Statewide pandemic restrictions not related to psychological distress

Despite concerns that stay-at-home orders and other government efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic would cause lasting harm to people’s mental health, research published by the American Psychological Association found that state restrictions in the first six months of the pandemic were not related to worse mental health.

NUS study discovers a class of meditative practices that produces different effects from mindfulness-related meditation

Mindfulness studies have long dominated our understanding of the neurobiology of meditation, with practitioners of mindfulness-related meditation taught to be vigilant of the content of their thoughts so as to experience relaxation and stress reduction to improve attention and focus. A recent study led by Associate Professor Maria Kozhevnikov from the Department of Psychology at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, has discovered a different class of meditative practices that seeks to employ and regulate the state of stress that an individual experiences – rather than to reduce it – to achieve an even more heightened state of focus and attention.

Continual, clear, factual texting is key to first responder team success, UAH professor finds

First responder teams better grasp an emergency situation when they use continual, clear texting communication of factual information in a way that all members can understand, and that is key to a successful team response, according to new research at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Completes 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment to Help Understand and Strengthen Its Neighborhood

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) completed the 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), part of the hospital’s continual commitment to better understand the health of its primary “neighborhood” – Los Angeles County – and the people who live there. The CHNA takes a deep dive into the community’s health and social needs enabling the hospital to implement strategies to address the key areas of the report’s findings.

Female Managers Pay Fairer

There are two levels of reference for the elementary question of an appropriate remuneration of work: the markets with their structure of supply, demand, and productivity as well as the needs of the employees. Operationally decisive, however, is also what managers are guided by when assessing wages. A study recently published in PLOS ONE by researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) provides new insights into this issue.

A person’s true feelings can be revealed in language patterns

What someone says out loud about a group of people and how they actually feel about them aren’t always the same thing, but a person’s true sentiments about other groups of people can be revealed by the language patterns they use in describing their feelings.
That’s one of the key findings from a new study by David Markowitz, an assistant professor in the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication.

1 in 2 Black adolescents faced online racial discrimination at least once in 2020: study

Against the backdrop of racial tensions across America in late 2020, online platforms became a place of discussion, discourse and even protest. Through this time period, Black adolescents experienced a different effect than their white peers; they more distinctly suffered mental health issues after being confronted with online racial discrimination, according to a University of Pittsburgh study.

Higher voice pitch lets female faces appear younger

Psychologists and biologists around Christina Krumpholz and Helmut Leder from the University of Vienna investigated whether voice pitch can influence how female faces are evaluated. Their conclusion: a higher voice does indeed influence how the corresponding face is evaluated. However, this does not apply to all ratings. Faces with a higher voice were rated as younger, but other assumptions that the faces are also rated as more attractive, more feminine or healthier do not apply. The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Inaugural Pitt report finds caregivers with disabilities face poverty, health issues – need policy support

Caregivers with their own disabilities face a litany of complications while trying to tend to aging or ailing spouses and partners: health problems, mental health difficulties, work issues, even financial and healthcare strains, according to the inaugural white paper from a University of Pittsburgh center studying caregiving.

APA poll shows employees plan to seek workplaces with mental health supports

Eight in 10 U.S. workers say that how employers support their employees’ mental health will be an important consideration when they seek future job opportunities, while 71% believe their employer is more concerned about the mental health of employees now than in the past, according to a survey from the American Psychological Association.

Seat Assignments Drive Friendships Among Elementary School Children

Most teachers focus on academic considerations when assigning seats. A new study is the first to show that these classroom seat assignments also have important implications for children’s friendships and the enormous influence that teachers wield over the interpersonal lives of children.

Fewer youth attempt suicide in states with hate crime laws

When states enact hate crime laws that protect LGBTQ populations, the rate of suicide attempts among high school students drops significantly, and not just among sexual and gender minority students, but among heterosexual students as well, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

Who benefits from brain training, and why?

Irvine, Calif., June 21, 2022 — If you are skilled at playing puzzles on your smartphone or tablet, what does it say about how fast you learn new puzzles, or more broadly, how well can you focus in school or at work? In the language of psychologists, does “near transfer” predict “far transfer”? A team of psychologists from the University of California, Irvine and the University of California, Riverside reports in Nature Human Behavior that people who show near transfer are more likely to show far transfer.

Mental health assessments often fail to identify suicidal ideation with gun owners

More people are willing to talk about their mental health struggles, including thoughts of suicide. Now, a new study by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine aims to ensure medical professionals are asking the right questions to prevent a tragedy.

NIH awards Joseph Mikels $2.6 million to research motivation and health

Tapping into positive emotions and social connections may be key to motivating older adults to exercise. DePaul University psychology professor Joseph Mikels has been awarded a $2.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue his work on emotion, aging and decision-making throughout the life span.

For cooperative teams, modesty leaves the best impression

People may forgo displaying luxury brands and other signals of status when they want to convince others that they will collaborate well with a team, as people who signal their wealth and social status could be perceived as uncooperative, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

It’s true: Be nice and others are more likely to be nice to you

When two people meet for the first time, they tend to see the other person as having a similar personality to their own. A friendly and sociable person will tend to see others as friendly and sociable. Someone who is shy and reserved will see those characteristics in others. In the world of psychology, this is known as the “assumed similarity effect.” Psychologists have theorized people use their own personalities to fill in the blanks with someone they don’t know well. Now University of Oregon psychologists have proposed, tested and found support for another contributing factor: people tend to reciprocate each other’s behavior. A person who acts friendly and sociable is more likely get the same in return.

Mechanisms of addiction: Psychology professor receives NIH grant for brain research

A five-year, $2.59 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will allow a psychology professor at Binghamton University, State University of New York to study the mechanisms of addiction.