More Siblings Results In Poorer Mental Health For Teenagers

Teenagers who grow up in large families have poorer mental health than their peers who grew up in a family with fewer siblings. Researchers from Ohio State University found that in an analysis of children growing up in the US and China, a larger number of siblings had ramifications for the mental health of teenagers. [More]

New Study Wants To Address How We Build Cities That Impact Kids’ Mental Health

A new study published in Cities and Health looked at associations between real-time, self-reported adolescent mental health and urban and architectural design concepts. “First, we designed a walking route (1.7km) with seven stops, and quantified the actual spaces according to a number of features of pedestrian and transit oriented design,” study author Leia Minaker told us. “Next, we took 70 kids between nine and 17 years old on a walk, and had them fill out these surveys at each stop.” [More]

New Study Looks At School Lockdown Drills And Exposure To Violence

A new study published in the Journal of School Violence looked at assessing the relationship between exposure to violence and perceptions of school safety and emergency preparedness in the context of lockdown drills. “Our study considers the relationship between students’ participation in lockdown drills, their exposure to violence at school, and their perceptions of school safety and emergency preparedness,” study author Jaclyn Schildkraut told us. [More]

New Study Looks At How Smartphones Can Detect Depression

A recently published study looked at depression detection using in-the-wild smartphone images. “Our study, MoodCapture, explores the innovative use of smartphone technology to detect signs of depression through ‘in-the-wild’ facial expressions captured by the front-facing camera during routine phone unlocks or app use,” co-first author Subigya Nepal told us. “We aimed to assess whether these spontaneous images, which reflect authentic emotions free from the biases of self-presentation, could serve as reliable indicators for depression." [More]

Can Mindfulness Protect Worker Well-Being In A Digital Workplace?

A new study published in PLOS ONE looked at personal resources to mitigate the dark side of digital working. “The study focused on the personal resources of mindfulness and digital confidence and ways in which these resources can help to reduce negative well-being impacts from working digitally,” study author Elizabeth Marash told us. “We aimed to understand how experiences such as technology-related stress, anxiety and overload might manifest in higher burnout and poorer health.” [More]

People Recall Moments After A Distressing Event Better Than What Happens Before

People remember moments immediately after a distressing episode with more clarity than the moment preceding the distressing event. Research investigating memory and trauma published in Cognition and Emotion could help inform the approach to treating PTSD, assist clinicians in combating memory loss in Alzheimer’s and even improve evaluation of eyewitness testimonies. [More]

How Did The Pandemic Affect Women's Decisions On Pregnancy?

A new study published in BMC Public Health looked at married women’s decisions to delay childbearing, as well as loneliness, severe psychological distress, and suicidal ideation under crisis during the pandemic. “This study intended to find out how pregnancy decisions affect the well-being of women,” study author Midori Matsushima told us. “We used the COVID-19 pandemic as a natural experiment that affected the population as a whole.” [More]

Getting Angry May Help Achieve Goals

Got a challenging goal you want to achieve? Getting angry may help. Despite sometimes being seen as a negative emotion, research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology has found that anger can be a powerful source of motivation for people to achieve their goals. [More]

Is Less Social Media At Work A Good Thing?

A new study published in the Journal of Behavior and Information Technology looked at whether less social media use can contribute to more satisfaction, work-engagement and mentally healthy employees. “The study focused on the question how to reduce potential negative effects of social media use on work- and mental health related variables,” study author Dr. Julia Brailovskaia told us. “Based on our previous findings, we hypothesized that the reduction of social media use time will have those positive effects.” [More]