Study ranks which production attributes are most important to consumers when buying beef, chicken, milk, and eggs

Illinois: Consumers are increasingly interested in how their food is produced and look for claims such as no growth hormones, no GMOs, no antibiotics, etc. on their food products. Many studies have focused on consumers’ willingness to pay for individual food attributes, but have not ranked which production attributes consumers say are most important to them. In a U of I study, the “no growth hormones” attribute was prioritized as most important and “organic” as the least important. For products like poultry, the USDA forbids the use of hormones, meaning consumers may not be well informed about production claims

Parents’ sedentary behavior directly correlates with the activity level of their preschoolers.

NIH: That’s the conclusion of NIH-funded researchers who found that in underserved populations, parents’ physical activity—and their sedentary behavior—directly correlates with the activity level of their preschoolers. Researchers say these findings, published January 9 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, could lead to interventions that focus more on helping parents model—not just encourage—an active lifestyle for their children.

Exposure to certain insecticides linked to childhood behavioural difficulties

BMJ: Exposure to a particular group of chemicals widely used in pest control for people, pets, and crops, may be linked to behavioural difficulties in 6 year olds, suggests research published online in Occupational & Environmental Medicine. Pyrethroids are synthetic chemicals which are found in a range of products, including treatments for head lice, scabies, and fleas, and some mosquito repellants. They are a safer alternative to organophosphates. But like many classes of insecticides, they work by damaging nerves, and concerns have recently been raised about the potential impact of children’s exposure to them.

Behavior-based moral judgment in early adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorders

Kyoto: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by problems with reciprocal social interaction, repetitive behaviors/narrow interests (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), and impairments in the social cognition and emotional processing necessary for intention-based moral judgements (Moran et al., 2011). We examined the information used by early adolescents (mean age = 12.4 years) with and without ASD when they judge story protagonists as good or bad. We created stories consisted of three sentences (first sentence: characteristics; second sentence: behaviors; and third sentence: outcomes). In Experiment 1, we measured sentence by sentence reading times and percentages for good or bad judgements. In Experiment 2, two stories were presented and the participants determined which protagonist was better or worse.

Scientists predict chemistry of romance: there's an app for it

Bristol: Psychologists from the University of Bristol are launching a revolutionary new dating app this Valentine’s Day. Initially only available to students from the University, the creators hope to roll it out the rest of the country very soon. Based on cutting-edge psychological research, ENTWINE is an app designed instantly to predict intuitive attraction between people, before they have even met. The platform has been created by Dr Roland Baddeley and Dr Felix Mercer Moss from the University’s School of Experimental Psychology and asks users to evaluate three different ‘selfies’ of their potential date.

Your health! The benefits of social drinking

Oxford: New research, which shows that moderate alcohol consumption with friends at a local pub may be linked to improved wellbeing, has been published in the journal Adaptive Human Behaviour and Physiology. While most studies warn of the health risks of alcohol consumption, researchers at the University of Oxford have looked at whether having a drink may play a role in improving social cohesion, given its long association with human social activities. Combining data from three separate studies - a questionnaire-based study of pub clientele, observing conversational behaviour in pubs, and a national survey by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) – the researchers looked at whether the frequency of alcohol consumption or the type of venue affected peoples’ social experiences and wellbeing.

Fat Shaming Linked to Greater Health Risks

Pennsylvania: Body shaming is a pervasive form of prejudice, found in cyber bullying, critiques of celebrities' appearances, at work and school, and in public places for everyday Americans. People who are battling obesity face being stereotyped as lazy, incompetent, unattractive, lacking willpower, and to blame for their excess weight. The pain of these messages may take a toll on health and increase risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease, according to a new study published in Obesity, the journal of The Obesity Society, led by a research team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Children are disproportionately affected by online advertising

Lund: Children aged 9 are several times more sensitive to disruptive advertising than adults. This is shown by studies conducted at Lund University in Sweden, in which children’s eye movements were measured. Together with the Lund University Humanities Lab, media and communications researcher Nils Holmberg has developed a combination of methods for measuring how much children’s concentration is disrupted by advertisements.

Study shows discrimination interacts with genetics and affects health

Univeristy of Florida: It’s no secret that discrimination is stressful for those who experience it, but turns out the issue is more than skin deep—these stressors can interact with our genetics to negatively impact our health, a new University of Florida study shows. Study researchers developed a novel measure of unfair treatment to study the effects of discrimination on health, particularly with respect to racial disparities in complex diseases, which are illnesses resulting from both genetic and environmental factors. They used the measure to investigate hypertension, which is more prevalent in African-Americans, and found that discrimination interacts with certain genetic variants to alter blood pressure.

Health: The "Angelina Jolie" Effect

Harvard: Pop culture icons can influence our fashion choices, dietary habits and brand preferences, but can celebrities also influence our medical decisions? The answer is a resounding yes, according to a new Harvard Medical School study analyzing the rates of genetic testing for breast cancer in the aftermath of Angelina Jolie’s 2013 op-ed piece in The New York Times.The findings, published Dec. 14 in The BMJ, revealed a large spike in genetic tests for a gene known to increase breast cancer risk following Jolie’s op-ed, but no corresponding uptick in mastectomy rates, suggesting the tests did not lead to increased breast cancer diagnoses. The results illustrate that celebrity endorsements can fuel the use of health care services but may not effectively target the populations in greatest need of such services, the researchers said.

What is exposure therapy and how can it treat social anxiety?

