News by Subject Social & Behavior

Clinical trials suggest treatment that involves psychedelics can be more effective than psychotherapy alone. More than three million people in the United States are diagnosed each year with post-traumatic stress disorder, whose symptoms include nightmares or unwanted memories of trauma, heightened reactions, anxieties, and depression--and can last months, or even years.

Brain imaging may one day be used to help diagnose mental health disorders--including depression and anxiety--with greater accuracy, according to a new study conducted in a large sample of youth at the University of Pennsylvania and led by Antonia Kaczkurkin, PhD and Theodore Satterthwaite, MD.

Researchers in Brazil evaluated cocaine and crack addicts undergoing rehabilitation for six months and observed a higher relapse rate and worse cognitive impairment among patients who smoked cannabis to try to mitigate their craving for cocaine.

In a UCLA-led study, children and adolescents with a high risk for developing bipolar disorder stayed healthier for longer periods when their family members participated in their psychotherapy sessions.

What drives a person to smoke cigarettes? What role do emotions play in this addictive behavior? Why do some smokers puff more often and more deeply or relapse many years after they've quit? If policy makers had those answers, how could they strengthen the fight against the global smoking epidemic? A new report by researchers based at Harvard University offers a key insight: sadness plays an especially strong role in triggering addictive behavior relative to other negative emotions like disgust.

New research has demonstrated how food producers could change the surface texture of products to change people's perceptions and promote healthy eating.

Research from Rebecca Waller of the University of Pennsylvania and Nicholas Wagner of Boston University found that children who were fearless, lacked social connection, and didn't participate in 'arbitrary imitation' -- copying acts that had no inherent function -- were more likely to develop antisocial behavior.

Young people's view of their family's social status was more strongly associated with their mental health and readiness for future education and work than how much money, education or occupational prestige their parents have, according to new research led by the University of California, Irvine. By 18, youths who rated their family as having a higher place in society had fewer difficulties negotiating the transition to adulthood, independent of the objective position of the family.

'Poor prospective memory hinders the ability to perform a broad range of everyday life activities, which undermines individuals' independence,' noted Dr. Weber. 'Our findings indicate that developing strategies that improve time-based functioning may help individuals with MS improve their prospective memory and support their efforts to maintain their independence.'