Life News (Social & Behavioral Sciences)

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The narrowing gap between binge drinking among adult women and men has been driven partly by women’s rising use of alcohol for social reasons—to have fun. In addition, women are increasingly using alcohol to relax or relieve tension, a new study has found. Alcohol use in the USA has increased steadily over the past 20 years, and excessive drinking underlies 1 in 8 deaths of working-age adults. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a 25% increase in alcohol-related deaths from 2019 to 2020. Overall, figures like these mask differences by age, however. For over four decades, alcohol use and binge drinking have declined among adolescents and early adults. But by age 30, that effect has plateaued or reversed. Binge drinking has risen more among women than men, narrowing the gender gap for reasons that haven’t been explained by broad societal trends (such as education, family timing, and gender roles). For the study in Alcohol: Clinical & Experimental Research, US researchers considered the

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Protest movements that reject political parties have an unintended consequence, according to new research from the University of Notre Dame: They empower savvy politicians who channel them to shake up the status quo. The findings provide a framework for understanding recent global political realignments and offer lessons for activists who want to make a meaningful impact.

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Adults react differently to alcohol advertisements depending on how explicit or implicit the messaging is about the social pleasure of drinking and the possible health effects, a new study shows. Exposure to alcohol marketing is consistently linked to alcohol use. Research also suggests that alcohol advertising influences attitudes around alcohol, such as social norms or reasons for drinking. Policymakers’ options for lowering alcohol consumption and its harms include content controls on advertising. Restricting sales messages to facts about the product is known to reduce how persuasive it is among consumers. Mandating health warnings also increases consumers’ perceptions of risk and reduces the perceived benefits of drinking. No studies, however, have previously examined the effects of such content controls on consumers in the UK. In addition, most research has focused on young adults, yet adults in midlife and beyond may also be vulnerable to the effects of marketing. For the study i

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Over a fifth of Americans and Poles surveyed believed that COVID-19 vaccines can change people’s DNA. And more than half of Serbian people believed that natural immunity from COVID was better than being vaccinated. These figures come from a new report which examines the effects of populism on misinformation and other aspects of crisis communication around the coronavirus pandemic.

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Support for retaining 26 January as Australia’s national day of celebration appears to be slipping, according to a new survey that shows growing numbers of people are open to changing the date out of respect for First Nations people.

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Parents are often eager to give their adolescent children advice about school problems, but they may find that youth are less than receptive to their words of wisdom. However, kids who don’t seem to listen to their parents may still benefit from their input, a new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign shows.

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New research from political scientists at the University of Notre Dame found that the botched ticket presales for Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” in late 2022 made it nearly impossible for most Swift fans to get tickets, forcing them to pay attention to event ticketing politics — namely the lack of market competition, consumer rights and wealth inequality — and galvanizing them to speak out on those issues and hold their elected officials accountable.

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The Honorable Jon Rychalski, Assistant Secretary for Management and Chief Financial Officer in the Department of Veterans Affairs, has been named as the new Vice President for Financial Operations at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) in Bethesda, Md.

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A team of researchers from Wayne State University was awarded a $1.3 million, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to study “Advanced wireless augmented reality-enhanced exposure therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder.”

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Bryan McLaughlin knows it’ll be an intense election year, but he is focused on the wellbeing of the voters

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A new study from the University of Florida exposes a driving force fueling the debate on voting rights

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Online video game players believe the behavior known as “smurfing” is generally wrong and toxic to the gaming community – but most admit to doing it and say some reasons make the behavior less blameworthy, new research finds. The new study suggests that debates about toxicity in gaming may sometimes be more complex and nuanced than is often acknowledged, according to the researchers.

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New sociological research that looks into how crisis conditions during the pandemic—such as poor heath and insecure housing—affected domestic abuse and victims’ interpretation of violence.

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If you tend to do other things or get distracted while eating dinner, you may be running the risk of over-consuming everyday pleasures later, possibly because the distraction caused you to enjoy yourself less, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

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Amidst rising depression rates on college campuses, SMU researchers discovered combining behavioral activation (BA) therapy with savoring (S) enhanced students' mental health. This approach improved both positive and negative moods significantly.

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A night spent dreaming can help you forget the mundane and better process the extreme, according to a new University of California, Irvine study. Novel work by researchers in the UC Irvine Sleep and Cognition Lab examined how dream recall and mood affected next-day memory consolidation and emotion regulation.