TheConversation: Most of us experience a level of social anxiety at some point in our lives. We worry about what people think of us, about being excluded, about being judged or humiliated. Social anxiety is characterised by an excessive fear of negative evaluation or judgement, triggered by social or performance situations. For social anxiety to be considered a disorder, the person must also be distressed by their social concerns or report a disruption in their life. They may find it difficult to interact with work colleagues, to make friends, or even to have brief conversations with others.
Excessive social anxiety makes us feel lonely and reduces our quality of life. Social anxiety disorder is the most common anxiety disorder and begins as early as 11 years of age.

Pre-teens whose dads embrace parenthood may be less prone to behavioural issues

BMJ: Pre-teens whose dads embrace parenthood may be less prone to behavioural issues. How new fathers see themselves in child’s early years seems to be most influential Kids whose dads adjust well to parenthood and feel confident about their new role may be less likely to have behavioural problems in the run-up to their teens, indicates research published in the online journal BMJ Open. It’s how fathers see themselves as parents in the child’s early years, rather than the amount of direct childcare they give, that seems to be important, the findings suggest. The nature of parenting in a child’s early years is thought to influence their short and long term wellbeing and mental health, which are in turn linked to development and educational attainment. But it’s not entirely clear what impact the father’s role might have, as much of the research to date has tended to characterise paternal involvement in a child’s upbringing as one dimensional.

Dads' attitudes could influence bubs' behaviours

Scimex: How new fathers see themselves in child’s early years seems to be most influential. Kids whose dads adjust well to parenthood and feel confident about their new role may be less likely to have behavioural problems in the run-up to their teens, indicates research published in the online journal BMJ Open. It’s how fathers see themselves as parents in the child’s early years, rather than the amount of direct childcare they give, that seems to be important, the findings suggest.

A house full of smoke leads to teens who mope

Scimex: If the physical effects on your children were not good enough reasons to stop smoking in your house, Canadian researchers have found a modest, yet reliable long-term link between exposure to household tobacco smoke and antisocial behaviour in early adolescence. The team recorded 1035 children that were exposed to household smokers at seven follow-up interviews, between 1.5 and 7.5 years old, and at the age of 12, children self-reported on five different aspects of antisocial behaviours, with researchers finding that higher exposure to smoky homes was linked to childrens' behavioural problems, aggression, lack of discipline at school and increased risk of dropping out. The authors suggest that a child's neuro-social development is being influenced by the neurotoxic substances in second-hand smoke, which can lead their newly forming brain pathways towards these deviant behaviours.

Men who want power over women likely to have poorer mental health

TheConversation: Men who see themselves as playboys, and as having power over women, are more prone to poor mental health than those who conform less to traditionally masculine norms, according to a new study. The study, published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, also showed men who conform to masculine norms are less likely to seek help for psychological issues. Researchers from Indiana University conducted a meta-analysis, which combines data from previously published studies to identify consistencies. They analysed around 80 papers with a total of 19,453 participants. The papers focused on the relationship between mental health and conformity to traditional male gender norms.

Can Video Change Hearts and Minds?

Columbia: In late 2014, Eric Garner died while being arrested by a police officer, Daniel Pantaleo, in Staten Island. A video of the arrest went viral—it showed Garner being held in a choke-hold and very clearly and repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe.” Eventually, a grand jury decided against indicting Officer Pantaleo. Around the country, and on the Mailman School campus, people were left wondering why it happened and how to ensure that justice is done when people die at the hands of police.

Repeatedly thinking about work-family conflict linked to health problems

Oregon: Thinking over and over again about conflicts between your job and personal life is likely to damage both your mental and physical health, research from Oregon State University suggests.
The study included more than 200 people, with results showing that “repetitive thought” was a pathway between work-family conflict and negative outcomes in six different health categories.
As the term suggests, repetitive thought regarding work-family conflict refers to thinking repeatedly and attentively about the parts of your job and your personal life that clash with each other: for example, that late-afternoon meeting that prevents you from attending your son’s baseball game. It’s a maladaptive coping strategy that impedes daily recovery from stress.

Femmes fatales play leading role in sexing up smoking

Adelaide: Smoking as a social habit is increasingly on the nose for many in modern society, but the reverse is true when it comes to portraying strong female characters in French and Chinese cinema, according to researchers from the University of Adelaide. After studying films released in both countries since 2000, the University's Dr Peter Pugsley (Head, Department of Media) and Associate Professor Ben McCann (Head, Department of French Studies) found that smoking has been consistently glamorised in Chinese and French cinema in recent years.

Prescription of Psychotropic Medication after Prison Release Linked to Lower Rate of Violent Reoffending

JAMA: Among released prisoners in Sweden, rates of violent reoffending were lower during periods when individuals were dispensed antipsychotics, psychostimulants, and drugs for addictive disorders, compared with periods in which they were not dispensed these medications, according to a study appearing in the November 1 issue of JAMA.

Paper vs. electronic: How a dermatology prescription is written affects adherence

Chapel Hill: Adewole S. Adamson, MD, assistant professor of dermatology at the UNC School of Medicine, found that patients given electronic prescriptions were more likely to pick up and fill their dermatological prescriptions than those patients who were given a traditional, written prescription. A UNC School of Medicine dermatologist recently conducted a study to determine if the way a prescription was written – either traditionally or electronically – played a role in whether a patient filled and picked up the medication. In the study, published today in JAMA Dermatology, Adewole S. Adamson, MD, assistant professor of dermatology, found that the way a prescription was written could influence whether a patient filled the prescription.