Children whose mothers are successfully treated for depression show progressive and marked improvement in their own behaviors even a year after their moms discontinue treatment, new UT Southwestern Medical Center-led research shows. Additionally, the faster mothers got better, the faster their kids improved – and the greater the degree of improvement experienced. ...

Obesity is socially contagious, according to research published in the past few years. How it is "caught" from others remains a murky area. But findings from Arizona State University researchers published in the American Journal of Public Health shed light on the transmission of obesity among friends and family. Shared ideas about acceptable weight or body size play only a minor role in spreading obesity am ...

A study of older married couples that gives new meaning to the matrimonial adage "for better or worse" finds that spouses have a much greater impact on their partner's health than previously known. The study, published in the current issue of the American Psychological Association's journal Health Psychology, finds strong associations between the physical and emotional health of older married couples – and ...

Several years ago, Suparna Rajaram noticed a strange sort of contagion in a couple she was close to. One partner acquired dementia — and the other lost the nourishing pleasures of joint reminiscence. “When the other person cannot validate shared memories,” said Rajaram, “they are both robbed of the past.” ...

Our own social status influences the way our brains respond to others of higher or lower rank, according to a new study reported online on April 28 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. People of higher subjective socioeconomic status show greater brain activity in response to other high-ranked individuals, while those with lower status have a greater response to other low-status individuals. ...

If you want to keep your brain healthy, it turns out that visiting friends, attending parties, and even going to church might be just as good for you as crossword puzzles. According to research conducted at Rush University Medical Center, frequent social activity may help to prevent or delay cognitive decline in old age. The study has just been posted online in the Journal of the International Neuropsycholo ...

Toddlers who do not have a secure emotional relationship with their parents, and particularly their mothers, could be at increased risk for obesity by age 4.5 years old, according to new research. The study suggests that children at age 24 months who show insecure attachment patterns have at least 30 percent higher odds for obesity by age 4.5 years old. ...

According to the study, 50% of patients suffering from bipolar disorder suffers some type of work, social, and family disability, and approximately 20% present some disorder at the three levels. This was the conclusion drawn in a cientific article recently published in the prestigious journal Psychiatry Research, prepared by Dr. Luis Gutiérrez Rojas, a member of the Research Group of Psychiatry Research and ...

Physical pain and intense feelings of social rejection "hurt" in the same way, a new study shows. The study demonstrates that the same regions of the brain that become active in response to painful sensory experiences are activated during intense experiences of social rejection. ...

Children suffering from extreme social anxiety are trapped in a nightmare of misinterpreted facial expressions: They confuse angry faces with sad ones, a new Emory University study shows. Emory psychologist Steve Nowicki, a clinical researcher who developed the tests used in the study. The study was co-authored by Amy Walker, a former undergraduate student at Emory, now at Yeshiva University, and will be pu ...