news 2024

People are as hesitant to reach out to an old friend as they are to strike up a conversation with a stranger, even when they have the capacity and desire to do so, according to a new joint study by researchers at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the University of Sussex. Published this morning in Nature Communications Psychology , a paper by co-authors SFU Professor Lara Aknin and Gillian Sandstrom at the University of Sussex in Brighton (U.K.), looks at whether and why people are reluctant to reach out to rekindle old relationships.

Researchers say findings point to vital need for specific interventions to support mental health needs of unhoused people Health-care professionals who work with people experiencing homelessness know many of the people may also be living with a mental health disorder. University of Calgary researchers wanted to better understand how often these two things are connected, and what they found surprised them.

A study by Simon Fraser University psychologists that examined different facets of mindfulness in Canadians has found that youth and adolescents are more likely to display traits of self-judgment and have worse mental health, including anxiety, depression and stress. By contrast, older participants were found to be more likely to be mindful and focus their attention on the present moment, observing themselves and others without judgment.

A new study reveals that viewing porn can either help or hinder sexual satisfaction, depending on the type of content. Consuming pornography can lead to improved sexual satisfaction - or it can be detrimental to it, as different content types are associated with different outcomes. That's what's revealed in a new study by Université de Montréal psychology professor Beáta Bothe , published in February in the Journal of Sex Research.

A research team led by UdeM's Robert-Paul Juster has shown that performance on some cognitive tasks is better predicted by gender identity than by sex assigned at birth. Many studies have found sex differences in cognitive abilities. In general, women outperform men on verbal and fine motor tasks, while men outperform women on spatial orientation and mental rotation tasks.

Study shows people experiencing homelessness more likely to develop dementia, and at a younger age The prevalence of dementia in unhoused people was almost two times greater than in the general population, with a higher prevalence for age groups younger than 85 years, according to new research led by researchers at Western, ICES and Lawson Health Research Institute.

Based on the brain dynamics she observed in infants, UdeM doctoral candidate of psychology Florence Deguire was able to determine which would go on to have the best adaptive behaviours scores. Using electroencephalogram (EEG) data collected before the age of one, it is possible to predict which babies will have the highest adaptive behaviour scores at the age of four.

Led by UdeM assistant professor Beáta Bothe, researchers explore how online pornography affects people differently around the world - not just men, but also women and non-binary people. A major international study led by a Canadian psychologist sheds light on a hidden phenomenon: how problematic use of pornography is affecting people in different parts of the world, across various genders and sexual orientations.

Researchers in Canada and France followed 700 office workers for six months in 2020 and 2021 to see how they were coping. Their findings reveal a less than favorable outlook on extensive remote work. Remember when COVID-19 hit, and suddenly everyone was working from home? Well, a team of researchers in Montreal and Paris decided to dig deeper into how this shift affected office workers during the pandemic.

ADHD can be stemmed through specific parenting behaviours Parents of young children with an excitable or exuberant temperament could adapt their parenting style to help moderate their child's potential development of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), according to a new study co-authored by a University of Waterloo researcher.

Valentine's Day means the stores are filled with hearts and chocolate and florists are rushing to fill orders. But beyond cards and candy, what factors make for a strong relationship that lasts?  Why do some relationships break down and others flourish? How does a relationship progress to a long-term partnership? How important is sexual compatibility in a successful relationship?  These are among the questions researchers in Western's psychology department are examining, through relationship studies involving feedback from couples in intimate relationships.

Lockdowns and lack of support networks left youth more vulnerable to the negative effects of social media How does time spent online, and especially social media, affect the brains and behaviours of children and youth? Social media platforms are seemingly designed to capture the attention of users and produce habitual checking of apps and notifications.