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A new study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology looked at whether emotional diversity is associated with better student engagement and achievement. “Our study explored whether students who have varied emotional experiences would also be more engaged and achieve better in school,” study author Cherry Frondozo told us. “We adapted a measure of diversity from ecology to examine the link between the diversity of emotional experiences and achievement.” [More]

Evaluating the food choices made by their peers may improve the eating habits of young adolescents. A study in the United Arab Emirates found that asking adolescents to consciously evaluate the food choices made by their peers caused them to choose healthier foods. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Child Development looked at how non-immigrant children respond when immigrant children are bullied. "This study examined how adolescents react to bias-based bullying of immigrant and non-immigrant peers," study author, Secil Gonultas told us. "We were interested in learning more about when and why adolescents are willing to intervene when they see others being bullied. [More]

Researchers examined 190 young adults and followed them for ten years. They were directly tested on their response to alcohol vs. placebo beverage in initial testing sessions and then they returned five and ten years later to a laboratory in Chicago to undergo identical re-examination testing. “We flew people in from all over the country (and the world!) to come back for their returning sessions,” study author Andrea King told us. “We also conducted regular follow-up interviews semi-annually in that period. I am grateful the participants were so connected to the study, as 99% of those still living continued to participate over the decade.” [More]

Teenagers experienced less anxiety and felt more connection to school during lock down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A study from the University of Bristol examined how 1000 teenagers across 17 schools in the South West of England coped during lockdown when they weren’t attending school in person. [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research looked at tactics for drawing youth to vaping. The study consisted of two parts. First, researchers gathered a substantial amount of evidence about why youth are drawn into vaping. Then, the researchers took all of these reasons that youth cite for taking up e-cigarettes and used it as a framework to see if e-cigarette advertisements tap into any of them. [More]

Teenagers who sleep poorly may be more likely to experience mental health challenges in later life. In research recently published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry researchers from the University of Reading, together with Goldsmiths and Flinders University in the UK found that there was a significant link between poor sleep and mental health issues. [More]

The large majority of young people who experience suicidal thoughts or self-harm experience only mild or moderate mental distress. Researchers from Cambridge University found that young people who thought about suicide or engaged in self harm were at medium risk for mental distress, rather than having obvious symptoms from a diagnosable disorder. [More]

A national survey by the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that 11.4 per cent of 12 to 17-year-olds were depressed in 2014. Ruby Walker was one of them. Her book, Advice I Ignored: Stories and Wisdom from a Formerly Depressed Teen is the only book on teenage mental health written by a teenager. It answers the question everyone's been asking her: What happened? [More]

A study from the University of Arizona examining the habits of teenage girls who take selfies found that taking and distributing selfies on social media isn’t associated with poor body confidence. But selfies can become a problem if teenage girls spend a lot of time debating what photo of themselves to share, or heavily editing photos before sharing. [More]