News by Subject Social & Behavior

A new longitudinal study finds that children who spent more time in institutional settings (like orphanages) prior to adoption, and had more severe iron deficiency at the time of adoption, were more likely to have lower IQs and poorer higher-order thinking skills a year later. The study -- which followed children adopted into US families from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Asia -- suggests that iron supplements and cognitive interventions could be helpful in counteracting these effects.

Remission from depression is delayed in adults who have experienced childhood physical abuse or parental addictions, a new study by University of Toronto researchers has found. The study is published this week in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

The benefit that premature infants gain from skin-to-skin contact with their mothers is measurable even 10 years after birth, reports a new study in Biological Psychiatry.

Mental health nurses are a valuable addition to the team that treats teens who have psychiatric problems and are in the foster care system.

Recent research shows that individuals in their early 20s -- also known as millennials -- undergo a brand-new life stage not experienced by previous generations: emerging adulthood. A new study from Concordia's Department of Applied Human Sciences examines how moving out on one's own is a critical element in the transition to adulthood.

Teenagers in the child welfare system are at higher-than-average risk of abusing marijuana, inhalants and other drugs, according to a study in the Nov. issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. However, the study also shows that parental involvement matters.

A new study suggests that some children may be genetically predisposed to developing behavioral problems in child care and preschool settings. Previous research has found that some children develop behavior problems at child care centers and preschools, despite the benefit of academic gains. It was never known, however, why some youngsters struggle in these settings and others flourish. The new study indicates that some children may be acting out due to poor self-control and temperament problems that they inherited from their parents.

Ever since cruise lines first began building mock suites for passengers to try out before installing the rooms on ocean liners in the 1940s, businesses have been devising trial runs for a small number of consumers to test merchandise. Companies still make important changes based on this "usability testing" before taking their goods to the wider market, and researchers say that what works for cell phones and video games may work for human services.

The decline and disappearance of stable, unionized full-time jobs with health insurance and pensions for people who lack a college degree has had profound effects on working-class Americans who now are less likely to get married, stay married and have their children within marriage than those with college degrees, a new University of Virginia and Harvard University study has found.

"It appears that while children are not affected by how parents divide childcare tasks, it definitely does matter how harmonious the parents' relationships are with each other," Farr says. She and Patterson also observed differences in division of labor in lesbian and gay couples compared to heterosexual parents.