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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/even-mild-opioid-use-disorder-is-linked-to-a-significantly-higher-risk-of-suicide/" 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;">Even mild opioid use disorder is linked to a significantly higher risk of suicide</a>
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<p><p>An analysis of National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data showed that individuals with opioid use disorder have 1.88 to 4.17 times greater odds of having suicidal thoughts compared to individuals without the disorder. Their odds of making a suicide plan were 3.35 to 6.7 times higher, while their odds of attempting suicide were 2.8 to nearly 10 times higher. The paper was published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2026.01.049"><em>Journal of Psychiatric Research</em></a>.</p>
<p><em>If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 to reach the free and confidential Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or chat live at <a href="http://988lifeline.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">988lifeline.org</a>.</em></p>
<p>Opioids are a class of drugs that act on specific receptors in the brain and body to reduce pain and produce feelings of euphoria. They include natural, semi-synthetic, and synthetic substances such as morphine, heroin, and fentanyl. Opioids are commonly prescribed for pain management but carry a high risk of dependence and misuse. If this risk materializes, opioid users may develop opioid use disorder.</p>
<p>Opioid use disorder is a medical condition characterized by a problematic pattern of opioid use leading to significant impairment or distress. It involves symptoms such as cravings, loss of control over use, and continued use despite harmful consequences. Individuals with opioid use disorder often develop tolerance, meaning they need higher doses of the substance to achieve the same effect. They also experience withdrawal symptoms when opioid use is reduced or stopped.</p>
<p>The disorder negatively affects physical health, mental well-being, and social functioning. It is associated with an increased risk of overdose, which can be life-threatening. Importantly, studies indicate that around 20% to 30% of opioid overdose deaths are intentional, meaning they represent suicides.</p>
<p>Study author William H. Craft and his colleagues noted that healthcare practitioners might be overlooking suicide risks in mild or moderate opioid use disorder cases, primarily linking those risks only to severe cases. They conducted a study in which they explored the links between opioid use disorder severity and suicidality in a nationally representative U.S. dataset.</p>
<p>They analyzed data from the 2021–2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), a nationally representative survey of non-institutionalized civilians aged 12 and older. However, for this specific analysis, the researchers focused exclusively on adults aged 18 and older. The survey collects broad data on substance use and mental health, including opioid use, suicidal thoughts, plans, and suicide attempts.</p>
<p>Data used in this analysis came from 139,524 participants. The study authors analyzed data regarding opioid use disorder severity and suicidality, as well as various demographic characteristics.</p>
<p>Results showed that slightly less than 2% of the study participants had an opioid use disorder in the past year. Of these, 62.9% had mild disorder symptoms, 15.9% had moderate symptoms, and 21.2% had severe symptoms. Among individuals without opioid use disorder, 4.8% reported suicidal thoughts, 1.3% reported suicide plans, and 0.6% reported a suicide attempt in the past year. Among participants with mild opioid use disorder, these percentages jumped to 11.3%, 4.9%, and 1.9%, respectively.</p>
<p>Among those with moderate opioid use disorder, the percentages of individuals reporting suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts in the past year were 12.0%, 8.4%, and 6.6%, respectively. Among those with severe opioid use disorder symptoms, the percentages were 25.2%, 12.9%, and 8.4%.</p>
<p>In other words, the odds of having suicidal thoughts were roughly 1.9 to 4.2 times greater in individuals with opioid use disorder compared to those without the disorder. Their odds of having a suicide plan were 3.35 to 6.7 times higher, while their odds of attempting suicide were 2.8 to nearly 10 times higher. Notably, the study found that the risk for a suicide attempt escalated dramatically in moderate cases and remained similarly high in severe cases, suggesting that dangerous behaviors can manifest earlier in the disorder’s progression than expected. Importantly, researchers verified that while co-occurring depression accounted for a portion of these risks, opioid use disorder remained independently linked to higher suicidality.</p>
<p>“These findings suggest OUD [opioid use disorder] of any severity is associated with markedly increased risk of suicidal thoughts, plans, and suicide attempts. This highlights a continued need to integrate suicide screening and prevention into OUD treatment and clinical settings where opioids are frequently prescribed, such as primary care,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study contributes vital knowledge about opioid use disorder. However, it should be noted that the cross-sectional design of the study does not allow causal inferences to be derived from the results. Additionally, data were based on self-reports, leaving room for recall bias and social desirability bias. The estimates are also likely conservative because of survivorship bias—people whose suicide attempts resulted in death could not be included—and because the survey excludes institutionalized populations, such as incarcerated or unhoused individuals, who often have higher rates of the disorder.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2026.01.049">Opioid use disorder of any severity is associated with increased suicidality,</a>” was authored by William H. Craft, Keith Humphreys, Michael J. Ostacher, and Claudia B. Padula.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/120-year-text-analysis-reveals-how-societys-view-of-lawyers-personalities-has-shifted/" 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;">120-year text analysis reveals how society’s view of lawyers’ personalities has shifted</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 13th 2026, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>A recent study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.113685" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Personality and Individual Differences</a></em> provides evidence that public perceptions of lawyers’ personalities have shifted significantly over the past 120 years. By analyzing millions of books, researchers found that society tends to view lawyers as highly conscientious and open to new experiences, but increasingly lacking in warmth. These findings suggest that the way we write about legal professionals reflects broader cultural and historical changes in the workplace and society.</p>
<p>Throughout history, legal professionals have occupied a complicated place in the public imagination. People often expect them to act as defenders of justice, yet they also frequently face criticism for being self-serving or morally ambiguous.</p>
<p>These conflicting stereotypes shape how much the public trusts the legal system. Whether society views a lawyer as a noble advocate or a manipulative operator directly impacts their professional authority. Because of this tension, researchers wanted to understand exactly how societal descriptions of lawyers have changed over time.</p>
