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1000 results for “psychxr”
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DATE: May 10, 2026 at 11:34AM
SOURCE:
NEW YORK TIMES PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGISTS FEEDTITLE: For Some Patients, Cancer Is Becoming Like a Chronic Illness
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/opinion/terminal-cancer-chronic-illness-health.html
For some patients, cancer is becoming like a chronic illness.
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/opinion/terminal-cancer-chronic-illness-health.html
-------------------------------------------------
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NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
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It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #CancerAsChronicIllness #ChronicCancerCare #LivingWithCancer #CancerCareProgress #OncologyNews #CancerAwareness #ChronicDiseaseManagement #PatientExperience #PalliativeCare #CancerSupport
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DATE: May 12, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Does romantic rejection hurt more than platonic rejection? A new study says no
Most people assume that rejection by a potential romantic partner is far more painful than rejection by a prospective friend. However, new research published in the European Journal of Social Psychology suggests that, when rejection is actually experienced, the emotional impact is remarkably similar regardless of whether it comes from a romantic or a platonic source.
Romantic rejection is often seen as uniquely devastating, in part because modern societies place heavy emotional expectations on romantic relationships. However, researchers have long noted that humans are broadly motivated by a fundamental need for belonging. Social rejection tends to hurt across all contexts because it threatens shared psychological needs, such as feeling valued, in control, and meaningful.
What has been less clear is whether rejection by a potential romantic partner is more painful than rejection in a friendship context. Given the intense expectations placed on romantic relationships—which are often expected to fulfill a wide range of emotional and personal needs—it has seemed plausible that being denied such a relationship would be especially distressing.
To examine these assumptions, researchers conducted three related studies. In the first, 1,500 American adults were asked which type of rejection they believed would be more painful: being turned down by a potential romantic partner or by a potential friend. The responses largely reflected common intuitions: approximately half expected romantic rejection to be worse, compared with roughly a quarter who anticipated greater pain from platonic rejection, while the remaining participants believed both would be equally distressing.
Led by Natasha R. Wood of Leiden University in the Netherlands, the team then tested real‑time responses to rejection in a controlled experimental setting. In Study 2, 934 single adults aged 18 to 29 (57.9% women; average age 23.4) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: accepted or rejected by either a potential romantic partner or a potential platonic friend.
Participants engaged with a simulated app environment, designed to resemble dating or social networking platforms, and received either positive or negative feedback from profiles purportedly representing other users. Afterward, they reported how they felt across a range of measures capturing their sense of belonging, self-worth, and emotional wellbeing.
The researchers found that rejection reliably reduced wellbeing, and acceptance reliably enhanced it, but the type of relationship framing—romantic versus platonic—had no effect on emotional outcomes. The team also tested whether feelings of romantic instrumentality (seeing a partner as someone who would help you achieve more of your goals in life) or self-blame might explain any romantic-versus-platonic difference in pain. Neither emerged as a meaningful driver.
In a third study involving 477 participants (73.6% women; average age 20.3), predicted emotional reactions were compared with actual emotional experiences. The researchers also added a “stranger control” group, in which participants were told there was no expectation of forming a relationship of any kind.
Participants were asked to forecast how they would feel before receiving feedback, then report how they felt afterward. Once again, relationship type did not meaningfully influence emotional responses; rejection by a stranger hurt just as much as rejection by a potential date. Furthermore, participants consistently overestimated the intensity of both outcomes, particularly the pain of rejection.
Wood and colleagues put it simply: “It seems the experience of being accepted is so positive and the experience of being rejected is so negative that it does not matter who is doing so.”
There are, however, important caveats to keep in mind. For example, the study was conducted exclusively with American participants, which limits how far the findings can be generalised across different cultures where romantic and platonic relationships may be valued differently. Furthermore, the simulated app environment may not perfectly capture the intense emotions of an in-person rejection.
The study, “What Could Have Been: Predicted and Actual Exclusion by Potential Romantic Partners and Platonic Friends,” was authored by Natasha R. Wood, Sydney G. Wicks, Adam J. Beam, Elijah P. Mudryk, Ellie Bray, and Andrew H. Hales.
-------------------------------------------------
DAILY EMAIL DIGEST: Email [email protected] -- no subject or message needed.
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NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
EMAIL DAILY DIGEST OF RSS FEEDS -- SUBSCRIBE: http://subscribe-article-digests.clinicians-exchange.org
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It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #romanticrejection #platonicrejection #socialpsychology #belongingness #emotionalwellbeing #rejectionresearch #datingapps #selfworth #humanneeds #relationshipsstudy
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DATE: May 12, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Does romantic rejection hurt more than platonic rejection? A new study says no
Most people assume that rejection by a potential romantic partner is far more painful than rejection by a prospective friend. However, new research published in the European Journal of Social Psychology suggests that, when rejection is actually experienced, the emotional impact is remarkably similar regardless of whether it comes from a romantic or a platonic source.
Romantic rejection is often seen as uniquely devastating, in part because modern societies place heavy emotional expectations on romantic relationships. However, researchers have long noted that humans are broadly motivated by a fundamental need for belonging. Social rejection tends to hurt across all contexts because it threatens shared psychological needs, such as feeling valued, in control, and meaningful.
What has been less clear is whether rejection by a potential romantic partner is more painful than rejection in a friendship context. Given the intense expectations placed on romantic relationships—which are often expected to fulfill a wide range of emotional and personal needs—it has seemed plausible that being denied such a relationship would be especially distressing.
To examine these assumptions, researchers conducted three related studies. In the first, 1,500 American adults were asked which type of rejection they believed would be more painful: being turned down by a potential romantic partner or by a potential friend. The responses largely reflected common intuitions: approximately half expected romantic rejection to be worse, compared with roughly a quarter who anticipated greater pain from platonic rejection, while the remaining participants believed both would be equally distressing.
Led by Natasha R. Wood of Leiden University in the Netherlands, the team then tested real‑time responses to rejection in a controlled experimental setting. In Study 2, 934 single adults aged 18 to 29 (57.9% women; average age 23.4) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: accepted or rejected by either a potential romantic partner or a potential platonic friend.
Participants engaged with a simulated app environment, designed to resemble dating or social networking platforms, and received either positive or negative feedback from profiles purportedly representing other users. Afterward, they reported how they felt across a range of measures capturing their sense of belonging, self-worth, and emotional wellbeing.
The researchers found that rejection reliably reduced wellbeing, and acceptance reliably enhanced it, but the type of relationship framing—romantic versus platonic—had no effect on emotional outcomes. The team also tested whether feelings of romantic instrumentality (seeing a partner as someone who would help you achieve more of your goals in life) or self-blame might explain any romantic-versus-platonic difference in pain. Neither emerged as a meaningful driver.
