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<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News</span></td>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/single-dose-of-psilocybin-linked-to-lasting-symptom-relief-in-treatment-resistant-depression/" 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;">Single dose of psilocybin linked to lasting symptom relief in treatment-resistant depression</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Sep 8th 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study of U.S. military veterans suffering from severe treatment-resistant depression found that a single dose of psilocybin was associated with significant reductions in depressive symptoms that lasted up to 12 months. Six months after the intervention, 50% of participants were in remission and 80% showed a clinically meaningful response. The antidepressant effects began to wane after 9 months. The study was published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.119655"><em>Journal of Affective Disorders</em></a>.</p>
<p>Depression is a mental health disorder characterized by persistent sadness, loss of interest, low energy, and difficulty functioning in daily life. It can impact mood, cognition, and physical well-being, often interfering with work, relationships, and quality of life. Standard treatments include antidepressant medications, psychotherapy, or a combination of both.</p>
<p>However, many individuals fail to improve with these interventions. When someone does not respond to at least two adequate trials of different antidepressants, their condition is referred to as treatment-resistant depression (TRD). People with TRD tend to experience more severe, longer-lasting depressive episodes and are at greater risk for chronic impairment.</p>
<p>Mental health professionals often try various strategies for TRD, such as switching medications, combining drugs, or augmenting antidepressants with other agents like antipsychotics or mood stabilizers. However, these alternatives often provide limited relief. As a result, researchers continue to explore more effective options—including psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin.</p>
<p>Study author Sara Ellis and her colleagues note that previous studies have shown short-term benefits of psilocybin for depression, but few have examined how long those effects last. Their study sought to track changes in depression symptoms over a 12-month period following a single dose of psilocybin in a group of military veterans.</p>
<p>Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in certain species of mushrooms, often referred to as “magic mushrooms.” In medical research, psilocybin is being studied for its potential to treat conditions such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction. When administered in a controlled setting with psychological support, clinical trials suggest psilocybin may produce rapid and lasting improvements. However, it can also cause adverse effects such as distressing hallucinations, anxiety, confusion, and nausea, and it remains a controlled substance in many jurisdictions.</p>
<p>In this pilot study, the researchers followed 10 U.S. military veterans diagnosed with severe treatment-resistant depression. Although the sample size was small, military veterans represent a high-risk group for depression, particularly forms that are resistant to treatment, making the study especially relevant.</p>
<p>Before dosing, participants took part in two 60-minute and one 90-minute preparatory therapy sessions. On the dosing day, they each received a single 25 mg capsule of psilocybin. Sessions were conducted at Stanford University School of Medicine with two licensed therapists present, lasting 6 to 8 hours. Participants’ vital signs were monitored before and after dosing. The next day, they participated in a 90-minute integration session, followed by at least two additional integration sessions—one during the first week and one at 12 weeks post-treatment.</p>
<p>Participants were assessed for depressive symptoms, anxiety, and functional impairment at multiple timepoints up to 12 months after dosing. Measures included the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms (QIDS), and the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS). They also completed the Five-Dimensional Altered States of Consciousness scale to assess their psychedelic experience, and safety and tolerability were monitored throughout.</p>
<p>The results showed a significant reduction in depression scores across all timepoints. At 6 months, 50% of participants met criteria for remission—meaning their symptoms were minimal or absent—and 80% experienced a clinically meaningful reduction in symptoms.</p>
<p>However, the antidepressant effects began to fade after 6 months. By 12 months, 40% of participants still met response criteria and 30% remained in remission. While scores were higher than at 3 or 12 weeks post-treatment, they were still significantly lower than at baseline.</p>