<p>“The idea came from both TV/film portrayals and real-world legal cases. We noticed that lawyers are often described in very different ways, which made us curious: how has this profession actually been portrayed over time?” said <a href="https://boiledbroccoli.github.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zehua (Rankie) Jiang</a>, who conducted the research along with colleagues from Zhejiang University.</p>
<p>The scientists aimed to map these evolving stereotypes by looking at everyday language. By examining a massive collection of written texts, they hoped to capture the dominant traits associated with the profession across different historical eras.</p>
<p>The scientists analyzed text from 14,953,356 English-language books published between 1900 and 2019. They used a massive database known as the Google Books Ngram dataset, which contains millions of digitized texts from a wide variety of genres.</p>
<p>The research team focused on the Big Five personality traits, a widely accepted psychological model that categorizes human personality into openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Openness refers to creativity and intellectual curiosity, while conscientiousness involves being organized, practical, and responsible. Extraversion describes outgoing and energetic behavior. Agreeableness relates to being cooperative and friendly, and neuroticism involves emotional instability or anxiety.</p>
<p>The scientists compiled a list of 315 adjectives linked to these five traits. They then used computer programming to find every time these adjectives appeared right next to the words “lawyer” or “lawyers” in the books.</p>
<p>To establish a baseline for comparison, the researchers also tracked how often these same adjectives were used to describe a “person” or “persons.” They calculated relative frequencies to account for the fact that the total number of books published increased massively over the century.</p>
<p>The analysis revealed patterns in how writers described the legal profession. Overall, conscientiousness was the most frequently mentioned personality trait across the 120-year span.</p>
<p>The prominence of different traits shifted depending on the time period. Between 1900 and 1939, agreeableness was the most common trait used to describe lawyers.</p>
<p>Starting in the 1940s, conscientiousness became the dominant descriptor, and it remained at the top until the late 1990s. The researchers noted that words like “practical,” “conservative,” and “ambitious” were consistently used during this time.</p>
<p>The rise of conscientiousness in the mid-twentieth century might be linked to the post-war expansion of corporate law firms. These large organizations likely placed a high premium on diligence, reliability, and strict organizational discipline.</p>
<p>By the 2010s, openness had surpassed all other traits to become the most frequently discussed dimension in relation to lawyers. The scientists suggest this recent shift might reflect broader cultural changes that emphasize individualism, creativity, and technological innovation in the workplace. Extraversion remained relatively stable in fourth place throughout the entire century, while neuroticism was rarely mentioned.</p>
<p>“The shift over time was quite interesting—lawyers were described as more agreeable in earlier periods, then more responsible, and more recently as more open and innovative,” Jiang told PsyPost. “Overall, conscientiousness is the most emphasized trait in descriptions of lawyers. Compared to a ‘typical person,’ lawyers are more often portrayed as conscientious, open, extraverted, emotionally stable, and somewhat less agreeable.”</p>
<p>The scientists also evaluated the polarity of these descriptions, meaning they checked whether the adjectives were positive or negative. Compared to the general population, lawyers were described much more positively in the areas of conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion.</p>
<p>At the same time, lawyers were described more negatively in agreeableness and neuroticism. In fact, the data provides evidence that the gap in agreeableness between lawyers and the general public grew wider over time, with lawyers increasingly portrayed as less cooperative and more aggressive.</p>
<p>The perception of extraversion also experienced a notable shift. Lawyers were seen as more extraverted than the general public before the 1960s, but this score dropped sharply in the 1990s, eventually falling below that of the average person.</p>
<p>It is important to note that these historical portraits represent societal stereotypes rather than the actual personality traits of real-world lawyers. The study captures how the profession is constructed in social and cultural conversations, which may not completely match how individual legal professionals behave in their private lives.</p>
<p>The research design also comes with a few limitations. The scientists only analyzed English-language books, meaning the findings might not apply to other linguistic or cultural contexts around the world.</p>
<p>Going forward, “we’re interested in looking at other professions, and we’re also working on a more general framework for tracking personality descriptions over time,” Jiang said.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.113685" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Personality descriptions of lawyers: A 120-year big data analysis of English books</a>,” was authored by <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=W9Zw5DgAAAAJ&hl=zh-CN" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Liang Xu</a>, Yiwen Wu, and Zehua Jiang.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/disrupted-sleep-is-the-primary-pathway-linking-problematic-social-media-use-to-reduced-wellbeing/" 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;">Disrupted sleep is the primary pathway linking problematic social media use to reduced wellbeing</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 13th 2026, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108446" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Addictive Behaviors</a></em> suggests that struggling to control your social media habits takes a toll on your mental health by disrupting how well you sleep. The research provides evidence that the way screen time interferes with our nights tends to be a primary pathway leading to symptoms of depression and anxiety. Protecting our sleep habits might be one of the most practical steps we can take to defend our psychological wellbeing.</p>
<p>Previous studies exploring the connection between heavy social media use and mental health have produced mixed results. Some research suggests a clear link to later depression and anxiety, while other work points to weak or no significant connection at all.</p>
<p>The scientists noticed a gap in understanding exactly how these factors connect over time. Sleep is often the first thing people compromise when endlessly scrolling through apps late at night. Yet, the specific role of sleep in bridging the gap between digital habits and psychological distress had not been tested over an extended period.</p>
<p>“This research is the part of the larger project titled ‘<a href="https://nceph.anu.edu.au/research/research-projects/social-media-use-sleep-problems-and-mental-health-emediate-study" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Social media use, sleep, and mental health: eMediate study,</a>‘” said study author Oli Ahmed of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chittagong.</p>