In a third study involving 477 participants (73.6% women; average age 20.3), predicted emotional reactions were compared with actual emotional experiences. The researchers also added a “stranger control” group, in which participants were told there was no expectation of forming a relationship of any kind.
Participants were asked to forecast how they would feel before receiving feedback, then report how they felt afterward. Once again, relationship type did not meaningfully influence emotional responses; rejection by a stranger hurt just as much as rejection by a potential date. Furthermore, participants consistently overestimated the intensity of both outcomes, particularly the pain of rejection.
Wood and colleagues put it simply: “It seems the experience of being accepted is so positive and the experience of being rejected is so negative that it does not matter who is doing so.”
There are, however, important caveats to keep in mind. For example, the study was conducted exclusively with American participants, which limits how far the findings can be generalised across different cultures where romantic and platonic relationships may be valued differently. Furthermore, the simulated app environment may not perfectly capture the intense emotions of an in-person rejection.
The study, “What Could Have Been: Predicted and Actual Exclusion by Potential Romantic Partners and Platonic Friends,” was authored by Natasha R. Wood, Sydney G. Wicks, Adam J. Beam, Elijah P. Mudryk, Ellie Bray, and Andrew H. Hales.
-------------------------------------------------
DAILY EMAIL DIGEST: Email [email protected] -- no subject or message needed.
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
EMAIL DAILY DIGEST OF RSS FEEDS -- SUBSCRIBE: http://subscribe-article-digests.clinicians-exchange.org
READ ONLINE: http://read-the-rss-mega-archive.clinicians-exchange.org
It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #romanticrejection #platonicrejection #socialpsychology #belongingness #emotionalwellbeing #rejectionresearch #datingapps #selfworth #humanneeds #relationshipsstudy
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DATE: May 12, 2026 at 07:30AM
SOURCE: PSYCHIATRIC TIMESDirect article link at end of text block below.
Join us July 10–11 in Huntington Beach for the Southern California Psychiatry Conference. Explore emerging therapies, real-world case discussions, and expert insights on MDD, SUD, schizophrenia, and more.
Register now: https://t.co/bjrBWBdlEz https://t.co/zixdqf81hL
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at Articles can be found at https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/news".
-------------------------------------------------
DAILY EMAIL DIGEST: Email [email protected] -- no subject or message needed.
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #psychotherapist #SouthernCaliforniaPsychiatryConference #HuntingtonBeach #MDD #SUD #schizophrenia
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DATE: May 12, 2026 at 07:30AM
SOURCE: PSYCHIATRIC TIMESDirect article link at end of text block below.
Join us July 10–11 in Huntington Beach for the Southern California Psychiatry Conference. Explore emerging therapies, real-world case discussions, and expert insights on MDD, SUD, schizophrenia, and more.
Register now: https://t.co/bjrBWBdlEz https://t.co/zixdqf81hL
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at Articles can be found at https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/news".
-------------------------------------------------
DAILY EMAIL DIGEST: Email [email protected] -- no subject or message needed.
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #psychotherapist #SouthernCaliforniaPsychiatryConference #HuntingtonBeach #MDD #SUD #schizophrenia
-
DATE: May 12, 2026 at 07:30AM
SOURCE: PSYCHIATRIC TIMESDirect article link at end of text block below.
Join us July 10–11 in Huntington Beach for the Southern California Psychiatry Conference. Explore emerging therapies, real-world case discussions, and expert insights on MDD, SUD, schizophrenia, and more.
Register now: https://t.co/bjrBWBdlEz https://t.co/zixdqf81hL
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at Articles can be found at https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/news".
-------------------------------------------------
DAILY EMAIL DIGEST: Email [email protected] -- no subject or message needed.
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #psychotherapist #SouthernCaliforniaPsychiatryConference #HuntingtonBeach #MDD #SUD #schizophrenia
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The Cosmic Dead
The Workmans Club, Friday, May 15 at 08:00 PM GMT+1
u:mack in association with Heavy Psych Sounds proudly presents The Cosmic Dead at The Workman's Club Friday 15th of May.
One of the greatest and loudest psychedelic space rock bands of recent times. Prepare to have your minds blown. Support on the night comes from local space rockers Wild Rocket.
The Cosmic Dead are an amorphous blob of space rock energy hailing from Glasgow, Scotland. Their exploratory compositions often reach levels of sonic destruction through reflective repetition and visceral harmony.
The band has taken many forms since forming in 2010 and has been declared 'The loudest psychedelic rock band on the planet." by legendary compere Kozmik Ken. At the base of the current sonic obliteration team is a rhythm section of Tommy Duffin and Omar Aborida, a thunderous and cohesive unit which is then further propelled into the outer realms by Luigi Pasquini providing frantic italo synthesized electronics along with Calum Calderwood's mind bending, sky-shattering fiddle acrobatics.
'Beyond The Beyond' is the highly anticipated tenth studio album from inter-dimensional space travelling explorers The Cosmic Dead, the album takes listeners on a four track expedition into the deepest cosmos of the band. Recorded at Dystopia Recording Studio in Glasgow, 'Beyond The Beyond' features the riff rolling rhythm section of Tommy Duffin on drums and Omar Aborida on bass guitar alongside soaring fiddle acrobatics from Calum Calderwood and electronic textural bleeps and bloops from Luigi Pasquini on synthesizers, all wah laden and with phasers set to destroy - Turn on, tune in and immerse yourself in the sound of The Cosmic Dead.
"If the rings of Saturn could sing, this is the sound they would make." - Zero Tolerance -
DATE: January 23, 2026 at 03:00PM
SOURCE: BioWorld MedTechDirect article link at end of text block below.
#AI identifies #pregnancies at risk of spontaneous pre-term #birth
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at https://www.bioworld.com/topics/85-bioworld-medtech .
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Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
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NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
.
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
.
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It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
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-------------------------------------------------#healthcare #healthtech #healthcaretech #healthtechnology #medgadget #medicine #doctor #hospital #medtech
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DATE: January 23, 2026 at 03:00PM
SOURCE: BioWorld MedTechDirect article link at end of text block below.
#AI identifies #pregnancies at risk of spontaneous pre-term #birth
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at https://www.bioworld.com/topics/85-bioworld-medtech .
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
.
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
.
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
.
EMAIL DAILY DIGEST OF RSS FEEDS -- SUBSCRIBE:
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It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
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-------------------------------------------------#healthcare #healthtech #healthcaretech #healthtechnology #medgadget #medicine #doctor #hospital #medtech
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DATE: January 23, 2026 at 03:00PM
SOURCE: BioWorld MedTechDirect article link at end of text block below.
#AI identifies #pregnancies at risk of spontaneous pre-term #birth
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at https://www.bioworld.com/topics/85-bioworld-medtech .
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
.
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
.
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
.