<p>“In this first-of-kind study on long-term effects of psilocybin for Veterans with severe TRD [treatment-resistant depression], depression scores showed significant sustained reductions up to 12-months. However, the antidepressant effects began to wane at 6 months, and then more substantially after 9 months, although these increases in MADRS did not reach statistical significance. Further research is needed,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study adds to growing evidence that psilocybin may offer long-term benefits for depression, especially in populations that have not responded to conventional treatments. However, the study had several important limitations. It did not include a control group, and participants were aware they were receiving psilocybin, which raises the possibility of expectancy effects or placebo responses. This introduces the potential for the Hawthorne effect, in which individuals change their behavior because they know they are being observed.</p>
<p>Without a control condition, it is difficult to determine how much of the observed improvement is due to psilocybin itself, and how much might be attributed to psychological support, natural symptom fluctuations, or other factors. The small sample size further limits the generalizability of the results.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.119655">Long-term outcomes of single-dose psilocybin for U.S. military Veterans with severe treatment-resistant depression – 12-month data from an open-label pilot study</a>,” was authored by Sara Ellis, Catherine Bostian, Anna Donnelly, Wendy Feng, Katherine Eisen, Melanie Lean, Elizabeth Conlan, Michael Ostacher, Scott Aaronson, and Trisha Suppes.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/attraction-goes-beyond-looks-study-shows-voices-scents-and-motion-all-matter/" 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;">Attraction goes beyond looks: Study shows voices, scents, and motion all matter</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Sep 8th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>New research published in the <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12787" target="_blank">British Journal of Psychology</a></em> provides evidence that physical attraction is not simply about being objectively good-looking. Instead, attraction seems to arise from a complex mix of shared traits, personal preferences, and subtle non-verbal signals that go far beyond facial features. The study examined how people rate others’ attractiveness based on face, voice, body motion, and scent. While some patterns of agreement emerged, much of what made someone attractive varied across individuals.</p>
<p>Traditionally, studies on attractiveness have focused heavily on faces, often identifying broad preferences for features like facial symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism. These patterns were interpreted as indicators of biological fitness and often presumed to hold across individuals and contexts. But attraction in the real world is rarely limited to a headshot. People communicate with their voices, bodies, and even their body odor, all of which may contribute to how they are perceived.</p>
<p>The researchers aimed to move beyond this narrow focus by examining multiple non-verbal cues simultaneously. They also wanted to understand whether patterns of attractiveness are truly universal or shaped by personal compatibility. In particular, they were interested in whether same-sex judgments—which are typically more platonic—differ from opposite-sex judgments, which tend to be influenced by mate selection.</p>
<p>The researchers recruited 61 young adults to serve as “non-verbal agents”—individuals who provided various sensory stimuli for evaluation—and 71 other young adults to serve as “perceivers” who rated these stimuli. The agent group included both men and women who were photographed, recorded speaking, filmed making neutral expressions, and asked to provide body odor samples by wearing sweat-collecting pads under their arms while exercising. This process was designed to capture information across four sensory channels: sight (photos and video), sound (voice), motion (video), and smell (body odor).</p>
<p>The perceivers each rated eight agents (a balanced mix of male and female) across these modalities. Each modality was presented separately to avoid cross-contamination of impressions. For example, perceivers smelled odor samples in isolation and were later shown silent videos or heard voice recordings. They rated each stimulus on a seven-point attractiveness scale, alongside questions about emotional impressions and other subjective reactions. However, for this study, only the attractiveness ratings were analyzed.</p>
<p>The researchers used advanced statistical modeling to examine three main questions: First, do different modalities vary in how attractive they are perceived? Second, are certain modalities redundant—meaning, does finding someone’s voice attractive predict finding their face attractive? Third, do common or personal preferences dominate attractiveness judgments, and does this vary between same- and opposite-sex interactions?</p>
