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A team of researchers from The University of Queensland has found employees experience more stress at work when interrupted with requests for unnecessary or unreasonable tasks. Associate Professor Stacey Parker from UQ's School of Psychology led the study that investigated how interruptions during work can have an impact on employees' stress and performance.

A model that combines self-determination theory and social identity theory can shed light on team motivation and functioning, according to a recent study What are the underlying dynamics of group motivation in a team or organization' How does it take shape' And how does it influence a team's functioning and effectiveness' A recent article in Applied Psychology: An International Review attempts to answer these questions.

When members of a group successfully coordinate their movements with one another, this leads to a stronger sense of togetherness. This was shown by a recent study by the Universities of Würzburg and Regensburg. People who feel connected to each other find it easier to coordinate their actions. They therefore perform better in tasks that require good coordination.

Research led by the University of Southampton shows particular regions of England have suffered over a decade of increasing mental health inequalities, but finds the picture varies greatly across different parts of the country. The study, in collaboration with the University of Liverpool, examines the relationship between socioeconomic conditions within local areas and the mental health of people who live there.

In everyday life, adults think about the future an average of 59 times a day. This helps them to cope with future challenges. What about children? Adults are particularly good at preparing for the future when they imagine what they will feel. Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum have investigated whether this is also the case with pre-school children.

New study suggests high-potency cannabis use between 16-18 doubles the risk of psychotic experiences from 19-24, compared to lower-potency use in young adults Young individuals consuming higher-potency cannabis, such as skunk, between ages 16 and 18, are twice as likely to have psychotic experiences from age 19 to 24 compared to those using lower-potency cannabis.

Psychological therapy can significantly improve quality of life for people living with motor neuron disease (MND) when delivered alongside usual care, finds a study led by UCL and University of Sheffield researchers. The largest-ever trial of a psychological intervention for patients with the debilitating neurological condition, published in The Lancet, found that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) improves overall quality of life, when integrated alongside existing care.

Children who experience chronic lack of sleep from infancy may be at increased risk of developing psychosis in early adulthood, new research shows. Researchers at the University of Birmingham examined information on nighttime sleep duration from a large cohort study of children aged between 6 months and 7 years old.

Researchers at the University Alliance Ruhr have discovered new insights into how acute illness affects empathy. Their study confirms complex relationships between physical well-being and empathy. When people are ill, they feel less empathy for others than when they are healthy. This has been confirmed by a study conducted by Ruhr University Bochum and the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.

People on the autism spectrum are predisposed to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a new study from The Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Queensland has shown. The research also found PTSD can lead to the aggravation of core traits of autism such as repetitive behaviour.

A new study from Humboldt-Universität approaches the question from a psychological perspective. A neurocognitive study by researchers at the Institute of Psychology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) shows that negative knowledge about an artist influences the perception of the artwork, regardless of the artist's level of fame.

Researchers assess women's physical health and activity levels in mid-age and later life. A new study has shown a link between regular exercise during mid-age and physical health later on, even when the exercise routine was not started until the mid-50s. New research from Charles Perkins Centre and University of Sydney's School of Public Health finds that for women, consistent adherence to physical activity guidelines throughout mid-age is linked with a higher health-related quality of life.

A new study shows that behavioural therapy can improve the sleep and mental health of workers with atypical schedules. If you are a police officer, a healthcare worker, a firefighter or even a miner, you may be part of the 25% to 30% of the population with atypical working hours. This type of schedule may involve working early mornings, evenings and nights, and it may be fixed, on-call or rotating.

A new study examined the drinking levels and patterns of young adults before, during and after the pandemic. The researchers found alcohol use and alcohol-related problems substantially decreased in heavy-drinking young adults during the pandemic, and these decreases were still evident as the pandemic began to wane.

Patients with PTSD experience both emotional numbness and hyperreactivity. A new study digs into how these contrasting symptoms are linked. Patients diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can experience symptoms that include under-expression of emotions, such as numbness, as well as over-expression, such as rage outbursts.

New research from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) suggests that individuals with higher levels of education have a lower risk of psychiatric problems. The study indicates that prolonged education may serve as a protective factor against conditions such as depression, ADHD, alcohol dependence, and anxiety.

Women are 40% more likely to experience depression in the perimenopause than those who aren't experiencing any menopausal symptoms, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The research, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders , provided a meta-analysis of seven studies involving 9,141 women from across the world (including Australia, USA, China, Netherlands and Switzerland), to understand whether different stages of the menopause were associated with different risk of depression.

A large-scale, international study conducted by University of Queensland researchers has found people with severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, are up to four times more likely to have two or more chronic physical health conditions. Lead author, psychiatry registrar and UQ Faculty of Medicine PhD candidate Sean Halstead said people living with severe mental illness continued to face significant health inequity compared to the general population, particularly those aged under 40.

Social media. The climate crisis. Political polarization. The tumult of a pandemic and online learning. Teens today are dealing with unprecedented stressors, and over the past decade their mental health has been in sustained decline. Levels of anxiety and depression rose after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings by Johns Hopkins neuroscientists deepen our understanding of animal cognition Are mice clever enough to be strategic? Kishore Kuchibhotla , a Johns Hopkins University neuroscientist who studies learning in humans and animals, and who has long worked with mice, wondered why rodents often performed poorly in tests when they knew how to perform well.