EMAIL DAILY DIGEST OF RSS FEEDS -- SUBSCRIBE:
http://subscribe-article-digests.clinicians-exchange.org
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READ ONLINE: http://read-the-rss-mega-archive.clinicians-exchange.org
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It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
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-------------------------------------------------#healthcare #healthtech #healthcaretech #healthtechnology #medgadget #medicine #doctor #hospital #medtech
-
DATE: January 23, 2026 at 03:00PM
SOURCE: BioWorld MedTechDirect article link at end of text block below.
#AI identifies #pregnancies at risk of spontaneous pre-term #birth
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at https://www.bioworld.com/topics/85-bioworld-medtech .
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
.
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
.
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
.
EMAIL DAILY DIGEST OF RSS FEEDS -- SUBSCRIBE:
http://subscribe-article-digests.clinicians-exchange.org
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READ ONLINE: http://read-the-rss-mega-archive.clinicians-exchange.org
.
It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
.
-------------------------------------------------#healthcare #healthtech #healthcaretech #healthtechnology #medgadget #medicine #doctor #hospital #medtech
-
doodles and shitposts
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DATE: May 11, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: The testosterone myth? Large analysis finds no link between the “macho” hormone and risk-taking
A meta-analysis of 52 studies found no link between testosterone levels and risk-taking. In general, only studies where participants completed specific lottery-based economic tasks showed a modest association between testosterone levels and risk-taking, while other types of behavioral studies did not. Furthermore, the lack of association did not depend on participants’ sex. The paper was published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.
Testosterone is a hormone that belongs to a group of hormones called androgens. It is present in both males and females, but it is usually found in much higher levels in males. In males, testosterone is produced mainly in the testes; in females, smaller amounts are produced in the ovaries and adrenal glands.
Testosterone plays an important role in the development of male reproductive organs before birth and during puberty. During puberty, it contributes to changes such as a deeper voice, facial and body hair growth, increased muscle mass, and the growth of the penis and testes. In adults, testosterone helps regulate sexual desire, sperm production, bone density, red blood cell production, and muscle strength. Testosterone levels naturally vary by age, time of day, health status, sleep, stress, body fat, and the use of certain medications.
Study author Irene Sánchez Rodríguez and her colleagues note that, on average, men tend to be more prone to taking risks than women. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain this gender gap. One prominent biological theory states that the gap is produced by differences in testosterone levels. Another theory, the “dual-hormone hypothesis,” suggests that the behavioral effects of testosterone actually depend on concurrent levels of cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone.
However, studies have not clearly supported the link between testosterone and risk-taking. While some studies have reported that individuals with higher testosterone levels were somewhat more prone to taking financial or physical risks, other studies have found absolutely no association.
The authors of this study conducted a meta-analysis aimed at synthesizing the existing findings to clarify the association between testosterone levels and risk-taking. They searched scientific databases—Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus—using “risk seeking,” “risk attitude,” and “risk aversion” as search terms. They looked for studies conducted on humans and sought to include studies examining testosterone alone as well as those testing the dual-hormone hypothesis.
To be included, studies needed to report a statistical association between testosterone and risk preference, to either measure or administer testosterone, and to use at least one behavioral or self-report measure of risk preference. Studies also needed to be written in English, Spanish, or Italian, and provide sufficient data to allow the researchers to calculate an “effect size” (the strength of the link between testosterone levels and risk-taking). In the end, 52 studies comprising 17,340 participants were included in the analyses.
These studies measured risk in various ways, such as gambling games, balloon-popping tasks, or self-reported questionnaires. They also measured testosterone in different ways: some studies used direct blood or saliva tests, some administered experimental doses of the hormone, and some relied on “morphological proxies” (like the ratio of a person’s index and ring fingers, which is theoretically linked to testosterone exposure in the womb).
When the researchers aggregated the data, the results showed that the overall association between testosterone levels and risk-taking across all 52 studies was practically zero. In other words, having high or low testosterone did not reliably predict whether a person would take a risk.
While the overall effect was zero, the data reported by individual studies were very heterogeneous—some studies reported a positive association (higher testosterone – higher risk-taking), while others reported a negative association (higher testosterone – lower risk-taking).
Further analyses revealed why the results varied so wildly. The researchers found that the method of measurement heavily influenced the outcome. For example, only studies that used lottery-based economic tasks to measure risk-taking showed a modest positive association, while studies measuring risk-taking via other methods (like impulsive games or self-reporting) did not. Similarly, the researchers noted that studies relying on indirect finger measurements sometimes hinted at a link, while highly rigorous studies using direct hormone measurements or administration did not.
Importantly, the lack of an association between testosterone levels and risk-taking did not depend on sex, meaning the relationship (or lack thereof) was no different in males than in females.
“Overall, the evidence challenges the notion that testosterone provides a general hormonal basis for human risk preferences,” the study authors concluded. “Instead, findings support a biopsychosocial framework in which ‘risk taking’ reflects the interaction of task demands, cognitive–affective processes, and situational context, with endocrine effects appearing narrow, context-dependent, and method-specific.”
The study contributes to the scientific knowledge surrounding the behavioral effects of testosterone, suggesting that societal and psychological factors likely play a much larger role in risk-taking than single hormones. However, the study authors note that their search did not yield a sufficient number of appropriate studies to reliably examine the dual-hormone hypothesis (whether a specific interaction between cortisol and testosterone might predict risk-taking).
The paper, “No relationship between testosterone and risk aversion: A meta-analytic review,” was authored by Irene Sánchez Rodríguez, Luca Bailo, Folco Panizza, Emiliano Ricciardi, and Francesco Bossi.
-------------------------------------------------
DAILY EMAIL DIGEST: Email [email protected] -- no subject or message needed.
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
EMAIL DAILY DIGEST OF RSS FEEDS -- SUBSCRIBE: http://subscribe-article-digests.clinicians-exchange.org
READ ONLINE: http://read-the-rss-mega-archive.clinicians-exchange.org
It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #no relationship between testosterone and risk taking #testosterone myth debunked #risk taking meta-analysis #biopsychosocial factors #endocrine effects context dependent #lottery tasks risk study #gender differences risk taking not hormone driven #dual hormone hypothesis inconclusive #testosterone measurement methods matter #neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews study
-
DATE: May 11, 2026 at 12:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: The testosterone myth? Large analysis finds no link between the “macho” hormone and risk-taking
A meta-analysis of 52 studies found no link between testosterone levels and risk-taking. In general, only studies where participants completed specific lottery-based economic tasks showed a modest association between testosterone levels and risk-taking, while other types of behavioral studies did not. Furthermore, the lack of association did not depend on participants’ sex. The paper was published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.
Testosterone is a hormone that belongs to a group of hormones called androgens. It is present in both males and females, but it is usually found in much higher levels in males. In males, testosterone is produced mainly in the testes; in females, smaller amounts are produced in the ovaries and adrenal glands.