<p>Across the board, the researchers observed that multimodal stimuli—videos with synchronized audio—were rated as most attractive, suggesting that richer, more dynamic inputs provide more favorable impressions. At the other end of the scale, body odor stimuli were rated least attractive on average. Faces, voices, and silent videos landed in the middle.</p>
<p>However, the variation in attractiveness scores between modalities was relatively small. The biggest difference observed between any two modalities was less than one point on a seven-point scale. This suggests that while people have modest preferences for certain types of input, no single channel dominates the attractiveness landscape.</p>
<p>There was also evidence that some modalities carried redundant information. For example, people who were rated as attractive based on their voice were often also rated as attractive based on their appearance. This pattern held across both opposite-sex and same-sex judgments. </p>
<p>The strongest associations were between face and voice, while the weakest were between body odor and photo. However, body odor attractiveness did show a consistent positive link with how someone moved—implying that more dynamic cues like scent and motion may reflect overlapping traits, such as health or hormonal state.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the study also revealed that the weight of personal preference varied by context. When people rated opposite-sex individuals, the variation in ratings could be explained equally by traits of the person being rated (common preferences) and the rater themselves (personal preferences). </p>
<p>In contrast, when participants rated same-sex individuals, the variation was more strongly shaped by personal preferences. This suggests that in same-sex interactions, which tend to be more platonic, subjective compatibility may play a larger role than universally agreed-upon features.</p>
<p>This finding provides support for the idea that attractiveness serves multiple functions. While traditional theories focus on mate selection, the researchers argue that attraction also influences broader social outcomes, such as friendship formation, team cohesion, or general likability. Previous studies have shown that attractive people are often judged as more trustworthy, intelligent, and socially competent—a phenomenon known as the halo effect. These impressions can shape interactions in many social domains, not just romantic ones.</p>
<p>The research took a comprehensive look at various non-verbal cues, but it is not without its limitations. All participants were young adults in good health, and the study was conducted in a controlled laboratory setting. These constraints limit how generalizable the results are to other age groups, health statuses, or more naturalistic social contexts.</p>
<p>The researchers also focused on isolated impressions rather than interactions, so it remains unclear how these non-verbal cues play out in ongoing relationships. Future research might examine how dynamic impressions change over time or explore how shared attraction influences social bonding in real-world settings.</p>
<p>Another limitation was that the study did not measure how attraction relates to behavioral outcomes. While certain traits were judged as attractive, the researchers did not examine whether these traits led to greater cooperation, friendship, or romantic interest in actual interactions. Addressing this gap could help clarify the functional consequences of perceiver-driven preferences.</p>
<p>The researchers also noted the need for further investigation into the specific components of motion and scent that contribute to attractiveness. For instance, future studies might use point-light displays to isolate movement style or analyze odor samples for chemical composition.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12787" target="_blank">Attraction in every sense: How looks, voice, movement and scent draw us to future lovers and friends</a>,” was authored by Annett Schirmer, Marcel Franz, Lea Krismann, Vanessa Nöring, Marlen Große, Mehmet Mahmut, and Ilona Croy.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/biological-aging-predicts-midlife-cognitive-decline-especially-in-those-raised-in-poverty/" 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;">Biological aging predicts midlife cognitive decline, especially in those raised in poverty</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Sep 8th 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>Children from low-income families may be more vulnerable to age-related cognitive decline, according to a new twin study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.206284" target="_blank">Aging</a></em>. The researchers found that people who show signs of faster biological aging—measured using DNA from blood samples—tended to experience greater declines in IQ from childhood to midlife. This link between biological aging and cognitive decline was especially pronounced among those who grew up in disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions.</p>
<p>As people grow older, they tend to age at different biological rates. Some develop chronic illnesses or experience cognitive decline earlier than others, even if they are the same chronological age. To explore why this happens, researchers have turned to the concept of “epigenetic age,” which uses chemical markers in DNA—specifically, patterns of DNA methylation—to estimate how quickly the body is aging biologically.</p>
