<table style="border:1px solid #adadad; background-color: #F3F1EC; color: #666666; padding:8px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; line-height:16px; margin-bottom:6px;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News Daily Digest (Unofficial)</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/modern-social-conditions-are-not-the-cause-of-decrease-in-religiosity-study-finds/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Modern social conditions are not the cause of decrease in religiosity, study finds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 11th 2025, 08:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A new analysis of 1989–2020 World/European Values Survey data found no evidence that modern social conditions—marked by high existential security, education, and urbanicity—cause a decrease in religiosity. National average increases in these factors did not predict decreased religiosity. The paper was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12932"><em>the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion</em></a>.</p>
<p>Religiosity refers to the intensity and consistency of an individual’s religious beliefs, practices, and commitments. It includes personal faith, participation in rituals, adherence to moral codes, and engagement in a religious community. Religiosity often serves as a source of meaning, identity, and social cohesion while also shaping perspectives on broader societal and moral issues.</p>
<p>In early human communities, religiosity likely provided survival advantages by fostering social cohesion, cooperation, group identity, and resource sharing. Shared beliefs and rituals strengthened bonds within groups, reduced internal conflict, and offered frameworks for managing existential uncertainties.</p>
<p>While religiosity played a crucial role in early communities, modern societies enjoy relatively secure existences—lives are rarely in constant danger, people live in close proximity to others in cities, and education has undermined many traditional religious or spiritual concepts (e.g., superstitions, beliefs in magic, and miracles) by offering nonreligious explanations for natural phenomena and providing a sense of mastery over the environment. This led some researchers to hypothesize that modern social conditions might decrease religiosity. Indeed, studies show that average religiosity has declined in some countries, particularly in the West, over the past few decades.</p>
<p>Study author Louisa L. Roberts aimed to explore whether this decline in religiosity could be attributed to modern social conditions. She analyzed data from the World Values Survey and the European Values Study for the period between 1989 and 2020.</p>
<p>The World Values Survey and European Values Study are large-scale, cross-national research projects that collect data on people’s values, beliefs, and cultural norms across numerous countries and regions. These surveys track changes in societal values over time and provide insights into how cultural, economic, and political factors influence attitudes toward issues such as religion, family, politics, and social trust.</p>
<p>Roberts used two datasets for her analysis. The first included 101 countries with data from 476,758 participants across eight world regions. The second contained data from 96 countries. Roberts first examined the relationship between modern social conditions—existential security, urbanicity, and education—and religiosity at the individual level. She then focused on country-level changes in these factors over time.</p>
<p>The results at the individual level revealed weak associations between modern social conditions and religiosity. However, the direction of these associations varied between world regions, suggesting that these conditions alone are unlikely to affect religiosity. Instead, other factors may influence both religiosity and these conditions.</p>
<p>For instance, urban residence was associated with lower religiosity in all world regions except East Asia, where it correlated with higher religiosity. Similarly, the number of world regions where higher income was associated with lower religiosity was equal to those where higher income was associated with higher religiosity. Longitudinally, increases in national averages of the studied social conditions did not predict decreased religiosity.</p>
<p>“These findings suggest scholars should probably look elsewhere to explain why average religiosity has decreased in some world locations over recent decades,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study sheds light on the links between modern social conditions and religiosity. However, it should be noted that the results are based on self-reports, which may have been influenced by reporting bias.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12932">Do the Three Modern Social Conditions—High Existential Security, Education, and Urbanicity—Really Make People Less Religious? A Worldwide Analysis, 1989–2020,</a>” was authored by Louisa L. Roberts.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/google-searches-for-racial-slurs-are-higher-in-areas-where-people-are-worried-about-disease/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Google searches for racial slurs are higher in areas where people are worried about disease</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 11th 2025, 06:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A new study explores how pathogen stress—the prevalence of infectious diseases—may fuel racial bias in the United States, particularly anti-Black prejudice. By analyzing Google search data and measures of implicit and explicit bias, the researchers found that while pathogen stress correlates with increased bias, the role of disease avoidance motivations in this relationship is less clear. The findings, published in <em><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-024-00407-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Evolutionary Psychological Science</a></em>, shed light on how environmental conditions interact with psychological processes to shape social behaviors.</p>
<p>Past research has demonstrated that pathogen stress can influence social behaviors, fostering ethnocentrism and prejudice. These patterns are often attributed to the behavioral immune system, a set of evolved psychological mechanisms aimed at minimizing the risk of disease transmission by increasing wariness of outgroup members. However, while this general relationship has been established, the specific psychological pathways linking pathogen stress to bias remain unclear.</p>
<p>“I’ve been interested in what drives prejudice since I was an undergraduate,” said study author Hugh McGovern, an associate research fellow at Deakin University.</p>