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New insights into how people perceive the human voice are challenging beliefs about which voices we find attractive. Previous studies have linked vocal averageness and attractiveness, finding that the more average a voice sounds, the higher it is rated in attractiveness.

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Actually, sometimes consumers don’t want to talk to a real person when they’re shopping online, a new study suggests. In fact, what they really want is a chatbot that makes it clear that it is not human at all.

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New research suggests that making the change to daylight saving time isn’t good for our healthy habits. Researchers found that the onset of daylight saving time is associated with increased consumption of processed snack foods and fewer trips to the gym.

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Civilized political debates may seem increasingly out of reach as democracies across the world face rising polarization, but people still want to discuss issues with people they disagree with – especially those who present themselves as balanced and willing to seek solutions that work for everyone or open to learning new information, according to two studies published by the American Psychological Association.

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A new study from the University of South Australia shows how young children learn about the concept of pain through reading, and it’s helping to promote children’s empathy, emotional development, and understand socio-cultural norms.

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Pioneering measures to tackle sedentary behaviour among children in China have proved effective, according to new research.

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A recent study out of Michigan State University found large gaps between people’s career interests and U.S. job demands. These gaps indicate that the interest demands of the U.S. labor market differ drastically from the supply of interested people, revealing how many people have unfulfilled interests at work.

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Worker rights are among the least protected human rights in the world, according to new research from faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

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Many parents ponder why one of their children seems more emotionally troubled than the others. A new study in the United Kingdom reveals a possible basis for those differences.

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UCLA Health is set to host a unique symposium this week to explore the evolving research in psychedelic therapies and how combining it with reconnection to natural world could help to amplify their mental health benefits.

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53% of Americans give impulsively to charities at the checkout, and certain demographics tend to give more, according to a new survey conducted by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

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Forbes ranks Cal State Fullerton as one of the Top 500 Best Employers for Diversity in the country in 2024 for its efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.

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The world’s largest study of cerebral palsy (CP) genetics has discovered genetic defects are most likely responsible for more than a quarter of cases in Chinese children, rather than a lack of oxygen at birth as previously thought.

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Receiving a cancer diagnosis can be one of the most stressful, pivotal moments in an individual’s life. With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, Fred Hutch social psychologist and researcher Megan J. Shen, PhD, shares tips for coping with a cancer diagnosis and how patients and their caregivers can navigate appointments with their oncologists.

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Vicky Barone, assistant professor of economics at the University Notre Dame, researched the origins and development of the opioid epidemic and found that the unregulated marketing of potent painkillers led to increased access to prescription opioids and subsequent overdose mortalities.

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For most smokers, quitting on the first attempt is likely to be unsuccessful, but a new study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found patients were more likely to quit if their cessation regimen was altered and doses were increased. Researchers also found that varenicline, a cessation medication, was more effective than combined nicotine replacement therapy (CNRT), such as patches or lozenges.

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A University of California, Irvine-led team has found evidence of a potential link between patterns of changes in a key pregnancy hormone – placental corticotropin-releasing hormone – and symptoms of postpartum depression.

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Nick Seaver, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Tufts University, talks about the potential TikTok ban and whether fears about the app’s addictiveness are warranted.

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Researchers have analysed more than 30 years of Canadian criminal records to shed light on intimate partner homicide indicators.

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A first-of-its-kind study sheds light on public opinion about would-be mass shooters, particularly regarding their mental health status. Willingness to “see something” and “say something,” especially when loved ones or associates are involved, hinges on whether the informant believes the criminal justice system will handle the situation effectively and fairly.

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Scientists have singled out red colobus species as a priority conservation target. Protection of these monkeys, they assert, can be expected to produce benefits throughout tropical African forests where hunting and climate change have led to dramatic wildlife and habitat loss.

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Economic researchers at the University of South Australia have examined the mental health effects on people who experienced financial setbacks during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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In 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Bostock vs. Clayton County that transgender people are legally protected from employment discrimination. This came at a time of increased visibility, but also of legal and social challenges to the rights of transgender individuals. Meanwhile, there has been very little study of labor market discrimination against them.

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The American Sociological Association congratulates the eight sociologists who were recently recognizes by premier science associations for their outstanding achievements in the discipline.

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A national study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and The University of New Mexico (UNM) Comprehensive Cancer Center found major gaps in breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening use in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in the U.S., relative to overall screening rates in the country.