<p>“This study was designed to address two issues: an inconsistency in the existing evidence and a real-world concern about addictive social media use which termed as ‘problematic social media use (PSMU)’ in this study. Some longitudinal studies have found evidence about the relationships between PSMU and later depression and anxiety symptoms, while no evidence related to how they are linked. However, other studies found no associations between these factors.”</p>
<p>“Furthermore, there is no evidence about the relationship between PSMU and later wellbeing. In this study, we wanted to understand are there really any associations between these factors, if so, then how they are linked. Sleep is something that people often compromise while using social media, yet its role in connection between PSMU and mental health had not tested longitudinally.”</p>
<p>The sample included exactly 437 young adult social media users from Bangladesh. This group had an average age of 22.62 years, and 49.7 percent of the participants were female. The participants completed four detailed surveys spaced three months apart over the course of nine months. The researchers excluded anyone who failed basic attention filter questions to ensure the data remained highly accurate. The surveys measured several specific aspects of the participants’ lives using standardized psychological questionnaires.</p>
<p>First, the researchers assessed problematic social media use. This concept is defined as a compulsive urge to spend excessive time on social platforms in a way that disrupts daily life. The team also measured symptoms of depression and generalized anxiety.</p>
<p>To evaluate sleep, the scientists looked at two distinct concepts: insomnia symptoms and overall sleep quality. Insomnia refers to specific clinical difficulties with falling or staying asleep. Sleep quality is a broader measure that includes how rested a person feels, how many hours they sleep, and how often they wake up in the night.</p>
<p>Finally, the researchers measured overall psychological wellbeing. This concept reflects a person’s general sense of daily functioning, calmness, and life satisfaction. The researchers then used complex statistical models to examine how changes in one area predicted changes in another over the nine-month period.</p>
<p>The researchers found that problematic social media use consistently predicted subsequent increases in depressive and anxiety symptoms. Specifically, when individuals reported social media habits that were harder to control than their usual baseline, they were likely to develop greater symptoms of mental distress later on. When comparing different people, those with higher average use also exhibited higher average distress.</p>
<p>The researchers found that poor sleep acts as a mediator in this relationship. In scientific terms, a mediator is a middle step or pathway that explains how one event causes another. The findings suggest that compulsive social media use leads to poor sleep, which then triggers increased depression and anxiety.</p>
<p>Insomnia symptoms proved to be a stronger mediating factor than general sleep quality. This suggests that specific, severe sleep disruptions play a larger role in mental health decline than just having an occasionally restless night. The researchers noted that delayed bedtimes driven by a fear of missing out likely trigger a cascade of neurobiological changes linked to negative moods.</p>
<p>The study also revealed a unique relationship regarding general psychological wellbeing. Problematic social media use did not directly reduce a person’s overall wellbeing on its own. Instead, it was indirectly linked to poorer wellbeing entirely through the pathway of insomnia. This indicates that disrupted sleep is the primary mechanism stripping away a person’s general sense of flourishing.</p>
<p>“If one psychologically engages with social media use like compulsive use or hard to control, one’s sleep is likely one of the first things to suffer,” Ahmed told PsyPost. “This disrupted sleep can then contribute to depression, anxiety and poorer wellbeing. It’s not just about screen time; it’s about what that screen time does to our nights. Protecting our sleep may be one of the most practical things we can do to protect our mental health.”</p>
<p>The scientists noted that the effects observed were small to medium in size. This means that a few late nights on a smartphone will not instantly cause a mental health crisis, but the cumulative impact over months tends to be highly meaningful. They were also surprised to find that digital habits affect distinct areas of mental health differently.</p>
<p>“The link the between PSMU and later mental health is not same for depression, anxiety and wellbeing,” Ahmed explained. “PSMU didn’t have a direct association with later wellbeing, instead, this link ran through increased insomnia symptoms. That suggests that for wellbeing specifically, insomnia is not just a contributing factor but the primary pathway. In contrast, the links to depression and anxiety were only partially contributed by insomnia and poor sleep quality, suggesting that other mechanisms are also at play.”</p>
<p>The data also highlighted specific gender differences. Female social media users who exhibited high levels of compulsive use were found to be more vulnerable to a decline in general wellbeing than male users. The researchers suggest this might happen because women typically spend more time on social media for interpersonal interactions, which can increase exposure to negative comparisons or cyberbullying.</p>
<p>As with all research, there are some limitations. Because the study relies on observational data, it cannot definitively prove an absolute cause-and-effect relationship in the way a controlled laboratory experiment would. It is possible that individuals already experiencing a decline in mental health might turn to their phones more often, creating a cycle that reinforces itself.</p>
<p>The study also has a few specific limitations. The sample was also primarily composed of young adults and students. This demographic focus means the findings might not apply perfectly to older adults or different occupational groups. The scientists looked at overall social media engagement without separating the data by specific apps. Scrolling through short videos on one platform might affect the brain and sleep differently than messaging friends on another app.</p>
<p>“We’d like to look at whether specific platforms differ in their associations with sleep and mental health, scrolling TikTok before bed may not be the same as messaging on WhatsApp,” Ahmed said. “We’re also interested in testing whether interventions targeting sleep (such as cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia) can break the chain between PSMU and poor mental health.”</p>
<p>“Although this is not directly from this study, I want to share the main findings which we derived from the larger eMediate study project. The associations between PSMU, sleep and symptoms of anxiety and depression are mutually reinforcing each other. However, the association between PSMU and wellbeing are not same. Findings shows that better wellbeing could lead to PSMU for some users who use social media to enhance positive emotion and in turn leads to poor wellbeing. You will find the details of this in the General Discussion section of the following link: <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1885/733794665" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://hdl.handle.net/1885/733794665</a>.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108446" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Longitudinal associations between problematic social media use and mental health: Mediating role of sleep</a>,” was authored by Oli Ahmed, Amy Dawel, Erin I. Walsh, and Nicolas Cherbuin.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/bladder-toxicity-risk-appears-low-for-psychiatric-ketamine-patients-though-data/" 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;">Bladder toxicity risk appears low for psychiatric ketamine patients, though data is limited</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 12th 2026, 18:00</div>