<p>“As I was beginning my honours year, I came across the work of Mark Schaller and Steven Neuberg (among others) who shifted the type of explanation of prejudice from ‘how does prejudice arise in one’s mind given social conditions’ to ‘why might prejudice have arisen given recurrent social pressures during human evolution?’ This blew my mind, and I really liked the fact that it was providing a more comprehensive explanation of why we have this tendency toward social prejudices taking into account our evolutionary past, and not just recent history.”</p>
<p>“With diseases in particular it made intuitive sense to me that the types of threat other groups offer us (e.g., infectious disease) would mean that unfamiliar outgroups in particular would be considered a pathogenic risk, as through evolution we did not have immunity to the infectious diseases that unfamiliar outgroups carried,” McGovern explained. “As such, at least for most humans, it made sense to be wary of unfamiliar outgroups as any contact could actually mean my entire group gets killed if I catch their pathogens. This is what happened to many Indigenous groups in South America during European colonization, where things such as syphilis were responsible for entire populations being killed.”</p>
<p>“I also liked the fact that the evolutionary approach was able to explain prejudice arising across cultural contexts. I think this is important, because I think a lot of earlier explanations for prejudice were somewhat Anglo-American centric and focused on intergroup dynamics specific to Europe and North America. For me, this was a bit of a shortcoming and actually hinders the possibility of truly understanding intergroup dynamics and ultimately understanding why prejudice arises.”</p>
<p>To investigate the relationship between pathogen stress, disease avoidance motivations, and anti-Black bias in the United States, the researchers analyzed data from two primary sources: Google Trends and Project Implicit.</p>
<p>The first part of the analysis used Google Trends data collected between 2008 and 2012. The researchers identified searches containing an anti-Black racial slur as a proxy for racial animus in different geographic areas. These data provided a relative interest score for each U.S. state and metropolitan statistical area, with higher scores indicating a greater frequency of such searches. The researchers also created a measure of disease avoidance motivations by compiling a list of search terms related to disease concerns, such as “virus” and “sick.” These terms were aggregated to generate a relative score for disease-related concerns at the state and metropolitan levels.</p>
<p>In the second part of the study, the researchers analyzed data from Project Implicit, a platform that collects implicit and explicit bias measures from participants. For the 2020 data, they examined implicit racial bias using the Implicit Association Test (IAT), which measures automatic associations between racial groups and positive or negative words. Explicit bias was assessed through self-reported preferences for Black or White individuals on a Likert scale. Additionally, participants completed the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease scale, which includes subscales for germ aversion and perceived infectability, to measure individual differences in disease avoidance motivations.</p>
<p>The results partially supported the parasite stress theory, which posits that pathogen prevalence drives intergroup biases. However, the role of disease avoidance motivations in mediating this relationship was not consistent across measures and geographic levels.</p>
<p>Using Google Trends data, the researchers found that pathogen stress was a significant predictor of anti-Black bias at both state and metropolitan levels. Disease avoidance motivations, as measured through Google search terms, mediated the relationship between pathogen stress and anti-Black slur searches at the metropolitan level but not at the state level. This suggests that localized pathogen stress may exert a stronger influence on disease-related concerns and racial animus than broader state-level measures. Regions with higher pathogen stress were more likely to have elevated disease avoidance concerns, which in turn correlated with more frequent searches for anti-Black slurs.</p>
<p>“More pathogens in the environment increased anti-Black prejudice insofar as pathogens made people more worried about infectious disease,” McGovern told PsyPost. “This means that higher amounts of pathogens may not increase prejudice, if more pathogens don’t make people more worried about pathogens.”</p>
<p>In contrast, when examining the 2020 Project Implicit data, the researchers found that disease avoidance motivations, particularly germ aversion, were associated with explicit but not implicit anti-Black bias at the state level. However, these disease avoidance motivations did not mediate the relationship between pathogen stress and bias. The lack of mediation in this part of the analysis suggests that the link between pathogen stress and racial bias may operate through mechanisms other than disease avoidance motivations, such as external social norms or structural inequalities.</p>
<p>“Higher rates of infectious disease can increase prejudices against ethnic or racial groups that already experience a higher incidence of infectious disease—in the American context, Black Americans,” McGovern said. “This is pernicious because it means that socially and economically disadvantaged groups, who may lack easy access to healthcare, can suffer a ‘double whammy’: as infectious diseases increase, so too might prejudice against those who already bear the highest burden of these illnesses.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, the study also identified the role of education as a mitigating factor. Higher levels of education were associated with lower racial bias, aligning with prior research showing that education fosters intergroup tolerance. Additionally, geographic areas with greater population dissimilarity—regions marked by racial segregation—exhibited higher levels of anti-Black bias.</p>
<p>The study demonstrated that pathogen stress is indeed associated with anti-Black bias, supporting the broader parasite stress theory. However, the findings cast doubt on the universality of disease avoidance motivations as mediators in this relationship. These results underscore the need for further research to disentangle the mechanisms underlying prejudice and to explore interventions that address both environmental and social drivers of bias.</p>