<p>DNA methylation refers to chemical changes that affect how genes are expressed without changing the underlying genetic code. These changes can be shaped by lifestyle, environmental exposures, and stress. Over the past decade, scientists have developed a set of predictive tools known as “epigenetic clocks,” which estimate a person’s biological age based on these methylation patterns. When a person’s biological age exceeds their chronological age, this is referred to as “epigenetic age acceleration,” and it has been associated with increased risk of disease, functional decline, and early mortality.</p>
<p>Although some studies have found that accelerated epigenetic aging is linked to lower cognitive functioning, the overall evidence has been inconsistent. Many earlier studies only looked at cognition at a single point in time, did not account for early-life environments, or used only one type of epigenetic clock. </p>
<p>The new study—led by Sophie Bell, a clinical psychology doctoral student at the University of Virginia; Eric Turkheimer, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia; and Christopher Beam, an associate professor of psychology and gerontology at the University of Southern California—was designed to address these gaps. To this end, the researchers analyzed data from 287 participants in the Louisville Twin Study, a decades-long project that began tracking twins born between 1950 and 1997. </p>
<p>“The Louisville Twin Study originally began as a study of childhood physical and cognitive development but has since become the longest-running twin study in the United States and a rare<br>
resource for understanding lifespan aging,” explained Bell, the first author of the study.</p>
<p>“Over the past five years, twins who were followed through infancy and adolescence, now in middle adulthood, were invited back for comprehensive assessments of their cognitive, physical, and mental health. Middle adulthood is increasingly recognized as a window when modifiable factors may influence the earliest, preclinical stages of dementia. Yet very few studies have the data to connect midlife aging with the earliest developmental periods.”</p>
<p>“With the Louisville Twin Study, we saw a unique opportunity to study biological and cognitive aging in midlife while leveraging decades of rich developmental data. As we’ve studied aging across the lifespan, it’s become clear that we need better tools to capture variability in aging and risk for conditions like dementia and heart disease.” </p>
<p>“Epigenetic markers, specifically DNA methylation-based ‘epigenetic clocks,’ have emerged as promising tools because they can be measured at any point in life and have been linked to outcomes ranging from cognitive decline to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mortality. We were especially excited about their potential in cognitive aging research, though we also noticed inconsistencies in how predictive they were of cognitive decline and in the algorithms researchers have chosen to use across studies.”</p>
<p>Participants in the Louisville Twin Study had undergone cognitive testing in childhood and again in midlife, around age 52 on average. DNA samples collected in midlife were used to estimate each person’s biological age using five different epigenetic clocks. These included both older algorithms focused on matching chronological age (first-generation clocks) and newer ones that incorporate additional health-related data (second-generation clocks).</p>
<p>The study also included measures of each participant’s childhood socioeconomic status, based on parental occupation and associated educational and income levels. This allowed the research team to test whether early-life disadvantage might interact with biological aging to influence changes in cognitive ability over time.</p>
<p>By using a twin design—especially comparisons between identical twins—the researchers were able to control for genetic differences and shared family environments. If one twin showed more epigenetic age acceleration and also experienced more cognitive decline, this would suggest a connection that cannot be explained by family background or genetics alone.</p>
<p>The five DNA methylation age measures were grouped into two factors through statistical analysis. The first group included the older, first-generation clocks (Horvath, Hannum, and Horvath Skin and Blood), while the second included the newer, second-generation clocks (GrimAge and PhenoAge), which are designed to capture risk of disease and mortality more directly.</p>
<p>The study’s main finding was that second-generation measures of biological aging were linked to greater declines in IQ from childhood to midlife. Importantly, this association held even after accounting for genetic and early environmental factors shared by twins. In other words, among identical twins raised in the same household, the one with faster epigenetic aging as measured by second-generation clocks tended to show a steeper drop in cognitive ability.</p>
