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A new study published in the Journal of Child Development looked at the determinants of socioemotional and behavioral well-being among First Nations children living off-reserve in Canada. “Our study focused on positive health outcomes among young First Nations children,” study author Sawayra Owais told us. “Specifically, we examined Indigenous and non-Indigenous-specific determinants associated with positive well-being among First Nations children living off-reserve in Canada.” [More]

A new study published in JAMA Network Open looked at mental health disparities by sexual orientation and gender identity in the All of Us Research Program. “Our study examined mental health disparities between sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals and their cisgender heterosexual peers using data from the All of Us Research Program,” study author Junjie Anderson Lu told us. [More]

A new study published in PubMed looked at guided self-help versus group treatment for children with obesity. “This study compares the intensive group-based treatment for children with obesity, called family-based treatment, with a guided self-help version which is delivered to the parent /child dyad,” study author Kerri Boutelle told us. “We were interested whether the guided self-help version would provide similar weight losses to the intensive family-based treatment.” [More]

A new study published in JAMA Network looked at a nature-based intervention and the mental health of schoolchildren. “We found that a 12-week nature-based intervention in Grades 5 and 6 did not lead to overall reductions in mental health symptoms, according to both per-protocol and intent-to-treat analyses,” study author Marie-Claude Geoffroy told us. [More]

More than 33% of people aged between 50 to 80 feel lonely. Loneliness and isolation among this group has mostly returned to pre pandemic levels, but remains high. [More]

A new study published in Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies looked at how humans mindlessly treat AI virtual agents as social beings, but how this tendency diminishes among the young. “We were interested in understanding how people relate to AI tools, for example chatbots or smart speakers,” study author Jianan Zhou told us. “Such systems are pervasive nowadays and appear to be smart and well-informed to the typical user, which makes sense from the point of usability. The question this raises, however, is whether interaction with such systems can increase feelings of liking or sympathy towards them and lead us to behave much like we do when interacting with other humans.” [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Child Development looked at autobiographical memory for the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, psychological adjustment, and their relation over time. “We were interested in getting some insight on how children and adolescents thought about and remembered their lockdown experiences,” study author Dr. Tirill Fiellhaugen Hjuler from the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Aarhus University Hospital told us. [More]

A new study published in JAMA Open Network looked at the the comprehensiveness of state insurance laws and perceived access to pediatric mental health care. “Our study investigated the association of the comprehensiveness of state mental and behavioral health insurance laws with caregiver perception of access to mental and behavioral health care for children in the United States,” study author Ashley A. Foster told us. “We also assessed the association of comprehensiveness of state mental and behavioral health insurance laws with caregiver perception of adequacy of mental and behavioral health insurance coverage.” [More]

Even as little as ten minutes spent in nature can have short term benefits for adults living with mental illness. Research published in Ecopsychology found that any form of nature exposure, including to urban nature, could have benefits. [More]

A new study published in iScience looked at whether pet and owner personality and mental wellbeing associate with attachment to cats and dogs. “We delved into the personality and mental wellbeing profiles of both owners and their pets (cats and dogs) concerning owners’ attachment insecurity, explicitly focusing on avoidant and anxious attachment styles,” study author Aada Ståhl told us. [More]