Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
22 papers
This study followed 1,604 U.S. adults older than 60 for six years. It found that people who said they felt lonely (43% of the group) were more likely to have worse day-to-day function and were more likely to die. After the researchers adjusted for age, wealth, living situation, depression, and…
Binge eating disorder (BED) is when someone often eats a very large amount of food in a short time and feels unable to stop. It is the most common eating disorder in the U.S. and is diagnosed when binge episodes happen at least once a week for 3 months. BED…
A U.S. study reported that depression became more common between 2005 and 2015. The rise was faster for young people than for older adults. The study also found growing gaps in depression rates for vulnerable groups. The authors say we do not yet know a single cause and that more…
Using long-term data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, the authors show that physical health, thinking skills, and well-being in midlife can change in different directions for different people. They describe these changes as multidirectional (some things get better, some worse), variable between people, and plastic (open…
This systematic review looked at research on social media and mental health. The authors state that social media are responsible for making mental health problems worse. They searched 50 papers and, after applying selection rules, included 16 studies. The final papers were checked for quality and included a mix of…
This paper says midlife (roughly ages 40–60) is an important, understudied life stage with both new opportunities and new challenges. The authors review evidence that some common ideas—like a widespread "midlife crisis"—are misleading, and they show that middle age often involves balancing many roles, linking younger and older generations, and…
This review looked at 41 studies with 92,340 adults to see how sleep timing and day-to-day regularity relate to health. It found that going to bed or waking up later, and having more variable sleep patterns, were generally linked to worse health. Social jetlag was linked to worse health, while…
Digital CBT (Daylight) appears to be safe and efficacious for symptoms of anxiety, worry, and further measures of mental health compared with waitlist control in individuals with GAD.
This study analyzed Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 data from 204 countries to track anxiety disorders in 10–24 year olds from 1990 to 2021. It found a 52% rise in incidence over those 31 years, a sharp increase after 2019, higher rates in females, and rising disability (DALYs) especially…
Researchers ran a national online survey of U.S. adults from November 2020 to March 2021 that was weighted to represent the adult population. They asked about use of psychedelic mushrooms (psilocybin), reasons for use, and mental health. Many users said they took mushrooms for general mental health and well-being. Users…
Researchers analyzed answers from about 56,000 people in a 2018 U.S. health survey to see who has used hallucinogens. They found about 16% had tried a hallucinogen at least once, and about 2% had used one in the past year. Use was higher among White and multiracial people and lowest…
Researchers followed 3,939 British civil servants from midlife into retirement (about 21 years) to see if problems in midlife predicted depressive symptoms after retirement. They measured midlife socioeconomic problems (job grade, satisfaction with standard of living) and psychosocial problems (job strain, number of close relationships), and later assessed depressive symptoms…