<p>No such association was found for first-generation epigenetic clocks, suggesting that not all measures of biological age are equally informative for predicting cognitive decline.</p>
<p>“As we expected, the second generation DNA methylation clocks, PhenoAge and GrimAge, predicted midlife cognitive decline, while the first generation clocks did not,” Bell told PsyPost. “These second generation measures which incorporate biomarkers of physiological health have already shown improvements over first generation measures in predicting physical functioning, morbidity, and lifespan. Our findings suggest that cognitive decline is closely tied to broader age-related biological processes captured by DNA methylation changes.”</p>
<p>The effect of accelerated biological aging on cognitive decline was even stronger for individuals who grew up in low-income households. The researchers found that the relationship between biological aging and midlife cognitive ability depended in part on childhood socioeconomic status. Among twins raised in economically disadvantaged environments, the one with higher biological age also tended to show more cognitive decline, suggesting that early-life stress may amplify the long-term effects of accelerated aging.</p>
<p>“We found that the relationship between epigenetic aging and cognitive decline was stronger in twins who grew up in low socioeconomic status families, suggesting that early-life disadvantage may make individuals more vulnerable to the effects of broader biological aging on brain health,” Bell explained.</p>
<p>Smoking, a known risk factor for both aging and cognitive decline, was also strongly linked to accelerated epigenetic age in this sample. When the researchers included smoking as a covariate in their models, the association between biological aging and cognitive decline became weaker, though it remained in the same direction. This suggests that some of the observed effects may be partly explained by smoking-related methylation patterns, especially in the GrimAge clock, which was designed to capture lifetime tobacco exposure.</p>
<p>While the study has several strengths—including its longitudinal design, use of validated cognitive measures, and genetically informative twin sample—it also has some limitations. The sample was predominantly white and from a single geographic area, which may limit generalizability. The measure of childhood socioeconomic status, while based on historical census data, focused only on parental occupation and did not include other aspects such as income, education, or neighborhood quality.</p>
<p>In addition, the study did not include data on adult socioeconomic status or other life-course factors that might influence both epigenetic aging and cognitive outcomes. Although the twin design improves causal inference, it still cannot rule out all possible confounding factors. The cognitive assessments were focused on overall IQ, which captures general intellectual functioning but does not isolate specific domains like memory, attention, or processing speed.</p>
<p>Future research could benefit from larger and more diverse samples, including measures of adult SES, health behaviors, and domain-specific cognitive abilities. Studies might also explore whether interventions aimed at slowing biological aging—such as stress reduction, improved healthcare access, or lifestyle changes—could help protect against age-related cognitive decline, especially in those who experienced early adversity.</p>
<p>“One question that remains is how smoking fits into this picture,” Bell said. “We know that GrimAge is designed to capture the effects of lifetime smoking on the epigenome. When we accounted for smoking, the effect of DNA methylation age on cognitive decline was no longer statistically significant, yet smoking did not entirely explain the relationship either. Future studies are needed to disentangle the relationship between smoking, epigenetic aging, and cognitive health.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://www.aging-us.com/article/206284/text" target="_blank">Second generation DNA methylation age predicts cognitive change in midlife: the moderating role of childhood socioeconomic status</a>,” was authored by Sophie A. Bell, Christopher R. Beam, Ebrahim Zandi, Alyssa Kam, Emily Andrews, Jonathan Becker, Deborah Finkel, Deborah W. Davis, and Eric Turkheimer. </p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/elite-rhetoric-about-trumps-prosecution-had-limited-impact-on-republican-and-independent-voters/" 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;">Elite rhetoric about Trump’s prosecution had limited impact on Republican and independent voters</a>
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<p><p>A new study in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf253" target="_blank">PNAS Nexus</a></em> suggests that public opinion about Donald Trump’s criminal prosecution was largely unmoved by messaging from either Trump or his federal prosecutor. In a survey experiment with Republicans and independents, only modest effects emerged: legal messaging reduced support for Trump among those already skeptical of him but triggered backlash against the prosecutor among his supporters.</p>