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<p><p>A new review of clinical studies suggests that people receiving ketamine for mental health conditions do not face an elevated risk of severe bladder and urinary tract issues, at least in the short term. Researchers noted that while these symptoms are common among recreational users, medically supervised doses appear much safer. The findings were published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811251350267">Journal of Psychopharmacology</a>.</p>
<p>Ketamine was synthesized in the early 1960s as a safer alternative to older anesthetics. It offered a shorter duration of effects and a lower risk of delirium. For over fifty years, it has been a staple in operating rooms across the globe. Today, it remains heavily used by surgeons and trauma professionals to induce a loss of consciousness and relieve severe pain.</p>
<p>In recent years, the medical community began exploring the drug for an entirely different purpose. Researchers discovered that providing patients with smaller, subanesthetic doses could rapidly alleviate severe psychiatric distress. It became a popular option for people with treatment-resistant depression, which is a diagnosis given when standard oral antidepressants fail to improve a patient’s mood. </p>
<p>Unlike traditional medications that build up slowly in the brain over weeks, this treatment can improve depressive symptoms within a single day. The drug works by blocking a specific receptor in the brain, triggering a rapid shift in neural circuitry. Because of this fast action, doctors also utilize it to help patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, severe anxiety, and various substance use disorders. </p>
<p>Alongside its medical rise, the drug has a long history of illicit recreational use. Chronic recreational users often take the drug frequently and in massive doses, which can lead to severe organ damage. One of the most common physical complications is a condition known as ketamine-induced urological toxicity. </p>
<p>This urological toxicity involves severe damage to the lower urinary tract. The drug can cause the bladder wall to thicken and contract, reducing the organ’s capacity. Patients with this condition suffer from a constant urge to urinate, pelvic pain, and blood in their urine. In the most severe cases, chronic exposure leads to cellular death in the urinary tract and chronic kidney failure. </p>
<p>Because the antidepressant effects of a single dose generally fade after a few days, psychiatric patients require repeated treatments to maintain their recovery. A standard clinic protocol often involves an intense acute phase of multiple weekly doses, followed by a maintenance phase where patients receive the drug every few weeks. In treatment-resistant cases, this maintenance phase can last for years.</p>
<p>This repeat-dosing schedule mirrors the chronic exposure seen in recreational users. Doctors have expressed concern that psychiatric patients might eventually develop similar bladder and kidney complications. To investigate this risk, lead author Jess Kerr-Gaffney, a researcher at King’s College London, and a team of colleagues conducted a systematic review of the existing medical literature. </p>
<p>A systematic review involves pooling all available published research on a specific topic to identify overarching trends. The research team searched multiple medical databases for clinical trials and observational studies testing the drug in adult psychiatric patients. They specifically looked for any studies that recorded urinary, bladder, or kidney symptoms. </p>
<p>Out of a massive volume of medical literature, the researchers found twenty-seven studies that matched their strict criteria. The vast majority of these studies analyzed patients suffering from severe depressive disorders. The remaining few looked at patients with chronic trauma or generalized anxiety. </p>
<p>Across the twenty-seven studies, the reported rates of urinary symptoms were highly variable. The percentage of patients reporting issues ranged from zero to nearly twenty-five percent. When symptoms did appear, patients generally described them as mild or moderate in severity. </p>
<p>The most common complaint was an increased frequency of urination. Other patients reported a burning sensation while urinating, difficulty emptying their bladder, or producing an unusually large volume of urine. A small number of patients developed bacterial urinary tract infections over the course of their treatment. </p>
<p>To determine if the medication was genuinely at fault, the researchers compared the treatment groups to control groups. In the randomized controlled trials they reviewed, the rate of urological complaints among patients taking the drug was usually equal to or lower than the rate seen in the control groups. The control groups typically received an inactive placebo or an alternative medication. </p>
<p>There were a few minor exceptions in the data. Esketamine is a purified, highly potent variation of the drug delivered through a nasal spray. In three trials testing this nasal spray, patients reported slightly higher rates of urinary symptoms than those taking a placebo, though the results were not statistically significant. Another trial indicated that patients given flexible, varying doses reported slightly more side effects than those on a rigid schedule. </p>
<p>A few of the reviewed studies took a more objective approach by testing patient urine in a laboratory. Scientists checked the urine for microscopic warning signs, such as stray red blood cells, white blood cells, and elevated protein content. These continuous lab measurements remained stable across the treatment timeline, showing no hidden signs of cellular damage. </p>
<p>Despite these reassuring results, the research team highlighted several severe limitations in the available evidence. The most prominent issue involves the short timeframes used by modern clinical trials. The median follow-up period across the reviewed studies was only four weeks. </p>
<p>In recreational users, toxicity usually develops after months or years of chronic exposure to the chemical. A patient beginning a new psychiatric routine is highly unlikely to develop visible bladder damage within a single month. Only five studies in the entire review tracked patients for more than six months. Based on this limited data, the researchers concluded there is not enough evidence to guarantee that long-term maintenance therapy is entirely safe for the bladder. </p>
<p>The review also exposed major flaws in how clinical trials monitor physical safety. Eleven of the included studies did not use any structured assessments for urinary health. They simply utilized passive monitoring, meaning doctors waited for patients to volunteer complaints about side effects.</p>
<p>Passive tracking is often inadequate for detecting gradual organ damage. A patient might dismiss minor bladder irritation as a natural sign of aging or fail to connect it to their mental health treatment. Unstructured monitoring can easily result in an underestimation of the true physical risks. </p>
