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.
20 papers
This review explains that muscle fatigue can come from many different causes and that there is no single global cause. Fatigue is usually measured as a drop in the maximum force or power a muscle can make, but people can still do less-demanding tasks after that drop begins. Which processes…
This review looked at 13 studies of attachment in people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) or BPD traits. Every study found a strong link between BPD and insecure attachment. The insecure types most often seen were labeled unresolved, preoccupied, and fearful. The authors note that differences in how attachment was…
Pennebaker reviews more than ten years of research on how telling or writing stories about traumatic or difficult experiences relates to health. He highlights studies done by him and other teams around the world. The essay focuses mainly on reported physical health benefits of writing about these experiences and summarizes…
Many children and teens do not get enough sleep. Studies link use of screens, especially in the bedroom or in the hour before bed, to later bedtimes and less total sleep. Experts have set sleep-hour ranges for each age. Research also links short or disrupted sleep to emotional, behavioral, and…
This article proposes a clear, provisional definition of “emotional well-being” (EWB) to bring order to a crowded field. The authors reviewed prior definitions, consulted experts, and used concept mapping to create an umbrella concept that includes things like life satisfaction, sense of purpose, and positive emotions. They say the literature…
There is increasing evidence that exposure to plants and green space, and particularly to gardening, is beneficial to mental and physical health, and so could reduce the pressure on NHS services. Health professionals should therefore encourage their patients to make use of green space and to work in gardens, and…
This systematic review looked at studies about getting informed consent from adult trauma patients (searching PubMed from 1961 to August 2018). The reviewers found only 8 usable studies out of 2044 records, mostly about orthopaedic operations and only one done in an emergency department. The studies reported that trauma patients…
Over the last 40 years, personality tests have become much more common at work. Companies use them for things like coaching, building teams, and hiring. But most published research looks at tests only for hiring. That means reviews often use rules that fit hiring, not the different needs of helping…
Researchers ran an online survey of about 174 people who had used psychoactive drugs to see how these drugs affected obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms. Participants reported that classic psychedelics were the only drugs that helped reduce OCD symptoms, and bigger immediate effects (which were linked to higher doses) were tied…
Overall, this study cohort showed a positive association between burnout scores and unplanned work absenteeism (and frequency of thoughts in leaving job) during the COVID-19 pandemic. More research is needed to support healthcare worker well-being during times of stress and direct solutions to addressing unplanned absenteeism in the light of…