Testosterone plays an important role in the development of male reproductive organs before birth and during puberty. During puberty, it contributes to changes such as a deeper voice, facial and body hair growth, increased muscle mass, and the growth of the penis and testes. In adults, testosterone helps regulate sexual desire, sperm production, bone density, red blood cell production, and muscle strength. Testosterone levels naturally vary by age, time of day, health status, sleep, stress, body fat, and the use of certain medications.
Study author Irene Sánchez Rodríguez and her colleagues note that, on average, men tend to be more prone to taking risks than women. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain this gender gap. One prominent biological theory states that the gap is produced by differences in testosterone levels. Another theory, the “dual-hormone hypothesis,” suggests that the behavioral effects of testosterone actually depend on concurrent levels of cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone.
However, studies have not clearly supported the link between testosterone and risk-taking. While some studies have reported that individuals with higher testosterone levels were somewhat more prone to taking financial or physical risks, other studies have found absolutely no association.
The authors of this study conducted a meta-analysis aimed at synthesizing the existing findings to clarify the association between testosterone levels and risk-taking. They searched scientific databases—Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus—using “risk seeking,” “risk attitude,” and “risk aversion” as search terms. They looked for studies conducted on humans and sought to include studies examining testosterone alone as well as those testing the dual-hormone hypothesis.
To be included, studies needed to report a statistical association between testosterone and risk preference, to either measure or administer testosterone, and to use at least one behavioral or self-report measure of risk preference. Studies also needed to be written in English, Spanish, or Italian, and provide sufficient data to allow the researchers to calculate an “effect size” (the strength of the link between testosterone levels and risk-taking). In the end, 52 studies comprising 17,340 participants were included in the analyses.
These studies measured risk in various ways, such as gambling games, balloon-popping tasks, or self-reported questionnaires. They also measured testosterone in different ways: some studies used direct blood or saliva tests, some administered experimental doses of the hormone, and some relied on “morphological proxies” (like the ratio of a person’s index and ring fingers, which is theoretically linked to testosterone exposure in the womb).
When the researchers aggregated the data, the results showed that the overall association between testosterone levels and risk-taking across all 52 studies was practically zero. In other words, having high or low testosterone did not reliably predict whether a person would take a risk.
While the overall effect was zero, the data reported by individual studies were very heterogeneous—some studies reported a positive association (higher testosterone – higher risk-taking), while others reported a negative association (higher testosterone – lower risk-taking).
Further analyses revealed why the results varied so wildly. The researchers found that the method of measurement heavily influenced the outcome. For example, only studies that used lottery-based economic tasks to measure risk-taking showed a modest positive association, while studies measuring risk-taking via other methods (like impulsive games or self-reporting) did not. Similarly, the researchers noted that studies relying on indirect finger measurements sometimes hinted at a link, while highly rigorous studies using direct hormone measurements or administration did not.
Importantly, the lack of an association between testosterone levels and risk-taking did not depend on sex, meaning the relationship (or lack thereof) was no different in males than in females.
“Overall, the evidence challenges the notion that testosterone provides a general hormonal basis for human risk preferences,” the study authors concluded. “Instead, findings support a biopsychosocial framework in which ‘risk taking’ reflects the interaction of task demands, cognitive–affective processes, and situational context, with endocrine effects appearing narrow, context-dependent, and method-specific.”
The study contributes to the scientific knowledge surrounding the behavioral effects of testosterone, suggesting that societal and psychological factors likely play a much larger role in risk-taking than single hormones. However, the study authors note that their search did not yield a sufficient number of appropriate studies to reliably examine the dual-hormone hypothesis (whether a specific interaction between cortisol and testosterone might predict risk-taking).
The paper, “No relationship between testosterone and risk aversion: A meta-analytic review,” was authored by Irene Sánchez Rodríguez, Luca Bailo, Folco Panizza, Emiliano Ricciardi, and Francesco Bossi.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #no relationship between testosterone and risk taking #testosterone myth debunked #risk taking meta-analysis #biopsychosocial factors #endocrine effects context dependent #lottery tasks risk study #gender differences risk taking not hormone driven #dual hormone hypothesis inconclusive #testosterone measurement methods matter #neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews study
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DATE: May 13, 2026 at 03:28PM
SOURCE:
NEW YORK TIMES PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGISTS FEEDTITLE: Hantavirus Attacks Patients’ Bodies. This Doctor Tends to Their Minds.
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/us/hantavirus-quarantine-psychology-omaha.html
David Cates, a psychologist working with Americans exposed to the disease on the MV Hondius, said psychosocial supports are just as important as physical care.
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/us/hantavirus-quarantine-psychology-omaha.html
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DATE: January 22, 2025 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: BioWorld MedTechDirect article link at end of text block below.
.@CMSGov drafts guidance for use of real-world data in CED studies
Here are any URLs found in the article text:
Articles can be found by scrolling down the page at https://www.bioworld.com/topics/85-bioworld-medtech .
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DATE: May 12, 2026 at 07:50AM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: European Union May Ban Social Media for Young Children and Teens
Source: United Press International - Health News
The European Union is considering a ban on social media for children, EU President Ursula Von der Leyen announced Tuesday. Von der Leyen said that the bloc will take action this fall against the "addictive design" of certain platforms. The EU has created what she called a "Special Panel of Experts on Child Safety Online" and is awaiting findings from its work. "Depending on the results, we could come with a legal proposal this summer," she...
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DATE: May 12, 2026 at 07:50AM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: European Union May Ban Social Media for Young Children and Teens
Source: United Press International - Health News
The European Union is considering a ban on social media for children, EU President Ursula Von der Leyen announced Tuesday. Von der Leyen said that the bloc will take action this fall against the "addictive design" of certain platforms. The EU has created what she called a "Special Panel of Experts on Child Safety Online" and is awaiting findings from its work. "Depending on the results, we could come with a legal proposal this summer," she...
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-
DATE: May 12, 2026 at 07:50AM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: European Union May Ban Social Media for Young Children and Teens
Source: United Press International - Health News
The European Union is considering a ban on social media for children, EU President Ursula Von der Leyen announced Tuesday. Von der Leyen said that the bloc will take action this fall against the "addictive design" of certain platforms. The EU has created what she called a "Special Panel of Experts on Child Safety Online" and is awaiting findings from its work. "Depending on the results, we could come with a legal proposal this summer," she...
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-
DATE: May 12, 2026 at 07:50AM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: European Union May Ban Social Media for Young Children and Teens
Source: United Press International - Health News
The European Union is considering a ban on social media for children, EU President Ursula Von der Leyen announced Tuesday. Von der Leyen said that the bloc will take action this fall against the "addictive design" of certain platforms. The EU has created what she called a "Special Panel of Experts on Child Safety Online" and is awaiting findings from its work. "Depending on the results, we could come with a legal proposal this summer," she...
