. “The data was collected as part of a large government survey looking at all sorts of things measuring people’s health and wellbeing, as well as some other information about them, such as their age, income level, and some information about what activities they take part in,” study author Dr. Helen Keyes told us. “Our study honed in on the questions that participants were asked about their wellbeing (life satisfaction, sense that life is worthwhile, loneliness, happiness and anxiety) and whether attendance at a live sporting event over the past 12 months had any impact on these measures.”
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June 6, 2023
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Journal of Dental Research looked at dental health and mental health in a nationally representative cohort. “The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between oral health and mental health both cross-sectionally and longitudinally,” study author A. Kalaigian told us. “In addition, we sought to evaluate the impact of mental problems (i.e., internalizing, externalizing, and substance abuse) on adverse oral health conditions (i.e., bleeding gums, loose teeth, self-rated oral health, tooth extraction, gum disease, and bone loss around teeth) when controlling for potential confounders. Through this work, we hoped to inform dental practitioners in treating patients experiencing mental illness."
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