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Psychology
Psychological outcomes in children of same-sex vs different-sex parents
For children of lesbian or gay parents, psychological adjustment is about the same as in children of heterosexual parents, reports a study. "Our findings...
Helicopter parents are doing more harm than good
Research published by the American Psychological Association found that over-controlling parenting can negatively affect a child's ability to manage his or her emotions and...
Religious affiliation linked to increased longevity
A US study of obituaries has found that people with religious affiliations lived nearly four years longer than those with no ties to religion....
Quantifying the tipping point for large social change
When organisations turn a blind eye to sexual harassment in the workplace, how many people need to take a stand before the behaviour is...
SA guidelines for psychologists working with LGBTI people
An historic document was launched in Johannesburg recently by the Psychological Society of South Africa. Suntosh R Pillay, a clinical psychologist in a public...
Long-lasting benefits of using meditation to sustain attention
Gains in the ability to sustain attention developed through intensive meditation training are maintained up to seven years later, reports a study is based...
Husbands more prone to illness when wives are primary breadwinners
US men whose female partners are the primary bread-winners in their families are more likely to suffer from conditions such as lung diseases, ulcers...
Meditation helps attentiveness and ability to focus in old age
Regular and intensive meditation sessions over the course of a lifetime could help a person remain attentive and focused well into old age. This...
Helping shatter the stigma of doctors' mental health problems
SIGECAPS is the mnemonic medical students memorise to learn the core symptoms of depression: sleep, interest, guilt, energy, concentration, appetite, psychomotor retardation, and suicidality....
'Boomerang generation' reduces parents' quality of life
Adult children who return to live with their parents, the so-called “boomerang generation”, cause a significant decline in parents' quality of life and well-being,...
Holding a loved one's hand helps to diminish pain
Simply holding hands with a comforting partner will synchronise not only breathing and heart rate, but also brain wave patterns, accompanied with a decrease...
Sibling bullying triples risk of later psychotic disorders
People who were bullied by siblings during childhood are up to three times more likely to develop psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia in early...
Positive views on ageing protect against dementia even among the high-risk
Older adults who acquired positive beliefs about old age from their surrounding culture are less likely to develop dementia, according to a Yale study....
Conspiracy theorists more likely to be anti-vaxxers
People who believe Princess Diana was murdered or that John F Kennedy's assassination was an elaborate plot are more likely to think that vaccines...
Prevalence of depression 'overestimated'
The common practice of using patient self-report screening questionnaires rather than diagnostic interviews conducted by researchers has resulted in overestimates of the prevalence of...
A romantic partner's scent helps lower stress levels
The scent of a romantic partner can help lower stress levels, research from the University of British Columbia has found. The study found women...
Selfitis — a genuine 'psychological complex'
‘Selfitis’ – the obsessive taking of selfies on mobile phones – appears to be a real psychological condition according to a UK-India study.
Researchers at...
Heavy Facebook users treat online friends as 'digital objects'
If you're materialistic, you're likely to use Facebook more frequently and intensely. A German study reveals that materialistic people see and treat their Facebook...
The cognitive origins of religious belief
Previous studies have suggested people who hold strong religious beliefs are more intuitive and less analytical, and when they think more analytically their religious...
Traditional South American drug improving wellbeing
A psychedelic drug traditionally used in South America improves people's general sense of wellbeing and may offer a treatment for alcoholism and depression, new...
Poor academic performance a predictor of suicide risk
A Swedish study has shown that poor academic performance, measured as grade point average (GPA) at age 16, was a robust and strong predictor...
Concern as social media promotes 'bonespiration'
‘Bonespiration’ — the celebration of skeletal images of bodies featuring protruding bones and pencil-thin limbs — is being promoted on social media, University of...
Traumatic events take toll on heart, especially after menopause
A study on women demonstrates how traumatic experiences - defined as events such as sexual harassment, death of a child, being in a car accident...
Facial contrast causes women to look younger
Observers perceive women with increased facial contrast - how much the eyes, lips and eyebrows stand out in the face in terms of how...
Men finding 'bromances' more emotionally satisfying than romances
Young men's 'bromances,' close friendships with other men, are more emotionally satisfying than their romantic relationships with women, finds a small University of Winchester...
Gossip is essential for interpersonal relationships
Intrasexual competition positively predicted gossip frequency with women reporting a greater tendency to gossip in comparison to men, particularly about physical appearance and social...
Boys with psychopathic potential don't have contagious laughter urge
Boys who showed disruptive behaviour coupled with high levels of callous-unemotional traits reported less desire to join in with laughter than did normally behaved...
Effective interventions with suicide emergency department patients
Three simple interventions for follow up of patients identified as suicide risks in hospital emergency departments save lives and are cost-effective relative to usual...
Emoji fans take heart: Scientists pinpoint 27 states of emotion
A University of California Berkeley study challenges a long-held assumption in psychology that most human emotions fall within the universal categories of happiness, sadness,...
Using money to buy time is linked with greater happiness
13Money spent on buying free time rather than material goods is linked with greater life satisfaction, but relatively few people, even among the wealthy,...
The long-term impact of spanking
Past research has indicated that physical punishment, such as spanking, has negative consequences on child development. However, most research studies have examined short-term associations...
Mindfulness training helps reduce the pain experience
Mindfulness training and hypnotic suggestion significantly reduced acute pain, experienced by hospital patients, similar to what one might expect from an opioid painkiller. After...
Longer oestrogen exposure reduces depression risk in menopause
Longer duration of oestrogen exposure from the start of menstruation until the onset of menopause was significantly associated with a reduced risk of depression...
Just thinking one is less active than peers, increases premature death risk
People who think they are less active than others in a similar age bracket die younger than those who believe they are more active,...
ACE's role in opioid addiction and later higher healthcare usage
Physical, sexual or emotional abuse as a child, or other childhood stresses, can lead to higher levels of health service use throughout adulthood, found...
Traditional bullying still far more common than cyberbullying
Despite the growth of social media, the internet and their central role in modern childhood, traditional bullying – such as name-calling or being excluded...
Pet therapy races far ahead of scientific evidence – experts
A therapy-animal trend grips the US, reports The Washington Post.Tthe trend, which has accelerated hugely since its initial stirrings a few decades ago, is...
Music therapy for schizophrenia – Cochrane evidence review
Moderate- to low-quality evidence suggests that music therapy as an addition to standard care improves the global state, mental state, social functioning, and quality...
Drugs, alcohol and violence as much a suicide risk as self-harm in adolescents
The risk of suicide 10 years after adolescents were hospitalised for drug problems, alcohol abuse or violent injury was similar to the risk among...
Mindfulness helps keep anxious minds from wandering
Just 10 minutes of daily mindful meditation may help prevent the mind from wandering, particularly with those who tend to have repetitive, anxious thoughts,...