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-
DATE: May 12, 2026 at 07:49AM
SOURCE: SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY.ORGTITLE: Rainbow Map Delivers Mixed Picture on LGBTQ+ Rights
Source: DW- top stories
Spain has overtaken Malta at the top of Europe's annual LGBTQ+ rights rainbow map. The 2026 ranking, compiled by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, compares laws and policies affecting LGBTQ+ people in 49 countries across Europe and Central Asia. Spain's rise reflects new equality laws, national action plans, and the depathologization of trans identities in healthcare. This year, the lowest ranked country...
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-
Turn Me On Dead Man 6th and final release "Cassiopeia" out on all platforms! Heavy psych, space-metal, apocalyptic songcraft incoming. Get it!
#heavypsych #heavypsychsounds #Spacemetal #Doom #indy #shoegaze #Psychrock #prog #SanFrancisco #TurnMeOnDeadMan #Cassiopeia #music #musique #newmusic #newrelease
https://orcd.co/rnmd8gd -
Turn Me On Dead Man 6th and final release "Cassiopeia" out on all platforms! Heavy psych, space-metal, apocalyptic songcraft incoming. Get it!
#heavypsych #heavypsychsounds #Spacemetal #Doom #indy #shoegaze #Psychrock #prog #SanFrancisco #TurnMeOnDeadMan #Cassiopeia #music #musique #newmusic #newrelease
https://orcd.co/rnmd8gd -
Turn Me On Dead Man 6th and final release "Cassiopeia" out on all platforms! Heavy psych, space-metal, apocalyptic songcraft incoming. Get it!
#heavypsych #heavypsychsounds #Spacemetal #Doom #indy #shoegaze #Psychrock #prog #SanFrancisco #TurnMeOnDeadMan #Cassiopeia #music #musique #newmusic #newrelease
https://orcd.co/rnmd8gd -
Turn Me On Dead Man 6th and final release "Cassiopeia" out on all platforms! Heavy psych, space-metal, apocalyptic songcraft incoming. Get it!
#heavypsych #heavypsychsounds #Spacemetal #Doom #indy #shoegaze #Psychrock #prog #SanFrancisco #TurnMeOnDeadMan #Cassiopeia #music #musique #newmusic #newrelease
https://orcd.co/rnmd8gd -
Turn Me On Dead Man 6th and final release "Cassiopeia" out on all platforms! Heavy psych, space-metal, apocalyptic songcraft incoming. Get it!
#heavypsych #heavypsychsounds #Spacemetal #Doom #indy #shoegaze #Psychrock #prog #SanFrancisco #TurnMeOnDeadMan #Cassiopeia #music #musique #newmusic #newrelease
https://orcd.co/rnmd8gd -
DATE: May 10, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: A half hour of aerobic exercise reduces test anxiety and boosts cognitive focus in students
A brief session of moderate aerobic exercise can ease the psychological burden of test anxiety while sharpening the specific mental skills needed to ignore distractions. Researchers found that a quick run on a treadmill rebalances brain activity, helping students process conflicting information with greater speed and focus. The findings were recently published in Physiology & Behavior.
Test-related distress is a common experience that goes beyond simple nervousness. It involves intense worry, physical tension, a racing heartbeat, and scattered thoughts that arise before or during an evaluative situation. People facing this condition often struggle with a cognitive skill known as inhibitory control.
Inhibitory control is the brain’s ability to tune out irrelevant information and suppress impulsive responses. It acts as a mental filter that allows a person to focus on a test question rather than the ticking of a clock or their own internal worries. This mental barricade prevents distracting signals from derailing a person’s train of thought.
When psychological distress disrupts this mental filter, students become easily distracted by their own fears. Their brains dedicate precious processing power to managing the worry itself, leaving less energy available for actual problem-solving. This scattered focus degrades their academic performance and fuels even more worry.
The experience can create a loop of poor performance and escalating anxiety. To break this cycle, psychologists Lingfeng Wu and Renlai Zhou from Nanjing University designed an experiment to see if physical activity could serve as an immediate remedy. They wanted to evaluate whether an acute session of aerobic exercise could temporarily repair the mental filters of affected students.
The research team recruited forty university students who scored very high on an established anxiety questionnaire. These participants were randomly divided into two groups of twenty. One group was assigned to an aerobic exercise intervention, while the other served as a resting control group.
During the main phase of the experiment, the exercise group spent thirty minutes walking and jogging on a treadmill. The researchers continuously monitored the participants’ heart rates to ensure the activity remained at a moderate intensity. The control group spent the same thirty minutes sitting in a quiet room reading neutral, sports-related magazines.
Both before and after these thirty-minute sessions, the students underwent a specialized cognitive assessment known as the Flanker task. This computer-based challenge is specifically designed to measure a person’s inhibitory control abilities.
In the Flanker task, participants stare at a computer screen and wait for a row of five arrows to appear. They must quickly identify the direction the middle arrow is pointing, choosing either left or right. The challenge comes from the surrounding arrows, which act as deliberate visual distractions.
In some trials, all the arrows point in the exact same direction, making the response relatively easy. In other trials, the outer arrows point in the opposite direction of the center target. This creates a visual conflict that the participant must mentally override in order to choose the correct answer.
Throughout this task, the researchers recorded the students’ brain activity using an electroencephalogram. This device consists of a fitted cap with small sensors placed across the scalp to detect electrical signals in the brain. The scientists paid close attention to two specific brain wave patterns, known as the N2 and P3 waves.
To replicate the pressure of a real testing environment, the researchers manipulated the stakes of the computer task using a standard psychological tactic. They told the students that they were taking a highly reliable aptitude test that would successfully predict their future university performance. They also offered a cash reward for the top performers and informed the students that they were being recorded on video for expert analysis.
The results showed that the thirty-minute exercise session had an immediate, measurable impact. Students in the treadmill group reported lower levels of subjective anxiety on their questionnaires after working out. The control group saw no statistical difference in their self-reported anxiety levels.
The behavioral data from the computer task mirrored these emotional improvements. After exercising, the treadmill group became much faster at identifying the correct arrow direction across all trials.
More importantly, the exercise group showed a marked improvement in the difficult, conflicting trials. The reaction time gap between the easy trials and the hard trials shrank considerably. This reduction suggests a direct upgrade in their ability to filter out distracting, conflicting information.
Accuracy remained very high for almost all participants across both groups. The researchers note that anxiety usually damages processing speed rather than raw accuracy. The fact that the exercise group got faster without making more mistakes confirms that their overall processing efficiency genuinely improved.
The brain wave recordings provided an internal view of how the exercise changed the participants’ cognitive processing. The researchers looked first at the N2 wave, an electrical pulse that peaks just after a person encounters conflicting information.