<p>When evaluating the quality of the data, the review team found additional problems. Only fifteen percent of the included studies were rated as having a low risk of bias. Many trials were unblinded, meaning the patients knew they were receiving an active, powerful medication. </p>
<p>This lack of blinding is dangerous because the drug acts as a highly effective painkiller. If the medication is actively numbing the body, patients might not register the early, subtle pain of bladder inflammation. A subjective questionnaire could miss the initial stages of tissue damage entirely if the patient’s pain receptors are blocked. </p>
<p>These blind spots in the medical literature are becoming a pressing issue due to changes in modern healthcare. Telehealth platforms and medical startups now offer at-home treatments for various mental health conditions. Patients are increasingly receiving these prescriptions via the mail, consuming them outside the direct supervision of a traditional clinical environment. </p>
<p>Many of these at-home chemical formulations are not formally approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Patients using unregulated products at home might take the drug for extended periods without receiving systematic safety examinations. This creates a scenario where early signs of organ damage could slide completely under the radar. </p>
<p>Moving forward, the research team recommended that all future clinical trials include active, mandatory screening for urinary side effects. Clinic staff should utilize standardized bladder pain questionnaires on a weekly basis to track subtle changes in patient comfort. Relying on patients to spontaneously report their pain is no longer considered a sufficient safety measure. </p>
<p>They also suggested implementing regular laboratory urine tests before and after treatment sessions. Checking for microscopic biomarkers is a cheap, non-invasive method for detecting invisible tissue damage before a patient feels any physical discomfort. Adding these objective measurements would drastically improve the accuracy of safety monitoring and help protect vulnerable psychiatric patients from long-term harm.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811251350267">Urological symptoms following ketamine treatment for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review</a>,” was authored by Jess Kerr-Gaffney, Anna Tröger, Alice Caulfield, Philipp Ritter, James Rucker, and Allan H. Young.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/low-doses-of-lsd-alter-emotional-brain-responses-in-people-with-mild-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;">Low doses of LSD alter emotional brain responses in people with mild depression</a>
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<p><p>A new study suggests that low doses of the psychedelic drug lysergic acid diethylamide, better known as LSD, can enhance how the human brain processes emotional rewards. The research, published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811251405686">Journal of Psychopharmacology</a>, points to specific shifts in electrical brain activity following the administration of a small dose in patients experiencing mild depression. These neural changes corresponded with an improved mood that lasted for days after the initial exposure.</p>
<p>For years, public interest has grown around the practice of taking very small, barely perceptible amounts of psychedelic drugs. Often referred to as microdosing, this habit is frequently touted by advocates as a way to elevate mood, enhance creativity, and improve mental focus. Taking tiny amounts of LSD every few days has become especially popular among those seeking alternative ways to manage depression.</p>
<p>Yet proving the benefits of microdosing under controlled laboratory conditions has proven difficult. Subjective self-reported mood questionnaires sometimes fail to capture subtle biological changes happening beneath the surface. To bypass these limitations, researchers are turning to direct measurements of electrical activity in the brain. They suspect that tracking exact neural responses to rewards might reveal biological shifts that typical subjective measures easily overstate or miss completely.</p>
<p>James Glazer, a researcher in the Department of Psychiatry at Northwestern University, led the investigation alongside colleagues from the University of Chicago. The research team included Hanna Molla, Royce Lee, Robin Nusslock, and Harriet de Wit. The group recently discovered that low doses of LSD altered brain responses to monetary rewards in healthy adults. Relying on that prior work, they designed a new experiment to see if the drug might have specific neurobiological effects on individuals already experiencing depressed mood.</p>
<p>People suffering from depression often experience a blunted capacity to process rewards. When they win something or receive positive feedback, their brains do not react as strongly as the brains of healthy individuals. This reduced emotional processing can sap motivation and make it difficult to learn from mistakes or adapt behavior effectively. The researchers wanted to know if a small amount of LSD could help normalize this disturbed reward processing.</p>
<p>To measure these subtle brain adjustments, the team utilized electroencephalography. This technique involves placing a net of sensors over a person’s scalp to record the electrical signals fired by neurons communicating with one another. Because these sensors measure activity in real time, they offer an incredibly precise look at how the brain reacts moment to moment. </p>
<p>The researchers broke down the brain’s reaction to feedback into three chronological stages. First, an immediate electrical wave encodes the initial shock of winning or losing. Second, a motivational wave updates the brain’s working memory with contextual information, categorizing the size of the reward. Finally, a prolonged wave of electrical activity reflects the deeper emotional value of the outcome. </p>
<p>This final, prolonged pattern of electrical activity is known to correspond with activation in the amygdala, an almond-shaped cluster of neurons deep within the brain. The amygdala regulates emotional processing and often functions abnormally in people suffering from depression. Because earlier studies showed that psychedelics can alter the amygdala’s connectivity, the researchers suspected this final emotional brain wave might be particularly sensitive to the drug.</p>
<p>The experiment involved thirty-four healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 35. The participants had a range of scores on a standard depression inventory. Some volunteers reported minimal symptoms, while others reported mild to moderate feelings of depression at the time of the study. This dimensional approach allowed the researchers to look at depression as a spectrum rather than a rigid category.</p>
<p>Each participant attended two separate five-hour laboratory sessions spaced at least a week apart. In one session, they received a low dose of 26 micrograms of LSD. In the alternative session, they received an inactive placebo. The study was double-blind, meaning neither the participants nor the researchers running the sessions knew which substance was administered on any given day. </p>