<p>“The results were not super consistent and could depend on how prejudice was measured – whether it be the Google-based measure, explicit prejudice, or implicit prejudice,” McGovern noted. “It is therefore important more data is collected with large and ideally international samples.”</p>
<p>The researchers also emphasize that addressing structural inequalities, such as healthcare access and education disparities, may help mitigate the conditions that foster prejudice. By understanding the evolutionary and social origins of bias, policymakers and social scientists can develop targeted interventions to promote social cohesion.</p>
<p>“It may sound grandiose, but I’d like to get to a place where this type of research makes its way to the ears of those who may wish to derive effective interventions for group-based prejudices,” McGovern told PsyPost. “Many current interventions either do not work or can (in some cases) actually make social prejudices worse. If we have a fuller scientific understanding of why evolution sculpted our brains such that we often preference members of our own group, and exclude outsiders or outgroups, we may actually be able to derive more effective interventions.”</p>
<p>“More generally, we may be able to derive more out of the box interventions at the level of public policy. For example, if we want to decrease prejudice in society, it might help to start with trying to improve healthcare access in disadvantaged communities or try to limit the spread of infectious disease.”</p>
<p>“I think it is important that we don’t just guess our way to interventions for prejudice,” McGovern added. “If we actually want to create cohesive and harmonious societies, we need to have an understanding of why we have evolved the tendency toward social or group prejudices, so that we can get to the psychological roots of it and thus create effective social or policy interventions that truly make things better.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-024-00407-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What Role Do Disease Avoidance Motives Play in Prejudice? Assessing Implicit, Explicit, and Google Search Data</a>,” was authored by Hugh McGovern, Lewis Nitschinsk, Brian A. O’Shea, Damian R. Murray, and Khandis R. Blake.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/tiktok-leads-as-the-most-popular-platform-among-underage-users-research-reveals/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">TikTok leads as the most popular platform among underage users, research reveals</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 10th 2025, 20:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A significant portion of children under the age of 13 in the United States are actively using social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, despite clear age restrictions, according to a new study published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2025.102784"><em>Academic Pediatrics</em></a>. Researchers found that a majority of 11-to-15-year-olds had at least one social media account. Furthermore, the study revealed that 6.3% of young users maintained secret accounts hidden from their parents.</p>
<p>Social media platforms set a minimum user age of 13 to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which aims to protect young users from harmful content and data exploitation. However, many children bypass these age restrictions, raising concerns about their exposure to inappropriate material, online harassment, and addictive behaviors. Previous research has linked social media use in adolescents to poor sleep, mental health challenges, and exposure to risky behaviors such as substance use.</p>
<p>The researchers sought to provide an updated, platform-specific analysis of underage social media use, especially given the rapid rise of platforms like TikTok, which appeal to younger audiences. They aimed to identify the prevalence of such usage, its patterns, and differences based on age and gender.</p>
<p>“There is a lack of peer-reviewed research specifically focused on social media use among underage adolescents in national samples within the United States. This study can provide crucial evidence to inform policy and legislative efforts around age verification, minimum age requirements, and improved parental control features on social media platforms,” said study author <a href="https://profiles.ucsf.edu/jason.nagata">Jason Nagata</a>, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.</p>
<p>The study utilized data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a large, multi-site research project that tracks the development and health of over 11,000 children across the United States. The ABCD Study employs a nationally representative sample, ensuring participants come from diverse racial, socioeconomic, and geographic backgrounds. For this analysis, researchers focused on a subset of 10,092 participants aged 11 to 15, examining their social media habits during the third wave of data collection (2019–2021).</p>
<p>Participants completed detailed surveys about their social media use, which included questions about platform preferences, the frequency of use, and whether they maintained secret accounts hidden from their parents. To gauge problematic behaviors associated with social media, researchers used the Social Media Addiction Questionnaire, a validated tool adapted to measure issues such as excessive time spent online, difficulty reducing usage, and emotional dependency on social media. Responses were gathered via digital questionnaires administered directly to participants.</p>
<p>The researchers found that 69.5% of adolescents in the sample had at least one social media account, despite most platforms requiring users to be 13 years or older. Among children under 13, 63.8% reported having at least one social media account, with TikTok being the most popular platform in this age group. Specifically, 68.2% of under-13 users reported using TikTok, followed by YouTube (62.9%), Instagram (57.3%), and Snapchat (55.2%).</p>
<p>Nagata was not surprised by the high prevalence of underage social media use. “There is currently a lack of robust age verification for most social media platforms,” he said. “It is easy for children to enter an older date of birth to access social media accounts.”</p>
<p>The findings showed that many children used multiple platforms, with under-13 users maintaining an average of 3.38 accounts. Furthermore, 6.3% of all respondents admitted to having secret accounts hidden from their parents. This trend was more common among older adolescents but still notable among younger participants.</p>
<p>Gender differences were also prominent. Girls were more likely to use platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and Pinterest, while boys reported higher usage of YouTube and Reddit. Girls were also more likely to show signs of problematic social media use, such as spending significant time on platforms and feeling emotionally dependent on them.</p>