In the exercise group, the electrical amplitude of the N2 wave became noticeably smaller after the treadmill session. A smaller N2 wave typically means the brain is exerting less effort to detect and manage conflicting stimuli. The physical activity seemed to make the brain’s early conflict-monitoring system run more smoothly.
The team also measured the P3 wave, which appears slightly later than the N2 wave. The P3 wave is tied to how effectively the brain allocates its attention to a given task.
After the treadmill session, the exercise group generated a much larger P3 wave. This expansion indicates a heightened capacity to direct mental resources exactly where they need to go.
The control group essentially spun their wheels. The brain wave readings for the seated control group were not statistically significant when comparing their before and after states. Their brains processed the conflicting arrows with the exact same level of effort and attention as they had during the baseline test.
The researchers attribute these mental shifts to the neurochemical changes sparked by physical exertion. Moderate aerobic activity prompts the brain to release chemicals like dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. These neurotransmitters help regulate mood and boost the function of the prefrontal cortex, a brain region heavily involved in higher-level reasoning and maintaining focus.
Lowering the students’ subjective anxiety likely freed up mental energy as well. When people aren’t dedicating active brainpower to worrying, they have more cognitive resources available to tackle the task in front of them without feeling overwhelmed.
While the results are promising, the research team noted several boundaries to their experiment. The study only monitored university students, entirely omitting middle and high school students who often experience the highest rates of academic distress. Future studies will need to test younger age groups.
The experiment also relied on an artificial testing scenario. While the researchers used cash prizes and video recordings to simulate stress, this setup does not perfectly mirror the emotional stakes of a real university exam. Tracking students during an actual testing week would provide more realistic data.
In addition, the study did not include a control group composed of students with low anxiety levels. Without this baseline, it is difficult to determine if the exercise brought the anxious students’ mental skills back to an average level or just elevated them slightly from a severe deficit.
Finally, a thirty-minute run is a temporary intervention. Even after the treadmill session, the students’ distress scores still registered moderately high. Researchers hope to investigate whether a consistent exercise routine, perhaps combined with psychological therapies, might offer a more lasting solution to academic anxiety.
The study, “Acute aerobic exercise improves inhibitory control in individuals with test anxiety: evidence from event-related potentials,” was authored by Lingfeng Wu and Renlai Zhou.
-------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #TestAnxiety #AerobicExercise #CognitiveFocus #InhibitoryControl #FlankerTask #BrainWaves #N2P3 #PrefrontalCortex #AcademicPerformance #MentalFocus
-
DATE: May 10, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: A half hour of aerobic exercise reduces test anxiety and boosts cognitive focus in students
A brief session of moderate aerobic exercise can ease the psychological burden of test anxiety while sharpening the specific mental skills needed to ignore distractions. Researchers found that a quick run on a treadmill rebalances brain activity, helping students process conflicting information with greater speed and focus. The findings were recently published in Physiology & Behavior.
Test-related distress is a common experience that goes beyond simple nervousness. It involves intense worry, physical tension, a racing heartbeat, and scattered thoughts that arise before or during an evaluative situation. People facing this condition often struggle with a cognitive skill known as inhibitory control.
Inhibitory control is the brain’s ability to tune out irrelevant information and suppress impulsive responses. It acts as a mental filter that allows a person to focus on a test question rather than the ticking of a clock or their own internal worries. This mental barricade prevents distracting signals from derailing a person’s train of thought.
When psychological distress disrupts this mental filter, students become easily distracted by their own fears. Their brains dedicate precious processing power to managing the worry itself, leaving less energy available for actual problem-solving. This scattered focus degrades their academic performance and fuels even more worry.
The experience can create a loop of poor performance and escalating anxiety. To break this cycle, psychologists Lingfeng Wu and Renlai Zhou from Nanjing University designed an experiment to see if physical activity could serve as an immediate remedy. They wanted to evaluate whether an acute session of aerobic exercise could temporarily repair the mental filters of affected students.
The research team recruited forty university students who scored very high on an established anxiety questionnaire. These participants were randomly divided into two groups of twenty. One group was assigned to an aerobic exercise intervention, while the other served as a resting control group.
During the main phase of the experiment, the exercise group spent thirty minutes walking and jogging on a treadmill. The researchers continuously monitored the participants’ heart rates to ensure the activity remained at a moderate intensity. The control group spent the same thirty minutes sitting in a quiet room reading neutral, sports-related magazines.
Both before and after these thirty-minute sessions, the students underwent a specialized cognitive assessment known as the Flanker task. This computer-based challenge is specifically designed to measure a person’s inhibitory control abilities.
In the Flanker task, participants stare at a computer screen and wait for a row of five arrows to appear. They must quickly identify the direction the middle arrow is pointing, choosing either left or right. The challenge comes from the surrounding arrows, which act as deliberate visual distractions.
In some trials, all the arrows point in the exact same direction, making the response relatively easy. In other trials, the outer arrows point in the opposite direction of the center target. This creates a visual conflict that the participant must mentally override in order to choose the correct answer.
Throughout this task, the researchers recorded the students’ brain activity using an electroencephalogram. This device consists of a fitted cap with small sensors placed across the scalp to detect electrical signals in the brain. The scientists paid close attention to two specific brain wave patterns, known as the N2 and P3 waves.
To replicate the pressure of a real testing environment, the researchers manipulated the stakes of the computer task using a standard psychological tactic. They told the students that they were taking a highly reliable aptitude test that would successfully predict their future university performance. They also offered a cash reward for the top performers and informed the students that they were being recorded on video for expert analysis.
The results showed that the thirty-minute exercise session had an immediate, measurable impact. Students in the treadmill group reported lower levels of subjective anxiety on their questionnaires after working out. The control group saw no statistical difference in their self-reported anxiety levels.
The behavioral data from the computer task mirrored these emotional improvements. After exercising, the treadmill group became much faster at identifying the correct arrow direction across all trials.
More importantly, the exercise group showed a marked improvement in the difficult, conflicting trials. The reaction time gap between the easy trials and the hard trials shrank considerably. This reduction suggests a direct upgrade in their ability to filter out distracting, conflicting information.
Accuracy remained very high for almost all participants across both groups. The researchers note that anxiety usually damages processing speed rather than raw accuracy. The fact that the exercise group got faster without making more mistakes confirms that their overall processing efficiency genuinely improved.
The brain wave recordings provided an internal view of how the exercise changed the participants’ cognitive processing. The researchers looked first at the N2 wave, an electrical pulse that peaks just after a person encounters conflicting information.
In the exercise group, the electrical amplitude of the N2 wave became noticeably smaller after the treadmill session. A smaller N2 wave typically means the brain is exerting less effort to detect and manage conflicting stimuli. The physical activity seemed to make the brain’s early conflict-monitoring system run more smoothly.
