news 2026

Psychology People with high scores on the so-called Dark Factor of Personality have significantly less interest in social and creative jobs.

A UNIGE study shows that connected devices can gather valuable data to help prevent neurological and mental disorders. Can smartphones or smartwatches help detect early signs of neurological or mental illness? Researchers at the University of Geneva monitored a group of participants wearing connected devices, and used artificial intelligence to analyse data such as heart rate, physical activity, sleep and air pollution.

Health The fear that cancer will progress or worsen is one of the most common concerns among people living with this disease. Identifying and measuring this concern is key to providing appropriate psychological care and improving patients' quality of life.

Researchers say we need to look at the impact of video games on daily life, not just screen time According to a new study, pre-adolescents who have difficulty managing their video game habits are more likely to experience psychotic-type episodes. In collaboration with colleagues from Maastricht University, a research team from McGill University found that 12-year-olds who showed signs of a gaming problem were more likely than other youngsters to suffer from mild paranoia, adhere to unusual beliefs and have altered perceptions of reality by the age of 13.

A few years ago, researcher Maya Gislason's young child came home from school with her crayon drawing of the Earth in 2020 and 2050. "The first was blue and green; the second was a planet on fire," she says. "Her question to me was: How old will I be when I die in 2050?"  Now, new Simon Fraser University research into the full range of emotions kids and teens feel around climate change is providing one of the clearest pictures yet of how the climate crisis is reshaping young people's daily lives, future thinking and sense of security.

Pressure to achieve at school at age 15 is linked to depressive symptoms and risk of self-harm, and the association appears to persist into adulthood, finds a study led by UCL researchers. The authors of the new study, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health , say their findings suggest that reducing academic pressure in schools could reduce depression and self-harm among young people.

Researchers identify a gene network linked to higher depression risk in women, a step toward finding biological markers for the disorder Scientists have identified a pattern of gene activity present in some female survivors of childhood abuse that is associated with an elevated risk of depression.

Research led by the University of Valencia has identified three key human strengths that determine psychological well-being: perspective, kindness and gratitude, integrated into a way of life aligned with values and virtues such as ethics, generosity and practical wisdom. The study, which employed a meta-analytic methodology, has been published in Clinical Psychology Review , one of the world-s leading journals in clinical psychology.

How does language impact moral dilemmas? Dr Irini Mavrou and Professor Andrea Revesz (both UCL Ioe), along with a colleague, explore the cognitive and emotional processes behind moral judgement by bilingual speakers. If you're bilingual, moral choices can often feel more urgent and emotionally charged in one language yet distant and rational in another.

Psychology Pregnant women react more positively than non pregnant women when exposed to audio recordings, videos, and images of infants. This suggests that pregnancy mentally prepares women to process infant signals, according to a new study from the University of Copenhagen and the Psychiatric Centre Copenhagen.

In an article for the Institute of Alcohol Studies, Dr Sharon Cox (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care) reports on new analysis finding that one in eight people who drink at increasing or higher-risk levels felt guilt or remorse after drinking in the past six months. Many people recognise the feeling.

The largest genetic study on anxiety disorders to date reveals new biological mechanisms behind anxiety. It can help to find new ways to develop more precise therapies. Around one in four people suffer from an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. These include panic disorder with sudden, severe anxiety attacks, generalised anxiety disorder, in which sufferers worry about everyday things over a longer period of time that is difficult to control, and phobias of specific objects or situations.

NeurekaNUM és el primer mètode desenvolupat en castellà i català amb evidència científica per a la detecció d'aquest trastorn i la intervenció precoç. Health Dyscalculia, characterized by deficits in number sense and calculation skills, affects approximately 5-7% of the population and often persists into adulthood.

Teenagers who are pathological liars also tend to struggle with executive function deficits, such as poor memory or impulse control, researchers have found. This means practitioners may be able to consider treatments centred around executive functioning (such as Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and Habit-Reversal Training) for patients who present such patterns, said Victoria Talwar , professor in the McGill Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology.

A rich social environment is associated with better cognitive health outcomes for older adults, study finds With awareness growing that lack of social connection may be a health hazard, researchers say it's important for the public to better understand the connections Research by an interdisciplinary team from McGill University and Université Laval provides new insights into the links between social factors and cognitive health among aging adults.

As part of the WWTF-funded STREAMLINE project, the scientific team led by Judit Simon, Professor of Health Economics at MedUni Vienna, has conducted the first comprehensive analysis of the provision, utilisation and costs of mental health services in Vienna. The results reveal structural imbalances in the provision of care, regional differences in utilisation and a lack of transparency regarding the actual costs of individual services.

A study conducted by two researchers at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Lausanne sheds light on the impact of personality on the way we feel and control our emotions. The research questions the effectiveness of two strategies commonly used to manage emotions. Learning to manage our emotions is a daily challenge, both to preserve our personal equilibrium and to promote harmonious relations with others.

Drivers who use an alcohol interlock are far less likely to drive under the influence again, and this effect continues even years after the programme ends. This is shown by new research conducted by psychologist Martine Blom. For the first time, there is robust scientific evidence that the Dutch alcohol interlock programme (ASP) is effective in preventing repeat drink-driving offences.

Women and people with anxiety are both prone to low confidence in their own abilities, but a new study by UCL researchers has found that the two groups are prone to two distinct types of underconfidence. When they took more time to reflect on their answers in a simple experimental task, people with anxiety grew less confident in their answers, while women who were underconfident gained confidence.

More and more young adults abstain from entering committed romantic relationships, and this may be affecting their well-being. A new study conducted at the University of Zurich shows that long-term singles experience a sharper decline in life satisfaction over time and feel lonelier and more depressed - especially in their late twenties.