<p>Problematic behaviors were widespread among social media users. Approximately 25% of participants reported regularly thinking about social media or using it as an emotional escape. Others struggled to limit their use, with some acknowledging that it interfered with schoolwork. Despite these concerns, the study highlighted that early adolescents’ social media use is often unsupervised, with a significant portion of activity occurring on secret or hidden accounts.</p>
<p>“Young adolescents undergo many developmental changes, including puberty, increased body image concerns, and a heightened focus on peer relationships,” Nagata told PsyPost. “Platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram leverage powerful algorithms to deliver content that is highly engaging, visual, and interactive—features that align closely with the developmental needs and interests of this age group.”</p>
<p>“We found that early adolescents were susceptible to social media addiction, including the inability to stop despite trying, withdrawal, tolerance, conflict, and relapse. Twenty-five percent reported spending a lot of time thinking about social media apps. Another 25% reported using social media apps to forget about their problems, and 17% have tried to use social media apps less but can’t. Additionally, 11% reported using social media apps so much that it has had a negative effect on their schoolwork.”</p>
<p>The researchers also noted that social media use increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting the heightened reliance on digital communication during a time of physical distancing. This context may have amplified the findings, as adolescents turned to social media for social connection during prolonged isolation. However, some participants might have underreported their use of secret accounts or problematic behaviors.</p>
<p>“Several states have enacted legislation to raise minimum age requirements, implement stronger age verification measures, and require parental consent for minors to access social media,” Nagata said. “Studying the impacts of these policies will be crucial to understanding their effectiveness and potential consequences.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2025.102784">Prevalence and Patterns of Social Media Use in Early Adolescents</a>,” was authored by Jason M. Nagata, Zain Memona, Jonanne Taleblooa, Karen Lia, Patrick Low, Iris Y. Shao, Kyle T. Ganson, Alexander Testa, Jinbo He, Claire D. Brindis, and Fiona C. Baker.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/sex-workers-face-increased-risk-of-muscle-dysmorphia/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Sex workers face increased risk of muscle dysmorphia</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 10th 2025, 18:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A study published in <em><a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/SH/SH23157" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sexual Health</a></em> has found a connection between involvement in sex work and symptoms of muscle dysmorphia among adolescents and young adults in Canada. Researchers found that individuals with a history of sex work reported higher levels of overall muscle dysmorphia symptoms, particularly in their drive for increased muscle size and functional impairments linked to their condition.</p>
<p>Sex work, broadly defined as engaging in sexual activity for monetary compensation, has long been associated with adverse health outcomes. These include heightened risks of mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as physical risks like sexually transmitted infections and violence. Despite these well-documented challenges, little attention has been paid to the relationship between sex work and muscle dysmorphia—a mental health condition characterized by a pathological preoccupation with muscularity.</p>
<p>“Muscle dysmorphia is very understudied yet there continues to be evidence of its symptomatology being quite prevalent. Therefore, it remains critical to investigate correlates of this symptomatology, specifically contexts that may be objectifying and traumatic, such as sex work,” said study author <a href="https://www.kyletganson.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kyle T. Ganson</a>, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto.</p>
<p>The study analyzed data from the second wave of the Canadian Study of Adolescent Health Behaviors, which surveyed 912 participants aged 16 to 30 years across Canada. Participants were recruited online through platforms like Instagram and Snapchat in late 2021. While the recruitment was not targeted, the resulting sample included a diverse range of individuals in terms of gender, race, and socioeconomic status.</p>
<p>Participants were asked whether they had ever engaged in sex work, defined as receiving payment for oral, vaginal, or anal sex. Those who answered “yes” were categorized as having a history of sex work. To assess muscle dysmorphia, researchers used the Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory (MDDI), a 13-item questionnaire measuring symptoms related to the drive for muscular size, appearance intolerance, and functional impairments caused by the condition.</p>
<p>The Canadian Study of Adolescent Health Behaviors also collected demographic data, including participants’ age, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, income, and education level. These factors were included in the analysis to account for their potential influence on the findings.</p>
<p>Approximately 4% of participants reported having engaged in sex work. The researchers found significant associations between a history of sex work and elevated muscle dysmorphia symptoms. Specifically, individuals who reported engaging in sex work scored higher on the MDDI’s overall symptom scale. These individuals also demonstrated greater “drive for size” symptoms, reflecting an intense desire to increase muscle mass, and greater functional impairments, such as disruptions to daily life caused by their preoccupation with muscularity.</p>
<p>“The primary takeaway is that those who were involved in any lifetime sex work, that is, they were paid for sex, had greater muscle dysmorphia symptomatology, and specifically symptoms related to drive for size (i.e., the desire and behaviors to increase muscularity) and functional impairment (i.e., were more likely pass on social or occupational activities for muscularity goals),” Ganson told PsyPost.</p>