<p>Criminal prosecutions of political leaders have become increasingly common across democratic countries. Since 2000, more than 75 former heads of government have faced legal charges after leaving office. In the United States, Donald Trump’s multiple indictments and eventual conviction became central issues in the 2024 election. </p>
<p>The legal and political stakes raised pressing questions: How do different narratives about such prosecutions shape public opinion? Does attacking the prosecution mobilize partisan support and undermine democratic norms? Or can legal defenses sway public attitudes?</p>
<p>While media reports have speculated on these effects—citing everything from Trump’s increased fundraising to predictions of democratic backsliding—few studies have directly tested them. The new study aimed to fill that gap by measuring how voters respond to elite messaging about legal accountability.</p>
<p>“In democracies globally, including the United States, political leaders have faced criminal prosecution after leaving office. Yet we know little about how these prosecutions affect public opinion. We explored how prosecutions shape public opinion by studying the valuable case of Donald Trump’s prosecution during the 2024 elections,” said study author <a href="https://andrewodonohue.com/" target="_blank">Andrew O’Donohue</a>, the Carl J. Friedrich Fellow in Harvard University’s Department of Government and a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. </p>
<p>To investigate these questions, the researchers designed a preregistered survey experiment involving nearly 3,000 U.S. adults who identified as Republican or independent. The study was conducted online between October and December 2023, before the 2024 Republican primaries. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a video of Donald Trump denouncing his prosecution, a video of special counsel Jack Smith defending the prosecution, or a placebo video about artificial intelligence.</p>
<p>The Trump video featured familiar rhetoric. He called the charges “election interference” and portrayed the prosecution as an attack on democracy itself. The Smith video, by contrast, emphasized the impartiality of the rule of law, stating that legal standards apply to everyone equally. All videos were sourced from CNBC to avoid strong partisan cues from the media outlet itself.</p>
<p>The study focused on Trump’s federal prosecution for alleged mishandling of classified documents, chosen because legal experts regarded it as one of the strongest cases against him. The federal prosecutor in that case, Jack Smith, was also seen as a more neutral figure compared to elected Democratic officials.</p>
<p>The researchers measured four key outcomes: support for Trump, support for the prosecution and the prosecutor, support for democratic norms, and affective polarization (how warmly or coldly people feel about members of the opposing party).</p>
<p>The results challenge several assumptions about the power of elite messaging. Most notably, Trump’s rhetoric had no significant effect on any of the four outcomes. Among the Republicans and independents, watching Trump’s speech did not increase support for him, decrease support for the prosecution, or heighten hostility toward the opposing party. It also did not make respondents more likely to endorse retaliatory actions, such as prosecuting Democratic officials.</p>
<p>One possible explanation is that Trump’s message was already well-known. By the time of the survey, most respondents had been repeatedly exposed to his views. The researchers suggest that participants had likely internalized his rhetoric, making the additional messaging ineffective.</p>
<p>In contrast, the legal messaging from special counsel Jack Smith had more nuanced effects. Among those who did not already support Trump, watching the prosecutor’s video reduced their stated likelihood of voting for him in the Republican primary. The same group also became more likely to view the prosecution as politically neutral and consistent with democratic norms.</p>
<p>Yet these shifts came with trade-offs. Among Trump supporters, exposure to Smith’s message led to a sharp drop in favorability toward the prosecutor himself. This suggests a kind of backlash effect: even if the message persuades some voters about the legitimacy of the prosecution, it can also trigger hostility toward the messenger, especially among those loyal to the accused.</p>
<p>There were other subtleties in the findings. Trump’s rhetoric, while ineffective overall, did appear to slightly increase perceptions that the factual claims in the prosecution were true—but only among his own supporters. This may reflect a rhetorical strategy in which Trump concedes certain facts (such as possessing documents) while questioning the motives behind the prosecution.</p>
<p>Legal messaging also had modest effects on support for democratic norms. Among respondents who leaned Republican—but did not identify as strong partisans—the prosecutor’s message slightly increased opposition to retaliatory acts, such as firing the prosecutor or politicizing law enforcement. But these effects were not observed among strong Republicans or Trump loyalists.</p>