<p>The 26-microgram dose utilized in the study was specifically chosen to fall within the realm of microdosing. A standard recreational or therapeutic dose of LSD meant to induce full hallucinogenic experiences typically ranges from 75 to 200 micrograms. By using a fraction of that amount, the researchers aimed to observe changes in basic brain function without subjecting the volunteers to intense perceptual distortions or visual hallucinations that could interfere with playing a computerized testing game.</p>
<p>During the time of peak drug effect, the volunteers completed a computerized game designed to test their reaction to rewards. First, the screen displayed a cue indicating whether the upcoming round offered a chance to win money. Next, the participants had to quickly press a button when a target shape appeared. Finally, the screen flashed feedback telling the player if their reaction was fast enough to win a small financial reward or if they were too slow.</p>
<p>While the participants played the game, the scalp sensors tracked the specific electrical patterns as the volunteers digested their performance. The scientists were particularly interested in the prolonged emotional wave, which typically occurs a fraction of a second after a person receives negative feedback compared to positive feedback. In healthy brains, experiencing a monetary loss triggers a robust electrical response that dwarfs the usual response to winning. </p>
<p>This heightened reaction to losing serves a specific evolutionary purpose. By prompting an amplified emotional response to negative outcomes, the brain drives individuals to adapt, focus harder, and avoid future mistakes. A robust reaction to failure helps people assign higher emotional stakes to the task, which naturally improves their overall performance during subsequent attempts. </p>
<p>During the placebo sessions, the researchers observed exactly what they expected from participants reporting higher depression levels. Without the influence of the active drug, individuals with worse depressive moods showed a smaller electrical response to losing the game. Their capacity to process the emotional sting of a missed reward appeared stunted, fitting the classic profile of depressive blunting. </p>
<p>The dynamics changed noticeably during the experimental drug session. The administration of the low-dose psychedelic altered the brain’s reaction to negative feedback in the game. In volunteers with higher baseline symptoms of depressed mood, the drug widened the gap in electrical activity between losing and winning scenarios. Their brains generated a much larger late emotional response to missing the reward. </p>
<p>This biological reaction suggests that the substance temporarily restored a more typical emotional response to feedback. The individuals with mild to moderate depression started processing unearned rewards with the same type of neurological intensity typically seen in people without mood disorders. The drug seemed to reverse the blunted neural responses usually associated with depressive symptoms, boosting their emotional engagement with the task.</p>
<p>These shifts in brain wave activity corresponded directly with actual improvements in how the volunteers felt. Participants who exhibited the strongest increase in this electrical response to negative feedback also reported the highest increases in positive mood during the drug session. The direct biological measurements precisely mirrored their subjective experiences while playing the game under the influence of the trace psychedelic dose. </p>
<p>The apparent benefits extended beyond the time spent inside the laboratory. The researchers tested the participants’ depression levels again two days after each session. Volunteers who showed the elevated electrical response to losing the reward game during the active drug session reported lower overall depressed mood forty-eight hours later. The neural adjustment within the lab predicted a lingering elevation in their everyday emotional state.</p>
<p>The scientists also noted broader alterations in how the participants’ brains engaged with the overall game. When examining the entire group, the low dose of LSD reduced the difference in brain activity between rounds that offered money and neutral rounds that offered nothing. The psychedelic seemed to equalize the motivational processing of the game, making the unrewarded trials just as engaging as the trials with a financial prize.</p>
<p>Not all measured electrical brain signals changed during the experiment. An earlier study by the same laboratory found that an even lower dose of 13 micrograms amplified the most immediate brain wave associated with catching a reward. In this current experiment using 26 micrograms, that immediate response remained unaffected, and the changes between drug and placebo were not statistically significant. This hints that different doses might produce uniquely tailored effects on the nervous system. </p>
<p>The authors note several limitations to the current investigation. The participants only experienced momentary symptoms of depressed mood, rather than established long-term clinical diagnoses. A larger trial involving patients with formally diagnosed, severe major depressive disorder would be necessary to confirm if these brain activity patterns hold true for clinical populations. The sample size was relatively modest, which can limit the ability to detect distinct individual differences.</p>
<p>Future research must explore exactly how different doses manipulate neural circuitry. There may be a distinct developmental sweet spot for achieving desired emotional outcomes without causing unwanted psychological disruption. Determining whether repeated microdosing over several weeks builds upon these acute neurological changes remains an important next step. Scientists need to investigate if the brain continues to adapt or if a tolerance develops to the low-dose regimen.</p>
<p>These results provide an initial biological foundation for understanding how trace amounts of psychedelics interact with the human brain. The changes in reward valuation suggest that these substances might offer targeted interventions for people whose neurophysiological state is depressed. By highlighting precise electrical shifts in emotional processing, the study opens new avenues for evaluating potential next-generation therapies.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811251405686">Reward-related neural activity after low doses of LSD in participants with depressed mood</a>,” was authored by James Glazer, Hanna Molla, Royce Lee, Robin Nusslock, and Harriet de Wit.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/how-the-brain-connects-narcissistic-traits-and-emotional-suppression/" 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;">Narcissistic traits are linked to a brain area governing emotional control</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 12th 2026, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>A recent study reveals that the physical structure of a specific brain region acts as a bridge between narcissistic personality traits and the habit of hiding one’s emotions. By looking at brain scans of healthy adults, researchers found that the volume and surface folding of the anterior insula correspond to both narcissistic tendencies and emotional suppression. The research was published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.05.002"><i>Journal of Affective Disorders</i></a>.</p>
<p>Narcissism is often thought of as a single personality flaw, but psychologists divide it into two main dimensions. Grandiose narcissism is characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance, a constant need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others. Vulnerable narcissism is marked by fragile self-esteem, hypersensitivity to criticism, and social withdrawal. Both types share an underlying core of self-focus and difficulties with interpersonal relationships.</p>