The team also measured the P3 wave, which appears slightly later than the N2 wave. The P3 wave is tied to how effectively the brain allocates its attention to a given task.
After the treadmill session, the exercise group generated a much larger P3 wave. This expansion indicates a heightened capacity to direct mental resources exactly where they need to go.
The control group essentially spun their wheels. The brain wave readings for the seated control group were not statistically significant when comparing their before and after states. Their brains processed the conflicting arrows with the exact same level of effort and attention as they had during the baseline test.
The researchers attribute these mental shifts to the neurochemical changes sparked by physical exertion. Moderate aerobic activity prompts the brain to release chemicals like dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. These neurotransmitters help regulate mood and boost the function of the prefrontal cortex, a brain region heavily involved in higher-level reasoning and maintaining focus.
Lowering the students’ subjective anxiety likely freed up mental energy as well. When people aren’t dedicating active brainpower to worrying, they have more cognitive resources available to tackle the task in front of them without feeling overwhelmed.
While the results are promising, the research team noted several boundaries to their experiment. The study only monitored university students, entirely omitting middle and high school students who often experience the highest rates of academic distress. Future studies will need to test younger age groups.
The experiment also relied on an artificial testing scenario. While the researchers used cash prizes and video recordings to simulate stress, this setup does not perfectly mirror the emotional stakes of a real university exam. Tracking students during an actual testing week would provide more realistic data.
In addition, the study did not include a control group composed of students with low anxiety levels. Without this baseline, it is difficult to determine if the exercise brought the anxious students’ mental skills back to an average level or just elevated them slightly from a severe deficit.
Finally, a thirty-minute run is a temporary intervention. Even after the treadmill session, the students’ distress scores still registered moderately high. Researchers hope to investigate whether a consistent exercise routine, perhaps combined with psychological therapies, might offer a more lasting solution to academic anxiety.
The study, “Acute aerobic exercise improves inhibitory control in individuals with test anxiety: evidence from event-related potentials,” was authored by Lingfeng Wu and Renlai Zhou.
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DATE: May 10, 2026 at 02:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: A half hour of aerobic exercise reduces test anxiety and boosts cognitive focus in students
A brief session of moderate aerobic exercise can ease the psychological burden of test anxiety while sharpening the specific mental skills needed to ignore distractions. Researchers found that a quick run on a treadmill rebalances brain activity, helping students process conflicting information with greater speed and focus. The findings were recently published in Physiology & Behavior.
Test-related distress is a common experience that goes beyond simple nervousness. It involves intense worry, physical tension, a racing heartbeat, and scattered thoughts that arise before or during an evaluative situation. People facing this condition often struggle with a cognitive skill known as inhibitory control.
Inhibitory control is the brain’s ability to tune out irrelevant information and suppress impulsive responses. It acts as a mental filter that allows a person to focus on a test question rather than the ticking of a clock or their own internal worries. This mental barricade prevents distracting signals from derailing a person’s train of thought.
When psychological distress disrupts this mental filter, students become easily distracted by their own fears. Their brains dedicate precious processing power to managing the worry itself, leaving less energy available for actual problem-solving. This scattered focus degrades their academic performance and fuels even more worry.
The experience can create a loop of poor performance and escalating anxiety. To break this cycle, psychologists Lingfeng Wu and Renlai Zhou from Nanjing University designed an experiment to see if physical activity could serve as an immediate remedy. They wanted to evaluate whether an acute session of aerobic exercise could temporarily repair the mental filters of affected students.
The research team recruited forty university students who scored very high on an established anxiety questionnaire. These participants were randomly divided into two groups of twenty. One group was assigned to an aerobic exercise intervention, while the other served as a resting control group.
During the main phase of the experiment, the exercise group spent thirty minutes walking and jogging on a treadmill. The researchers continuously monitored the participants’ heart rates to ensure the activity remained at a moderate intensity. The control group spent the same thirty minutes sitting in a quiet room reading neutral, sports-related magazines.
Both before and after these thirty-minute sessions, the students underwent a specialized cognitive assessment known as the Flanker task. This computer-based challenge is specifically designed to measure a person’s inhibitory control abilities.
In the Flanker task, participants stare at a computer screen and wait for a row of five arrows to appear. They must quickly identify the direction the middle arrow is pointing, choosing either left or right. The challenge comes from the surrounding arrows, which act as deliberate visual distractions.
In some trials, all the arrows point in the exact same direction, making the response relatively easy. In other trials, the outer arrows point in the opposite direction of the center target. This creates a visual conflict that the participant must mentally override in order to choose the correct answer.
Throughout this task, the researchers recorded the students’ brain activity using an electroencephalogram. This device consists of a fitted cap with small sensors placed across the scalp to detect electrical signals in the brain. The scientists paid close attention to two specific brain wave patterns, known as the N2 and P3 waves.
To replicate the pressure of a real testing environment, the researchers manipulated the stakes of the computer task using a standard psychological tactic. They told the students that they were taking a highly reliable aptitude test that would successfully predict their future university performance. They also offered a cash reward for the top performers and informed the students that they were being recorded on video for expert analysis.
The results showed that the thirty-minute exercise session had an immediate, measurable impact. Students in the treadmill group reported lower levels of subjective anxiety on their questionnaires after working out. The control group saw no statistical difference in their self-reported anxiety levels.
The behavioral data from the computer task mirrored these emotional improvements. After exercising, the treadmill group became much faster at identifying the correct arrow direction across all trials.
More importantly, the exercise group showed a marked improvement in the difficult, conflicting trials. The reaction time gap between the easy trials and the hard trials shrank considerably. This reduction suggests a direct upgrade in their ability to filter out distracting, conflicting information.
Accuracy remained very high for almost all participants across both groups. The researchers note that anxiety usually damages processing speed rather than raw accuracy. The fact that the exercise group got faster without making more mistakes confirms that their overall processing efficiency genuinely improved.
The brain wave recordings provided an internal view of how the exercise changed the participants’ cognitive processing. The researchers looked first at the N2 wave, an electrical pulse that peaks just after a person encounters conflicting information.
In the exercise group, the electrical amplitude of the N2 wave became noticeably smaller after the treadmill session. A smaller N2 wave typically means the brain is exerting less effort to detect and manage conflicting stimuli. The physical activity seemed to make the brain’s early conflict-monitoring system run more smoothly.
The team also measured the P3 wave, which appears slightly later than the N2 wave. The P3 wave is tied to how effectively the brain allocates its attention to a given task.
After the treadmill session, the exercise group generated a much larger P3 wave. This expansion indicates a heightened capacity to direct mental resources exactly where they need to go.
