behavioral-science

Anxiety and depression and often confused, but it is important to know the difference. Here are 10 ways to help you determine whether you are anxious or depressed—or both.

The popular book The Body Keeps the Score has mainstreamed the idea that the body stores repressed traumatic memories. However, memory researchers warn this controversial concept risks reviving debunked theories and promoting therapies that generate false memories.

The hardest part of healing may be recognizing our own unhealthy behaviors—and believing we have the power to change them.

The personality trait of perfectionism is linked to higher depression risk, a review of ten different studies finds. Perfectionists are often worried about making mistakes and tend to be highly self-critical. Feeling societal pressure to perform to a high standard, they often believe others are continually judging them. When perfectionists fail to meet their lofty standards, they tend to get depr…

The Quest Begins (The "Why") Honestly, I felt like I was stuck in the opening scene of The Matrix —surrounded by green code that made zero sense, except this time the code was my résumé. I’d spent weeks polishing every bullet, swapping “responsible for” for “led,” and yet every application felt like tossing a coin into the Death Star’s exhaust port: hopeful, but ultimately futile. Recruiters woul…

People who recognize the limits of their own knowledge are more open to negative feedback. A new psychological investigation reveals that intellectually humble individuals bypass defensive instincts and actively choose criticism that helps them grow.

The type of food that increases hyperactivity, anxiety, fearfulness, and aggression in preschool children.

A recent study reveals that negative feedback can actually boost women's creative performance. However, women who strongly identify with traditional feminine traits tend to struggle more after facing such criticism.

JMIR Publications today released an article on a brief, scalable intervention for post-traumatic stress disorder in its News and Perspectives section. Authored by JMIR correspondent Candice Marie Sage, PhD, "Written Exposure Therapy as Transformative, Scalable Care for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" reports how Written Exposure Therapy (WET) can bridge the gap in accessing effective PTSD treatme…

Cognitive bias doesn't produce uncertain design decisions - it produces certain ones built on flawed assumptions. The seven most commercially damaging biases in UX aren't eliminated by more research; they're eliminated by better-structured research. This guide covers the specific mitigation strategies that prevent bias from corrupting brand and design investment. The post 7 Cognitive Bias Mitigat…

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 09 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41562-026-02492-7 Large language models offer new opportunities for behavioural science, but their rapid evolution poses challenges for research rigour. We introduce a consensus-based reporting checklist to improve transparency, reproducibility and ethical accountability of large-language-model-based research in the behavioural …

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 12 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41562-026-02477-6 This meta-analysis of 140 studies (~66,000 participants) finds that social inequality is associated with faster biological ageing, with stronger associations observed for newer DNA methylation epigenetic clocks than earlier generations.

Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 09 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41562-026-02476-7 Analysing generalized anxiety symptoms as a quantitative trait rather than a clinical diagnosis, Skelton, Mitchell and colleagues report a genome-wide meta-analysis of 693,869 individuals identifying 74 associated genetic loci, with 39 loci newly associated with anxiety.

Researchers recently found cannabis can trigger psychosis that may be different from schizophrenia or could be similar. Ending or decreasing cannabis use may improve the condition.

Social media platforms popular with teens regularly expose teens to alcohol-related content, and often, that content is created by influencers or sources in the alcohol industry.

IntroductionMost of the research on reducing loneliness has taken a deficit-based approach that focuses on formal interventions rather than an asset-based approach that empowers individuals to manage their own loneliness. There is little understanding of the self-initiated strategies individuals use to manage their loneliness, and a lack of clarity on how perceived effectiveness and use of those …

IntroductionProblematic social media use (PSMU) has become a growing research topic due to its potential psychological and cognitive consequences. However, little research has examined its relationship with everyday memory functioning, particularly specific forms of memory.MethodsA sample of 943 Spanish young adults aged 18 -35 completed validated measures of PSMU, everyday memory failures, prosp…

ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine the mediating role of Internet Addiction in the association between bullying victimization and Depressive Symptoms among left-behind children, as well as the moderating role of physical activity in this relationship.MethodsA cross-sectional design was adopted. A total of 21,689 left-behind children were recruited using stratified random sampling. A moderated m…

Adults with a history of childhood trauma who use psychedelics at raves or ceremonies may experience mental health improvements. New research suggests these communal settings are associated with reductions in PTSD symptoms and feelings of shame.