<p>However, no significant relationship was found between sex work and appearance intolerance, a dimension of muscle dysmorphia characterized by dissatisfaction with one’s physical appearance. This result suggests that muscle dysmorphia in this population may stem more from functional or psychological factors than from purely aesthetic concerns.</p>
<p>The researchers proposed several potential explanations for these findings. The heightened “drive for size” and functional impairments may reflect an effort to cope with the psychological stress and stigma associated with sex work. Additionally, the pursuit of muscularity might serve as a perceived means of protection against violence or a strategy to conform to client preferences for certain body ideals.</p>
<p>“I’m not particularly surprised by the findings,” Ganson said. “There is strong evidence that when one’s body is objectified, particularly sexually, then there is more likelihood of self-objectification and body dissatisfaction, both of which motivate engagement in behaviors to change one’s body towards a sociocultural ideal (muscularity in this case). From this theoretical standpoint, these associations make sense to me.”</p>
<p>While the findings shed light on an underexplored topic, the researchers acknowledged several limitations. The data were collected through self-reported surveys, which can be subject to biases such as underreporting or exaggeration. Additionally, the study’s cross-sectional design means it cannot establish causality; it is unclear whether sex work preceded the development of muscle dysmorphia symptoms or vice versa.</p>
<p>The researchers emphasized the need for further investigation into muscle dysmorphia. “This research can help inform future investigation (i.e., specifically among sex workers) and create targeted and tailored prevention and intervention programming to curtail or address muscle dysmorphia,” Ganson said.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/SH23157" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Involvement in sex work is associated with muscle dysmorphia symptomatology among a sample of Canadian adolescents and young adults</a>,” was authored by Kyle T. Ganson, Nelson Pang, Alexander Testa, Rachel F. Rodgers, Jori Jones, and Jason M. Nagata.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/self-report-measures-outperform-implicit-tools-in-assessing-thoughts-and-feelings-new-psychology-paper-argues/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Self-report measures outperform implicit tools in assessing thoughts and feelings, new psychology paper argues</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 10th 2025, 16:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>Self-reports are superior to implicit measures for assessing psychological constructs, argue Olivier Corneille and Bertram Gawronski in their perspective piece published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-024-00376-z"><em>Nature Reviews Psychology</em></a>.</p>
<p>For decades, psychology has increasingly relied on implicit measures, such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP), as alternatives to self-reports. These methods are celebrated for purportedly bypassing social desirability biases, accessing unconscious thoughts, and revealing automatic processes.</p>
<p>Motivated by the widespread adoption of these tools, researchers Olivier Corneille and Bertram Gawronski critically evaluated six key claims and misconceptions about implicit measures, advocating for the renewed use of self-reports.</p>
<p>First, the authors challenge the claim that self-reports are uniquely vulnerable to contextual contamination and social desirability effects. While self-reports are influenced by external factors like question order or audience, the same is true for implicit measures. For instance, implicit measures are often affected by the social context in which they are administered, such as when experimenters emphasize non-prejudiced responses.</p>
<p>Second, the assumption that implicit measures uniquely capture unconscious mental contents has been debunked. Evidence shows that individuals can predict their implicit scores with fair accuracy, suggesting that the content measured by implicit tools is not entirely unconscious.</p>
<p>Third, the authors challenge the idea that implicit measures are inherently better suited for studying automatic processes. When paired with advanced methodologies, such as process-dissociation techniques or speeded tasks, self-reports can effectively capture both automatic and controlled processes.</p>
<p>The authors further argue against the robustness attributed to implicit measures, noting that these tools are as malleable and context-sensitive as self-reports. They also refute claims that implicit measures excel in capturing simple associations, providing evidence that self-reports, especially when combined with process-dissociation approaches, can detect these associations more reliably.</p>
<p>Lastly, implicit measures are believed to uncover systemic biases like societal racism. However, the authors highlight that aggregated self-report data produce similar patterns and often stronger predictive validity in this domain.</p>
<p>Corneille and Gawronski emphasize three major advantages of self-reports, as an alternative. First, self-reports demonstrate greater reliability, with higher internal consistency and test-retest stability than implicit measures. Second, self-reports exhibit stronger predictive validity for both deliberate and spontaneous behaviors. Lastly, self-reports provide unmatched flexibility, allowing researchers to explore complex psychological constructs without the limitations imposed by implicit measures, such as binary response formats and technological requirements.</p>
<p>The authors do not entirely dismiss the value of implicit measures, acknowledging their utility for specific research contexts. However, they call for greater scrutiny of their application and advocate for a more sophisticated use of self-reports. This balanced approach, they argue, is essential for advancing psychological science.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-024-00376-z">Self-Reports Are Better Measurement Instruments than Implicit Measures</a>,” was authored by Olivier Corneille and Bertram Gawronski.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-research-sheds-light-on-how-men-and-women-differ-in-concerns-about-sexual-addiction/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">New research sheds light on how men and women differ in concerns about sexual addiction</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 10th 2025, 14:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A recent study published in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/26929953.2024.2386518"><em>Sexual Health & Compulsivity</em></a> has found that over 7% of Americans report concerns about sexual behaviors they describe as addictive. Notably, the researchers discovered that men, younger people, and sexual minorities are more likely to express such worries.</p>