The control group essentially spun their wheels. The brain wave readings for the seated control group were not statistically significant when comparing their before and after states. Their brains processed the conflicting arrows with the exact same level of effort and attention as they had during the baseline test.
The researchers attribute these mental shifts to the neurochemical changes sparked by physical exertion. Moderate aerobic activity prompts the brain to release chemicals like dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. These neurotransmitters help regulate mood and boost the function of the prefrontal cortex, a brain region heavily involved in higher-level reasoning and maintaining focus.
Lowering the students’ subjective anxiety likely freed up mental energy as well. When people aren’t dedicating active brainpower to worrying, they have more cognitive resources available to tackle the task in front of them without feeling overwhelmed.
While the results are promising, the research team noted several boundaries to their experiment. The study only monitored university students, entirely omitting middle and high school students who often experience the highest rates of academic distress. Future studies will need to test younger age groups.
The experiment also relied on an artificial testing scenario. While the researchers used cash prizes and video recordings to simulate stress, this setup does not perfectly mirror the emotional stakes of a real university exam. Tracking students during an actual testing week would provide more realistic data.
In addition, the study did not include a control group composed of students with low anxiety levels. Without this baseline, it is difficult to determine if the exercise brought the anxious students’ mental skills back to an average level or just elevated them slightly from a severe deficit.
Finally, a thirty-minute run is a temporary intervention. Even after the treadmill session, the students’ distress scores still registered moderately high. Researchers hope to investigate whether a consistent exercise routine, perhaps combined with psychological therapies, might offer a more lasting solution to academic anxiety.
The study, “Acute aerobic exercise improves inhibitory control in individuals with test anxiety: evidence from event-related potentials,” was authored by Lingfeng Wu and Renlai Zhou.
-------------------------------------------------
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Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
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It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #TestAnxiety #AerobicExercise #CognitiveFocus #InhibitoryControl #FlankerTask #BrainWaves #N2P3 #PrefrontalCortex #AcademicPerformance #MentalFocus
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DATE: May 13, 2026 at 08:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Study reveals the key ingredients for successful social media mental health interventions
A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials testing the effects of social-media-based mental health interventions found that they lead to moderate-high reductions in stress symptoms and low-moderate reductions in depression and anxiety symptom severity. The interventions were more effective when participants were more than 70% female, when the programs were human-guided, social-oriented, and when effects were compared to groups that received care as usual. The paper was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
More than 1 in 8 adults and adolescents worldwide live with a mental disorder. The two most common types of mental health disorders are anxiety disorders and depression. However, estimates state that only a small fraction of individuals suffering from mental health disorders receive a treatment that results in the remission of symptoms. That is why scientists are looking for new ways to provide mental health treatments at scale to people who need them.
One prospective type of treatment that can be delivered at scale are online mental health interventions, particularly interventions delivered through social-media-based programs. These interventions represent organized efforts to provide psychological support, education, coping skills, or behavior-change strategies through platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, Reddit, or other online communities.
They include therapist-led groups, peer-support communities, psychoeducational posts, chat-based guidance, mood tracking, crisis resources, or structured activities based on approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy or mindfulness. These programs can make support more accessible because many people already use social media regularly and may find it easier to engage online than in traditional services. However, their quality, privacy protections, safety procedures, and effectiveness vary, with studies reporting inconsistent results about their effectiveness.
Study author Qiyang Zhang and her colleagues wanted to integrate the findings of rigorously designed randomized controlled trials examining the effectiveness of social-media-based mental health interventions in reducing mental health symptoms. They were interested in the overall impact of these treatments on symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, negative affect, and psychological distress. These researchers also wanted to know how much these effects depend on the methodological specificities of studies and programs, such as program duration, program focus, or the control group the treatment was compared with.
They conducted a meta-analysis. The first author of this study conducted a search of databases of published scientific reports that included the Education Resources Information Center, PsychINFO, Scopus, PsychArticles, Communication and Mass Media Complete, PubMed, and Proquest databases. She also searched for studies through Paperfetcher across journals in the field the study authors considered reputable, and examined the reference lists of the papers they found.
Study authors looked for studies that reported results of randomized controlled trials with at least 30 participants per experimental condition. The intervention examined in the study needed to be delivered through social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and WeChat), and the difference in mental health symptoms between groups undergoing different treatments needed to be small at the start. Additionally, the interventions needed to be delivered by nonresearchers to better reflect how these programs would function in the real world.
They also required the difference between the number of participants who did not finish the study (the attrition rate) in the compared treatment conditions to be less than 15%. In this way, they wanted to reduce the risk that the observed treatment differences were caused by different dropout rates. For example, if participants who benefited least, or those who experienced the strongest effects or adverse experiences, left one condition more often than the other, the remaining participants could become systematically different, biasing the results.
In the end, after screening over 11,000 published studies, 17 studies met all the criteria the study authors defined. These studies reported the effects of 22 distinct intervention programs, comprising 5,624 total participants. Of these programs, 7 were conducted on adolescents, 7 on people in early adulthood, 7 included middle adulthood participants, while 1 study was of older individuals.
Twelve studies had more than 70% female participants. In 9 studies, participants were recruited based on a specific clinical condition.
Overall, the results showed that the examined studies had a low-moderate beneficial effect on mental health symptoms. The symptom reduction was the strongest for stress symptoms and it was moderate-high in size. Effects on reducing anxiety and depression symptoms were low-moderate.
Further analyses found that the examined social-media-based interventions tended to be more effective when the studies were conducted on groups that were more than 70% female, when the programs were human-guided (i.e., guided by humans including therapists, coaches, or research assistants), social-oriented (i.e., programs that provide mainly social interaction, emotional support, or companionship), and when control groups were people who received care as usual (i.e., where control group participants received standard care as opposed to waitlist groups). Interestingly, the researchers found that a participant’s age did not significantly affect the outcomes of the intervention.
“This meta-analysis synthesized the best evidence on this topic and found that, overall, high-quality social-media-based RCTs [randomized controlled trials] were effective in reducing depression, anxiety, stress, negative affect, and psychological distress. Given the benefits of scalability and cost-effectiveness of social-media-based approaches, mental health services should consider integrating online interventions into routine practice,” the study authors concluded.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the mental health effects of social-media-based mental health interventions. However, the study authors note that the statistical power of their review was limited by the small sample size of available, high-quality studies. Furthermore, the reported effects are not generalizable to all social-media-based mental health interventions. In each case, the effects of a specific intervention depend on its particular characteristics and on its appropriateness for the mental health condition or difficulties that individuals undergoing the intervention are experiencing.
The paper, “Social-Media-Based Mental Health Interventions: Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials,” was authored by Qiyang Zhang, Zixuan Huang, Yuan Sui, Fu-Hung Lin, Hongjie Guan, Li Li, Ke Wang, and Amanda Neitzel.
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Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
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