<p>Overall, both types of messaging had no measurable effect on affective polarization. That is, they did not make respondents more or less likely to dislike members of the opposing party.</p>
<p>“Our key finding is this: When citizens have strong attachments to a political leader, prosecutions have strikingly limited effects in reducing public support for those leaders,” O’Donohue told PsyPost.</p>
<p>While the study was well-designed and used a realistic format—videos from real press conferences—its findings may not apply to all contexts. The sample included only Republicans and independents, leaving open the question of how Democrats might respond to similar messages. </p>
<p>The research also focused on a particularly well-known figure: Donald Trump. Given the entrenched attitudes many people hold about him, it is possible that rhetoric might have stronger effects when directed at lesser-known political figures, such as state attorneys general or mayors facing legal trouble.</p>
<p>The researchers also note that their treatments were brief. A one-minute video may not be enough to shift deeply held beliefs. Yet this brevity mirrors how many people consume political information in real life, especially on social media.</p>
<p>Future studies could explore whether more sustained exposure to legal messaging, or message framing from different sources (such as non-governmental watchdog groups), might be more persuasive. The authors also encourage further research on other politicians and in other countries, noting that prosecutions of leaders are increasingly common worldwide but remain understudied in terms of public opinion.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf253" target="_blank">The court of public opinion: The limited effects of elite rhetoric about prosecuting political leader</a>,” was authored by Daniel B. Markovits and Andrew O’Donohue.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/study-of-150-bluey-episodes-reveals-powerful-lessons-in-resilience-and-emotional-growth/" 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;">Study of 150 Bluey episodes reveals powerful lessons in resilience and emotional growth</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Sep 7th 2025, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>She’s six years old, lives in Brisbane and might just be one of the best resilience coaches on television.</p>
<p>We’re talking about Bluey, the animated Aussie pup whose adventures have captured the hearts of families around the world.</p>
<p>But as our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20590776.2025.2526340">new study</a> reveals, Bluey isn’t just entertaining kids, she’s modelling how to to deal with life’s ups and downs.</p>
<h2>Why is resilience so important?</h2>
<p>Resilience isn’t just about “toughing it out”. It’s the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0149763421004930?via%3Dihub">ability</a> to cope with challenges, adapt to setbacks and recover from difficulties. It’s a vital part of healthy child <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/5/7/98">development</a>.</p>
<p>Research shows resilience helps children manage stress, regulate their emotions, build better relationships, and even perform better at school. Without it, children may be more vulnerable to anxiety, depression and poor coping skills later in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-022-02424-9">life</a>.</p>
<p>Children today face growing mental health challenges, including around anxiety and <a href="https://theconversation.com/parents-are-increasingly-saying-their-child-is-dysregulated-what-does-that-actually-mean-221989">emotional dysregulation</a>. For example, a <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/newsroom/news/list/2024/02/06/young-australians-are-still-struggling">2023 national resilience survey</a> of almost 140,000 students found more than one in four primary and one in three secondary students reported high levels of psychological distress.</p>
<p>Research shows the <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1594658/full">earlier we support resilience-building, the better</a>. Early interventions help build healthy coping skills before negative patterns take hold.</p>
<h2>How TV can help</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/jgc.2021">Storytelling</a> in films, books and TV can show children how to navigate challenges – not through lectures, but by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273229716300983?via%3Dihub">modelling behaviours</a> like emotional regulation, problem-solving and empathy.</p>
<p><a href="https://cdn.ncte.org/nctefiles/store/samplefiles/journals/la/la0813animals.pdf">Animal characters in storytelling</a> also offer valuable learning opportunities for children, who are naturally drawn to animals.</p>
<p>Bluey first aired in 2018. It has since become <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jul/21/bbc-targets-adults-in-the-latest-adventure-for-its-top-dog-bluey?">Australia’s most successful children’s program</a>, with <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/07/14/bluey-outranks-streamings-most-popular-originals-including-squid-game/">billions of views</a> worldwide.</p>