<p>The concept of compulsive sexual behavior, recognized as <em>Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD)</em> in the most recent edition of the <em>International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11)</em>, refers to difficulty controlling sexual behaviors despite personal or social consequences, causing significant distress. However, the diagnosis remains controversial due to cultural influences, societal norms, and uncertainties about which behaviors people find problematic and why.</p>
<p>To address these gaps, a research team led by Joshua B. Grubbs from the University of New Mexico surveyed a representative sample of over 2,800 U.S. adults, with an average age of 49 years. Participants were asked if they felt their sexual behaviors were out of control or addictive and were prompted to identify specific behaviors causing concern. The study also examined the influence of demographic factors, including gender, sexual orientation, age, and religiousness.</p>
<p>The results highlighted significant gender differences, with 11.8% of men endorsing worries about addiction compared to 3.4% of women. Men were more likely to report solitary behaviors, such as masturbation and pornography use, as sources of concern.</p>
<p>In contrast, women more often identified partnered sexual behaviors, including frequent casual sexual encounters, as troubling. This aligns with broader patterns in sexual behavior, where men generally report greater engagement in solitary activities, while partnered behaviors are more common focal points for women experiencing CSB-related distress.</p>
<p>Younger individuals also reported higher rates of concern, suggesting that generational or cultural factors might influence perceptions of sexual behavior. Sexual minorities, particularly gay and bisexual men, were more likely to report concerns than their heterosexual counterparts, pointing to potential differences in societal or personal expectations around sexual activity.</p>
<p>Religiousness emerged as another key factor. Participants with strong religious beliefs were more likely to view masturbation as a problematic behavior but less likely to see casual sexual encounters as concerning. This aligns with previous studies demonstrating that religious individuals often interpret solitary sexual behaviors as morally troubling, even when those behaviors are not objectively harmful.</p>
<p>Another key finding was the distinction participants made between feeling their behaviors were “addictive” versus “out of control.” Two-thirds of those expressing concerns identified with one term but not the other, suggesting variability in how individuals interpret and frame their experiences.</p>
<p>Men, particularly heterosexual men, were more likely to use the term “addiction,” which may reflect cultural norms around masculinity and the framing of sexual behavior. This distinction highlights the complexity of CSB and the need for nuanced approaches to understanding and addressing these concerns.</p>
<p>While these findings provide important insights, the researchers caution that self-reported concerns do not necessarily indicate a clinical diagnosis. Additionally, the cross-sectional design limits conclusions about cause and effect.</p>
<p>“These results demonstrate a heterogeneity of behaviors among individuals with concerns about compulsive sexual behavior, while also pointing to the importance of sociodemographic factors in increasing the relative odds that individuals might experience concerns about compulsive sexual behavior and the behaviors they experience those concerns about,” the authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26929953.2024.2386518">What is the ‘Sex’ in Sex Addiction? Problem Behaviors Reported Among Those Endorsing Compulsive Sexual Behavior</a>,” was authored by Joshua B. Grubbs, Brinna Lee, Christopher G. Floyd, Beata Bőthe, Todd Jennings, and Shane W. Kraus.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/three-types-of-screen-time-linked-to-substance-experimentation-in-early-adolescents/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Three types of screen time linked to substance experimentation in early adolescents</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 10th 2025, 12:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A new study published in the journal <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2024.112504" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Drug and Alcohol Dependence</a></em> has found that certain forms of screen use, such as social media, texting, and video chatting, are associated with higher odds of experimenting with alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis among early adolescents. The research highlights that while total screen time is linked to substance experimentation, the strongest associations are observed in screen modalities that emphasize digital social interactions.</p>
<p>Adolescent substance use is a growing public health concern due to its association with various negative outcomes, including academic struggles, cognitive impairments, and increased risk of addiction in later life. Early experimentation with substances is particularly worrisome as it increases the likelihood of developing long-term substance use disorders.</p>
<p>“I first became interested in research on social media through patient care and research on adolescent eating disorders,” said study author <a href="https://profiles.ucsf.edu/jason.nagata">Jason Nagata</a>, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. “During the pandemic, several of our adolescents with eating disorders had noted that while stuck at home, they spent countless hours browsing social media sites where they became lost in disordered eating content related to weight loss or muscle building.”</p>
<p>“Even while hospitalized, several of our patients would use social media to find and share tips on how to continue disordered eating behaviors in the hospital despite the severe medical complications of their eating disorder. These experiences caring for teens with eating disorders started my research into the health impacts of social media and informing guidance for parents.”</p>
<p>The researchers utilized data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a large longitudinal study that tracks the health, brain, and cognitive development of adolescents in the United States. For this analysis, they focused on 8,006 participants aged 11 to 12 at the start of the study. Participants provided data on their screen use and substance experimentation over two years.</p>