<p>A common thread linking both grandiose and vulnerable traits is a struggle with emotion regulation. Emotion regulation refers to the mental strategies people use to manage how they feel and how they express those feelings to people around them. One strategy is cognitive reappraisal, which involves changing the way one thinks about a stressful situation to alter its emotional impact. This approach is generally seen as a protective factor against anxiety and mood disorders because it neutralizes a negative emotion before it fully takes hold.</p>
<p>Another strategy is expressive suppression. This involves actively hiding outward signs of an emotion, like keeping a straight face when feeling sad or angry. Expressive suppression requires constant mental effort because the emotion is already fully active in the body, which can drain cognitive resources over time. Previous research has linked both types of narcissism to a heavy reliance on expressive suppression. </p>
<p>Because people with high levels of narcissistic traits often struggle to process their emotions in healthy ways, researchers want to know how these behavioral patterns manifest in the physical structure of the brain. Lead author Lisa Schmidt and her colleagues at the Philipps-Universität Marburg in Germany designed a study to examine these interacting factors. They focused on a brain region called the anterior insula. Positioned deep within the cerebral cortex, the anterior insula acts as a sensory integration center for the brain.</p>
<p>The anterior insula is intimately involved in processing physical sensations, emotional awareness, and empathy. It helps translate bodily signals into conscious feelings, allowing people to recognize when they are anxious, excited, or upset. Because self-awareness and empathy are frequent challenges for individuals with pronounced narcissistic traits, the anterior insula is a logical target for anatomical investigation.</p>
<p>Schmidt and her team recruited 172 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 45. None of the participants had a history of psychiatric or neurological disorders. The choice to use a healthy cohort allowed the researchers to study normal variations in personality without the complicating factors of medication or severe mental illness.</p>
<p>Participants completed descriptive questionnaires to assess their personality and emotional habits. To measure narcissism, they took an assessment that evaluates both grandiose and vulnerable traits across multiple sub-categories, such as exploitative behavior, grandiose fantasies, and contingent self-esteem. To measure emotion regulation, they answered questions about how frequently they use cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression in their daily lives.</p>
<p>The researchers then analyzed the participants’ brains using a high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging scanner. They utilized specialized software to measure different structural aspects of the anterior insula. These measurements included the overall volume of gray matter in the region as well as the degree of gyrification. Volume generally reflects the number of neurons and supportive cells in a specific location. Gyrification refers to the extent of folding on the brain’s surface, which allows a larger cortical surface area to fit inside the skull.</p>
<p>Brain folding happens early in human development. Because of this timeline, the degree of gyrification is often considered an indicator of how the brain formed during early life stages, rather than a trait that changes drastically day to day. To understand the connections between brain anatomy, emotion regulation, and narcissism, the team ran statistical mediation models. </p>
<p>A mediation model is a mathematical tool used to test whether a third variable helps explain the relationship between a starting point and an endpoint. Imagine three points forming a triangle. If point A is linked to point C, a mediation model tests if the path accurately passes from A, through B, to reach C. In this case, the researchers wanted to see if emotion regulation habits could explain the link between brain structure and narcissism, or vice versa.</p>
<p>The brain scans revealed a negative association between narcissistic traits and the size of the anterior insula. Individuals who scored higher on measures of both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism tended to have slightly smaller volumes in the right anterior insula. For vulnerable narcissism, this negative relationship also extended to the left anterior insula.</p>
<p>The mediation analysis added a layer of nuance to these negative anatomical correlations. The researchers found that the habit of expressive suppression statistically mediated the relationship between right anterior insula volume and narcissistic vulnerability. It also mediated the connection between the right insula’s surface folding and both grandiose and vulnerable traits.</p>
<p>The statistical models also worked in reverse. Narcissistic traits mediated the relationship between the volume of both the left and right anterior insula and the use of expressive suppression. This indicates a three-way dynamic where the tendency to hide emotions shapes the link between brain anatomy and personality, while personality simultaneously shapes the link between emotional habits and brain anatomy.</p>
<p>The study included exploratory analyses of the whole brain to see if other regions were involved. The researchers noted positive associations between specific sub-traits of narcissism and the folding of the anterior insula. They also observed changes in the cortical thickness of the precuneus, a brain area located in the parietal lobe toward the back of the head. The precuneus becomes highly active when people think about themselves, reflect on their past, or evaluate their own traits compared to others.</p>
<p>The researchers did not find expected associations in the prefrontal cortex. Other behavioral studies have sometimes linked narcissistic traits to this frontal area, which governs higher-level decision making and social behavior. The authors suggest this discrepancy might be due to the specific questionnaires used or the fact that previous studies often looked at simple sum scores rather than breaking narcissism down into diverse behavioral sub-traits.</p>
<p>There are a few limitations to keep in mind regarding these results. The study relied solely on self-reported questionnaires to gauge emotional habits and personality traits. While standard in psychological research, self-reports can sometimes be subject to personal biases or a lack of self-awareness, especially when answering questions about relationship habits.</p>
<p>The participants were relatively young and free from any psychiatric diagnoses. The authors note that the findings might not translate in the exact same ways to clinical populations, such as individuals formally diagnosed with a personality disorder. Expanding this research to include patients receiving psychiatric treatment could help scientists see if these anatomical patterns hold up in more extreme cases.</p>
<p>The concept of narcissism is complicated and heavily overlaps with other personality dimensions, such as negative emotionality and social dominance. Separating these overlapping factors is a consistent challenge in behavioral neuroscience. Future studies might benefit from gathering an even wider array of behavioral data to isolate the unique brain signatures of narcissistic traits.</p>