<p>It is known for its realistic portrayal of young family life. Yet until now, no one had systematically examined how it – or any kid’s TV show – presents resilience on screen.</p>
<h2>So we watched all 150 Bluey episodes</h2>
<p>In our study, we analysed every episode of Bluey from seasons one to three. The 150 episodes added up to 18 hours of Bluey, Bingo, Chilli, Bandit and their friends.</p>
<p>For each episode, we looked closely at the storyline, characters and themes, identifying moments where a character faced a challenge and showed a resilient response.</p>
<p>To guide our analysis, we used the <a href="https://bibalex.org/baifa/Attachment/Documents/115519.pdf">Grotberg Resilience Framework</a>. This is a widely recognised model in psychology that breaks resilience into three key elements.</p>
<p><strong>1. I have:</strong> involving the support systems around a child, such as family, friends, and community role models they can rely on.</p>
<p><strong>2. I can:</strong> involving practical coping skills, like solving problems, managing emotions and asking for help when needed.</p>
<p><strong>3. I am:</strong> involving a child’s inner strengths like confidence, optimism, emotional regulation and a sense of self worth.</p>
<h2>‘It’s out of our hands’</h2>
<p>Our research found nearly half of all episodes (73 out of 150) included a clear resilience message as either a primary or secondary theme.</p>
<p>Nearly two-thirds of the resilience moments were facilitated by a parent — most often Bluey’s mum. This fits with the “I have” category of resilience, which highlights how children draw strength from caring adults when things get tough.</p>
<p>For example in The Show (season two episode 19), Bingo accidentally drops a breakfast tray and bursts into tears. Mum gently models emotional coaching explaining her coping process: “I have a little cry, I pick myself up, dust myself off, and keep going.” <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212657024000278?">Research</a> shows that when caregivers model how to acknowledge distress, express feelings, and then recover with calm, children gradually learn to manage negative emotions effectively.</p>
<p>Later in the episode, Bingo repeats those exact words when things go wrong again.</p>
<h2>‘Well, that was fun’</h2>
<p>Bluey and her sister also frequently demonstrate practical coping skills on their own.</p>
<p>In Keepy Uppy (season one, episode three), the final balloon in a game pops. The kids pause, take it in, and smile. “Well, that was fun,” they say.</p>
<p>In a single moment, we see disappointment, emotional regulation, and reframing – the core of the “I can” category.</p>
<h2>Everyday moments, powerful messages</h2>
<p>We also see characters overcoming challenges with their own inner strength. In Seesaw (season two, episode 27) Pom Pom shows determination and self-confidence to get to the top of the seesaw and save her friends, in an example of “I am”. As she declares, “Pomeranians are a small but hardy breed”.</p>
<p>We found Bluey touches on almost all of the <a href="https://bibalex.org/baifa/Attachment/Documents/115519.pdf">core elements of resilience</a>: trusting relationships, emotional communication, problem-solving, self-regulation, empathy and more.</p>
<p>In Sheepdog (season three, episode 11), mum Chilli tells her family she needs “20 minutes” of alone time. Bluey is worried she’s done something wrong. Later, during play, Bluey gently echoes her mum’s words to a toy: “It’s hard work looking after you. I just need 20 minutes.”</p>
<p>That simple moment models self-care and perspective-taking as well as empathy. For kids, learning that grown-ups need rest too is a powerful message.</p>
<h2>How to watch Bluey with your kids</h2>
<p>Of course, no screen can replace real relationships. But when parents watch shows like Bluey with their kids, they become powerful teaching <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978012809481500002X">tools</a>.</p>
<p>So the next time your child wants to watch an episode for the tenth time, don’t feel guilty – join them. When parents watch too, those moments become conversation starters. For example, “What do you think Bluey felt then?”, “Have you ever felt like that?” or “What would you do in that situation?”</p>
<p>Talking about what kids see on screen can help them reflect, process, and build the skills they need to cope, adapt and grow.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>CQUniversity student Kelly Bohl and co-host of Bluey podcast Gotta Be Done Mary Bolling contributed to the original research on which this article is based.</em><!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/262202/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
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<p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/researchers-watched-150-episodes-of-bluey-they-found-it-can-teach-kids-about-resilience-for-real-life-262202">original article</a>.</em></p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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