<p>Screen time was measured using a survey that asked participants to report their average daily use of eight different screen activities: watching television or movies, watching online videos, playing single-player video games, playing multi-player video games, texting, video chatting, social media use, and general internet use. Researchers calculated the total daily screen time for each participant and analyzed the time spent on each activity.</p>
<p>Substance use experimentation was assessed through self-reported surveys asking participants whether they had tried alcohol, nicotine, or cannabis. The researchers defined substance use experimentation as having tried any of the substances at least once.</p>
<p>The researchers found that total screen time was positively associated with substance experimentation. However, when broken down by activity, only certain types of screen use showed significant links to substance use:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Social media</strong>: Each additional hour spent on social media daily was associated with a 20% higher likelihood of substance experimentation. Social media use was specifically linked to higher odds of trying alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis.</li>
<li><strong>Texting</strong>: Each additional hour of texting was associated with an 18% increase in the likelihood of substance experimentation. This included higher odds of trying alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis.</li>
<li><strong>Video chatting</strong>: An additional hour of video chatting daily was associated with a 9% increase in the likelihood of substance experimentation. Video chatting was particularly linked to nicotine and cannabis use.</li>
</ul>
<p>“Our study found that excessive screen use as a preteen is associated with earlier experimentation with alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis,” Nagata told PsyPost. “Given that adolescent substance use has been linked with poor academic performance, cognitive impairment, and increased risk of developing a substance use disorder later in life, it is important to understand how increasing teen screen use impacts these behaviors.”</p>
<p>Other screen activities, such as watching television, playing video games, or browsing the internet, showed no significant association with substance experimentation.</p>
<p>“This suggests that online social connections may be driving the relationship between screen time and early substance use,” Nagata explained. “When preteens are constantly exposed to friends or influencers drinking or smoking on social media, they are more likely to see these behaviors as normal and may be more likely to try these substances themselves.”</p>
<p>The researchers accounted for various demographic factors, including age, gender, race, household income, and parental education. Family environment and neighborhood resources were also considered to control for potential confounding variables. But there are still some limitations. For instance, the study relied on self-reported data, which may be subject to recall bias or underreporting, particularly for sensitive behaviors like substance use.</p>
<p>The researchers also noted that the mechanisms driving the observed associations remain unclear. While peer influence and exposure to substance-related content are likely contributors, other factors, such as mental health or family dynamics, may play a role. Future research could explore these mechanisms further and investigate potential interventions to reduce the risks associated with certain screen activities.</p>
<p>“We hope that our findings can help inform guidelines for healthcare providers, schools, and parents to minimize substance use and encourage healthy screen use habits in the next generation,” Nagata said. “In doing so, we hope to help teens and adults minimize health risks while leveraging benefits like connection and communication.”</p>
<p>“Schools and parents may play an important role in addressing this issue. Schools could consider media literacy programs that teach students about the influence of digital content on harmful behaviors. Parents can also help by monitoring content and setting clear guidelines for their teens’ screen use.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2024.112504" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Prospective association between screen use modalities and substance use experimentation in early adolescents</a>,” was authored by Jason M. Nagata, Joan Shim, Patrick Low, Kyle T. Ganson, Alexander Testa, Jinbo He, Glenn-Milo Santos, Claire D. Brindis, Fiona C. Baker, and Iris Y. Shao.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="font:13px Helvetica, sans-serif; border-radius:4px; -moz-border-radius:4px; -webkit-border-radius:4px; background-color:#fff; padding:8px; margin-bottom:6px; border:1px solid #adadad;" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/adolescent-cannabis-use-and-psychosis-study-finds-shared-risk-factors-and-self-medication-patterns/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Adolescent cannabis use and psychosis: Study finds shared risk factors and self-medication patterns</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jan 10th 2025, 10:00</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#494949;text-align:justify;font-size:13px;">
<p><p>A recent study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.3525" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JAMA Psychiatry</a></em> sheds light on the relationship between adolescent cannabis use and psychosis spectrum symptoms. Researchers found that adolescents who used cannabis during the study period reported more psychosis spectrum symptoms and greater distress from these symptoms compared to those who never used cannabis. The findings suggest a shared vulnerability between cannabis use and psychosis risk, while also providing support for the idea that some individuals may use cannabis to self-medicate.</p>
<p>Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit substance among adolescents, with its use increasing over the past two decades alongside a decline in perceived risk. Early cannabis initiation has been associated with an increased risk of psychotic disorders, more severe symptoms, and earlier symptom onset. Despite this, the exact nature of the relationship between cannabis use and psychosis remains unclear.</p>
<p>Does cannabis use disrupt brain development, leading to psychosis? Or do shared genetic or environmental factors make some individuals vulnerable to both cannabis use and psychosis? Alternatively, could individuals experiencing distress from psychosis symptoms turn to cannabis as a form of self-medication?</p>
