Clear Evidence: Giving Is Good for You

This week, Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season in the U.S.—a time typically filled with family gatherings, delicious meals and, for many Americans, philanthropy.

You may be more likely to drop money into an iconic red Salvation Army bucket or donate meals to your local food bank to spread the holiday cheer. Or maybe you plan to make a larger cash donation for tax purposes before the end of the calendar year. [Read more…]

How Has COVID-19 Impacted Our Sleep?

You probably know from personal experience that the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on sleep for many people. If your own sleep hasn’t been affected, chances are you know someone who has experienced sleep problems in the past year and a half. [Read more…]

Scientific Consensus: Humans Are Causing Climate Change

When former Vice President Al Gore launched the movie An Inconvenient Truth in 2006 to explain the science behind climate change to the American public, surveys showed that many Americans didn’t believe in climate change, even though scientific data was building that humans actions were causing global warming. [Read more…]

You Have More Power Over Others Than You Realize

Imagine that your cell phone battery died while you were out shopping and you needed to make a phone call urgently. Your only choice would be to approach strangers and ask if you could use their phone. The thought of asking for this kind of favor sends prickles up the spines of most people. [Read more…]

The Pros and Cons of Social Media for Youth

More than 90 percent of teenagers in the U.S. have a smartphone. Access to this type of technology and social networking changes the playing field for young people who are simultaneously developing a sense of identity and new social relationships. [Read more…]

What You Thought About Your Metabolism May Be Wrong

Talk to people who are middle-aged or older about body weight, and you’ll likely hear them complain about how their metabolism has slowed down. But our commonly held beliefs about metabolism – primarily, that it slows for older people and women – are likely completely wrong, according to a new groundbreaking study published in the journal Science this month. [Read more…]

How the Most Exceptional 100-Year-Olds Keep Their Minds Sharp

Nearly 15 percent of people age 70 and older experience some form of dementia; that number jumps to nearly 35 percent for people over age 90. And yet other people live more than 100 years with sharp minds.

What helps some people protect their brain health well into the later years of life? That’s the question researchers from the Netherlands asked in a new, longitudinal study published in JAMA Network Open that examines mentally sharp 100-year-olds. [Read more…]

Can Technology Promote Weight Loss?

More than half of the world’s population is overweight or obese, a trend that is contributing to significant health problems in people across the globe. Obesity is a major risk factor for many chronic health problems including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

Encouraging people to lose weight is one solution, but the evidence shows that weight loss is difficult and rarely sustained. [Read more…]

Drinking Coffee Is Actually Good for You

Sixty-four percent of Americans drink coffee, adding up to 400 million cups daily. That’s a lot of coffee!

Researchers have long debated the health effects of one of America’s favorite drinks. In 1991, coffee was listed as a possible carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Research has demonstrated that coffee increases blood pressure and heart rate, but less is known about its impact on cardiovascular health. Coffee is not recommended for pregnant women because it’s unknown how it affects unborn babies. [Read more…]

What We Know About Trans Youth and Bullying

Transgender youth, kids whose gender identity does not match their assigned sex, experience bullying and violence in schools at much higher rates compared to cisgender youth, whose gender identity does match their assigned sex.

In fact, evidence shows that trans youth are more likely to experience what researchers call poly-victimization — multiple forms of abuse or discrimination simultaneously — compared to cis youth. This type of abuse is associated with serious mental and emotional problems including lower self-esteem, anxiety, depression, suicide, poor school performance and more. [Read more…]

Do Bystander Intervention Programs Prevent Sexual Assault?

Sexual assault is a serious problem on college campuses across the United States. Nearly 16 percent of female college students in the U.S. report experiencing an attempted or completed sexual assault before starting college and 19 percent report experiencing attempted or actual sexual assault during college, according to a comprehensive study. [Read more…]

The Behavioral Affects of Marijuana Use

Weed, pot, grass: Whatever you want to call it, marijuana is steadily becoming legal in more U.S. states. The recreational use of cannabis is legal in 14 states and has been decriminalized – meaning it carries a very small penalty – in 16 others. In addition, 36 states allow the use of marijuana for medical reasons with a doctor’s prescription. [Read more…]

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