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Psychology News

These research articles involve many aspects of psychology such as cognitive psychology, depression studies, mental health, stress, happiness and neuropsychology, Scroll below for more specific categories.

Boosting Ketamine’s Antidepressant Effects to Last Two Months

Ketamine is a fast-acting antidepressant that can relieve symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) within hours, even in treatment-resistant cases. However, its effects typically last only a week, and frequent dosing poses risks like dissociation or addiction.

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Smart Floss Measures Stress Hormone for Easy, Real-Time Monitoring

Engineers have developed a novel dental floss device that can detect cortisol—a hormone linked to stress—through saliva, offering a painless, real-time method for stress monitoring. The device uses electropolymerized molecularly imprinted polymers (eMIPs), which act like custom molds to recognize specific molecules.

This shows people from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Why People Trust Those Who Grew Up With Less

New research reveals that people are more likely to trust others who grew up in lower-income households than those from privileged backgrounds. Across multiple experiments, participants consistently showed greater behavioral trust toward individuals with modest upbringings, seeing them as more moral and trustworthy.

Overimitation May Not Signal Social Bonding in Toddlers Just Yet

Overimitation, the tendency to copy unnecessary actions, has been observed in older children but was previously unstudied in toddlers under two. A new study found that 16–21-month-olds showed low rates of overimitation, and it wasn’t driven by a desire to affiliate with people similar to themselves.

Rethinking Brain Drain: Emigration Fuels Global Prosperity

A recent study overturns the conventional idea that skilled emigration harms developing countries by showing it can actually enhance economic development and innovation. Researchers found that when people have the opportunity to migrate to higher-income countries like the U.S., it motivates greater educational investment in their home countries. es shared prosperity rather than loss. With current immigration restrictions tightening in the U.S., experts warn this mutual benefit could be at risk.

Brain Activity Linked to Implicit Suicidal Thoughts

For the first time in Veterans, researchers have identified brain regions activated during subconscious associations between the self and suicide-related concepts using the Suicide Implicit Association Test (S-IAT). These brain areas are part of networks responsible for self-processing and identifying significant stimuli, offering potential targets for future treatment.

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Blood Test Identifies Depression Risk in Teenagers

Summary: Researchers have identified nine blood-based microRNAs that are elevated in teens...

More Social Media, More Depression: Study Links Cause and Effect

A new study has found that as preteens increase their social media use, depressive symptoms also rise—but not the other way around. Researchers tracked nearly 12,000 youth over three years and discovered that increased screen time predicted later depression, while depressive symptoms did not predict more social media use.

Parental Mental Illness Raises Risk of Childhood Psychopathology

A new long-term study confirms that children of parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder face a higher risk of developing mental health issues compared to peers without parental psychiatric diagnoses. Over four years, researchers tracked 238 children and found distinct patterns of symptoms depending on whether a parent had schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Potassium Channel Drug Offers New Hope for Treating Depression

Two new studies reveal that ezogabine, a drug originally approved for epilepsy, may alleviate depression symptoms by targeting potassium channels in the brain. Researchers found that the drug improves function in reward-related brain regions like the ventral tegmental area (VTA), which is key to motivation and pleasure.

Long COVID Is Fueling a Mental Health Crisis in Children

A new study reveals that nearly 40% of children with long COVID are experiencing significant symptoms of anxiety or depression, many for the first time. Using validated mental health screening tools, researchers found that 1 in 4 children had new anxiety symptoms and 1 in 7 had new depressive symptoms, despite no prior mental health history.

Why Loneliness Hurts More When You’re Poor

A new study across 20 European countries shows that people in the lowest income brackets are significantly more likely to feel lonely than those with higher incomes, even though they socialize just as often. Loneliness was closely tied to a cluster of defensive symptoms—pain, fatigue, and low mood—which were especially severe among the poor.