<p>To address these questions, researchers conducted a longitudinal study focusing on childhood and early adolescence, a critical developmental period often linked to heightened vulnerability to cannabis and psychosis interactions.</p>
<p>“Cannabis is the most frequently used illicit substance among adolescents. As time goes on, adolescents are using cannabis more and their perceptions of its potential harm are decreasing,” said study author K. Juston Osborne, a postdoctoral research scholar at Washington University in St. Louis.</p>
<p>“Adolescence is also a vulnerable developmental period that sets the stage for later psychosis risk. Approximately 1% of the population will be diagnosed with a psychotic disorder with typical onset in late adolescence or early adulthood. Considering evidence suggests that starting to use cannabis in early adolescence is a particularly potent risk factor for psychosis, it is critical to understand the nature of the relationship between cannabis use and psychosis risk.”</p>
<p>The researchers used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, a large-scale longitudinal study involving 11,868 children from across the United States. Participants were followed over five waves of data collection, with psychosis spectrum symptoms and cannabis use assessed at multiple time points. Psychosis spectrum symptoms—such as unusual thoughts, perceptual disturbances, and social withdrawal—were measured using a validated questionnaire designed for children. Cannabis initiation was defined as the first reported use of the substance.</p>
<p>The study’s findings support both the shared vulnerability and self-medication hypotheses. Adolescents who used cannabis at any point during the study reported more psychosis spectrum symptoms and greater symptom distress than those who never used cannabis. This finding aligns with the shared vulnerability hypothesis, suggesting that adolescents who are predisposed to psychosis may also be more likely to use cannabis.</p>
<p>Consistent with the self-medication hypothesis, psychosis spectrum symptoms and distress increased in the period leading up to cannabis initiation. This suggests that some adolescents may turn to cannabis in an attempt to cope with emerging symptoms. After cannabis initiation, there was no significant increase in the number of psychosis spectrum symptoms, although distress levels temporarily decreased. These findings indicate that while cannabis may provide short-term relief, it is unlikely to be an effective long-term solution for managing psychosis symptoms.</p>
<p>“This research suggests a complex interplay between starting to use cannabis in early adolescence and psychosis risk,” Osborne told PsyPost. “Some adolescents have risk factors that make them more vulnerable to using cannabis and more vulnerable to experiencing symptoms associated with psychosis. In response to these symptoms, adolescents may turn to cannabis in an attempt to alleviate distress.”</p>
<p>In contrast, the study found limited evidence supporting the hypothesis that cannabis use directly contributes to psychosis symptoms during early adolescence. While previous research has demonstrated a dose-dependent relationship between cannabis use and psychosis risk, the current study focused on the early stages of use, when high-frequency or high-potency use is less common. As a result, the potential for cannabis to disrupt brain development and contribute to psychosis may not have been fully captured.</p>
<p>“Research from past studies suggests that using cannabis may put adolescents at even greater risk for experiencing more symptoms and for developing a psychotic disorder,” Osborne explained. “Considering the strong evidence for a putative causal effect of cannabis on psychosis spectrum symptoms, we were anticipating that we would observe support for cannabis use initiation being associated with future increases in psychosis spectrum symptoms.”</p>
<p>“However, our focus on cannabis use initiation rather than use metrics, such as quantity and frequency of use, may have contributed to the lack of associations in that direction observed in the current study. It’s important to continue studying these relationships to inform intervention efforts to reduce adolescent substance use and to prevent psychosis.”</p>
<p>Future research should continue to follow adolescents as they progress into later developmental stages, where the frequency and intensity of cannabis use often increase. This could provide a clearer picture of how cannabis use impacts psychosis risk over time.</p>
<p>“Ultimately, we would like to unpack the nature of the relationship between cannabis use and psychosis risk,” Osborne said. “This would both inform our understanding of the pathophysiology of psychosis, as well as help identify if and for whom cannabis use may increase psychosis risk.”</p>
<p>“In an ideal world, we may hope that children would not use cannabis, particularly while their brains are still maturing,” he added. “However, cannabis use is common in adolescence and children are often more concerned with fitting in than weighing their actions against potential distant health outcomes.”</p>
<p>“In regard to psychosis risk, it is important for parents to know that the vast majority of adolescents that use cannabis will not go on to develop a psychotic disorder and, consistent with the findings from our paper, these are complex relationships that we are still trying to understand. However, parents should educate themselves on early signs that their teenager may be at risk for psychosis and have a serious conversation with their teenager about abstaining from cannabis in the event these signs emerge.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.3525" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Psychosis Spectrum Symptoms Before and After Adolescent Cannabis Use Initiation</a>,” was authored by K. Juston Osborne, Deanna M. Barch, Joshua J. Jackson, and Nicole R. Karcher.</p></p>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13px; text-align: center; color: #666666; padding:4px; margin-bottom:2px;"></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
<p><strong>This information is taken from free public RSS feeds published by each organization for the purpose of public distribution. Readers are linked back to the article content on each organization's website. This email is an unaffiliated unofficial redistribution of this freely provided content from the publishers. </strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><s><small><a href="#" style="color:#ffffff;"><a href="https://blogtrottr.com/unsubscribe/565/DY9DKf">unsubscribe from this feed</a></a></small></s></p>