<p>These findings highlight the anterior insula as a convergence zone in the brain, where self-image, physical structure, and emotional habits meet. Understanding how this brain region manages emotional suppression could eventually help clinicians tailor therapeutic approaches. Addressing the underlying habit of hiding emotions might prove beneficial for individuals struggling with the personal and social costs of narcissistic behavior.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.05.002">The interrelation of emotion regulation, anterior insula structure, and narcissistic traits</a>,” was authored by Lisa Schmidt, Alejandra Dominguez-Ruiz, Tina Meller, and Igor Nenadić.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/can-video-games-make-kids-feel-better-about-their-bodies/" 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;">Can video games make kids feel better about their bodies?</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Apr 12th 2026, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>A study involving over 1,000 9–13-year-old boys and girls found that children who played Super U Story, an adventure video game for Roblox, showed slightly better state body satisfaction compared to children who played Rainbow Friends 2 Story immediately after the game. However, their change in body satisfaction did not differ from the group that was completing a web-based word search. The paper was published in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/66625"><em>Journal of Medical Internet Research</em></a>.</p>
<p>Body satisfaction refers to the extent to which individuals feel positively about their physical appearance and bodily characteristics. It involves perceptions, thoughts, and emotions related to one’s body shape, size, and overall look.</p>
<p>Higher body satisfaction is associated with greater self-esteem and psychological well-being. It can be influenced by personal experiences, cultural standards, and social comparisons. Media representations often play a strong role in shaping body ideals and expectations.</p>
<p>Body satisfaction is not fixed and can change over time depending on life circumstances and personal development. It is closely related to body image, but focuses more specifically on evaluative feelings rather than perceptions alone. Low body satisfaction is linked to issues such as anxiety, depression, and disordered eating behaviors.</p>
<p>Study author Nicole Paraskeva and her colleagues wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of playing a single session of a purpose-built Roblox video game on U.S. children and adolescents’ state and trait body image and on various other psychological outcomes. To do so, they conducted a study.</p>
<p>Study participants were 1,059 U.S.-based 9-13-year-olds. 460 of them were girls (and 599 were boys). Children’s average age was 11 years. Study authors recruited them online via a research agency.</p>
<p>Participating children were randomly divided into 3 groups, each going through a different intervention. One group was assigned to play Super U Story, a Roblox game intentionally designed to help improve the players’ body image. The second group played Rainbow Friends 2 Story, a similar Roblox game. The third group was assigned to complete online word search puzzles, finding animal-related words in as many puzzles as they wished for up to 30 minutes. The play time for the two games was also capped at 30 minutes.</p>
<p>Super U Story is a narrative-based adventure game created through an industry-academic partnership between Toya, a gaming studio that creates video games for the online gaming platform Roblox, and the Dove Self-Esteem Project, the social mission for Unilever’s personal care brand, Dove, in consultation with the authors of this study. It is aimed at children aged 9 to 13 years.</p>
<p>The story centers on The Academy, a school for kids with developing superpowers that comes under attack by a group of rogue ex-students intent on spreading negativity. As students progress through the game, they are exposed to psychoeducational content through dialogue with nonplayer characters and pop-up messages on a fictional social media platform. Crucially, to preserve the entertainment value of the game, engagement with most of this educational content was optional. All possible game endings are formulated to reinforce psychological messages (embedded throughout the game) that aim to improve children’s body image.</p>
<p>Participating children completed assessments at 3 time points – at the start of the study (one week before the intervention), at the time of the intervention (immediately before and after playing games or completing word searches), and 1 week after the intervention. Immediately before gameplay and immediately after, participating children answered questions about their current state of body satisfaction (e.g., “How happy do you feel about the way you look, right now?”). They also rated their mood, body functionality, body esteem (using the Body Esteem Scale for Children), body appreciation (the Body Appreciation Scale-2 for Children), internalization of appearance ideals (the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire), and several other characteristics.</p>
<p>Results showed that children who played Super U Story tended to report slightly improved current satisfaction with their bodies after playing the game compared to children who played Rainbow Friends 2 Story, but not compared to children who completed word searches. The three groups did not differ in mood after gameplay, body functionality, internalization of appearance ideals, or social media literacy.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the group that played Rainbow Friends 2 Story showed slightly improved trait body esteem and body appreciation compared to the group that played Super U Story at the 1-week follow-up. The effects did not depend on participants’ age or gender.</p>
<p>“Overall, playing Super U Story did not cause harm; however, evidence is lacking to suggest that it improved body image,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study sheds light on the effects of playing Super U Story on children’s body image. However, it should be noted that the reported effects were very small and that the time children spent gaming was very short. Effects might have been more substantial after longer game play time or repeated sessions. The researchers also suggested that navigating a brand-new game required a high cognitive load, which may have distracted players from the educational content. Furthermore, passive psychoeducation (just reading pop-up messages) is generally less effective than interactive skill-building.</p>
<p>Additionally, study authors note that game developers were keen to avoid the “chocolate-covered broccoli” phenomenon, i.e., players abandoning the game after recognizing the thinly disguised educational messages for what they are. Because of this, the intervention’s messaging was largely optional and may not have been sufficiently explicit to confer benefits, especially given the very short play time and low overall exposure to the messages.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/66625">Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Roblox Video Game (Super U Story) in Improving Body Image Among Children and Adolescents in the United States: Randomized Controlled Trial,</a>” was authored by Nicole Paraskeva, Sharon Haywood, Jason Anquandah, Paul White, Mahira Budhraja, Phillippa C Diedrichs, and Heidi Williamson.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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