Posted in Music and Media, 7th March 2011 23:22Â GMT
“Family friendly” casual games are not merely a mindless way to waste time, but are also an effective treatment against depression, according to a year-long study.
“The results of this randomized clinical study clearly demonstrate the intrinsic value of certain casual games in terms of significant, positive effects on depression and anxiety symptoms,” reads a report (PowerPoint) snappily entitled “The Efficacy of Prescribed Casual Video Games in Reducing Clinical Depression and Anxiety”, produced by East Carolina University’s Psychophysiology Lab and Biofeedback Clinic.
“In my opinion,” says the Clinic’s director, Dr. Carmen Russoniello, “the findings support the possibility of using prescribed casual video games for treating depression and anxiety as an adjunct to, or perhaps even a replacement for, standard therapies including medication.”
The clinical study involved 59 subjects, “all meeting the criteria of clinical depression.” Each subject was seated in front of a computer “in a room with minimal distractions (blank walls, no outside view, minimal noise),” where the control group surfed a National Institute of Mental Health web site for 30 minutes, and the test subjects played a casual game for the same period of time.
Not to nitpick the study’s methodology, but The Reg suggests that browsing a website devoted to matters of mental health might not have been the most neutral of activities to assign to the control group.
Each participant – control subject or game player – was given a battery of “psychophysiology, biochemical and psychological” tests before, during, and after the test period. According to Russoniello and his team, the game players “experienced an average reduction in depression symptoms of 57 percent.”
Russoniello also said that the game players’ depression was alleviated not only in the short term – after 30 minutes of game play – but also up to a month after playing.
“Given that only 25 percent of people who suffer from depression are receiving treatment,” Russoniello said, “it seems prudent to make these low cost, readily accessible casual games video games available to those who need them. They should be made available at health clinics, community centers, online ‘medical sites’ and given out by therapists as a means of intervention.”
Not to impugn the objectivity of fine folks at East Carolina University, but it should be noted that the research upon which the report was based was underwritten by PopCap Games, the developer of the three games used in the study: Bejeweled 2, Peggle, and Bookworm Adventures.
Read in Full:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/07/popcap_study_shows_casual_games_reduce_depression/
Article Date: 07 Mar 2011 – 0:00 PST
Blood group incompatibility between Henry VIII and his wives could have driven the Tudor king’s reproductive woes, and a genetic condition related to his suspected blood group could also explain Henry’s dramatic mid-life transformation into a physically and mentally-impaired tyrant who executed two of his wives.
Research conducted by bioarchaeologist Catrina Banks Whitley while she was a graduate student at SMU (Southern Methodist University) and anthropologist Kyra Kramer shows that the numerous miscarriages suffered by Henry’s wives could be explained if the king’s blood carried the Kell antigen. A Kell negative woman who has multiple pregnancies with a Kell positive man can produce a healthy, Kell positive child in a first pregnancy; But the antibodies she produces during that first pregnancy will cross the placenta and attack a Kell positive fetus in subsequent pregnancies.
Read in Full: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/218230.php
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 7, 2011
A new longitudinal study by UK researchers discovers that being unemployed isn’t just a strain in the harsh light of day — it negatively affects how well one sleeps.
For the employed, job satisfaction also affects the quality of sleep, with 33 percent of the most dissatisfied employees reporting poor sleep quality compared to only 18 percent of the most satisfied.
Researchers discovered those who are unemployed are more than 40 percent more likely to report difficulty staying asleep than those in a job (having controlled for age and gender differences).
Analysis of the early data from the Understanding Society survey found that overall, the best sleep was reported by people with higher levels of education and by married people. The type of work a person does also impacts on sleep, with those in routine occupations reporting worse sleep than those in professional occupations.
According to Sara Arber, Ph.D., of the University of Surrey, who analyzed the findings: “Given the links between sleep, social and economic circumstances and poor health found in this and other surveys, health promotion campaigns should be open to the possibility that the increased incidence of sleep problems among the disadvantaged in society may be one factor leading to their poorer health.”
Understanding Society is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and managed by the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex. It follows 40,000 UK households over many years, and sleep data will be collected annually.
Initial analysis of the sleep data collected in the first survey also found that women are more likely to report problems getting to sleep within 30 minutes, 24 percent on three or more nights a week, compared to 18 per cent of men.
Read in Full:
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 8, 2011
New research suggests that women who base their self-worth on appearance often place their picture online and maintain large networks on online social networking sites.
University at Buffalo researcher Michael A. Stefanone, Ph.D., said the results suggest that females identify more strongly with their image and appearance, and use Facebook as a platform to compete for attention.
“The results suggest persistent differences in the behavior of men and women that result from a cultural focus on female image and appearance,†he says.
The study was co-authored by Derek Lackaff, Ph.D., University of Texas, Austin, and Devan Rosen, Ph.D., University of Hawaii, Manoa.
Its purpose was to investigate variables that explain specific online behavior on social network sites. Among other things, the team looked at the amount of time subjects spent managing profiles, the number of photos they shared, the size of their online networks and how promiscuous they were in terms of “friending†behavior.
Read in Full:
http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/03/08/womans-self-worth-impacts-facebook-behavior/24226.html
Article Date: 08 Mar 2011 – 9:00 PST
A new study representing a cross national stratum, and the largest study of its kind studying eating disorders in the United States, found that teens 13 to 18 years of age suffering from anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders are more likely to suffer from suicidal thoughts, anxiety disorders and substance abuse depending on the type of eating disorder they have.
Teens were asked if they had ever had an eating disorder and if they had had one within the past 12 months. Included were anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. In total, about 0.3% of the teens surveyed reported suffering from anorexia nervosa, and 0.9% from bulimia nervosa. A full 1.6% suffered from binge eating disorder. Ethnic minorities were more likely to report binge eating disorder, and white teens tended more toward anorexia.
One third of those with bulimia actually attempted suicide. About 15% of those with binge eating had and about 8% of those with anorexia had attempted the same.
Most with an eating disorder also had some other mental health problem, with 55% to 88% of those with an eating disorder also reporting such problems as anxiety, depression, or a behavioral disorder.
Read in Full: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/218548.php
Article Date: 03 Mar 2011 – 1:00 PST
A review of more than 160 studies of human and animal subjects has found “clear and compelling evidence” that – all else being equal – happy people tend to live longer and experience better health than their unhappy peers.
The study, in the journal Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, is the most comprehensive review so far of the evidence linking happiness to health outcomes. Its lead author, University of Illinois professor emeritus of psychology Ed Diener, who also is a senior scientist for the Gallup Organization, of Princeton, N.J., analyzed long-term studies of human subjects, experimental human and animal trials, and studies that evaluate the health status of people stressed by natural events.
Read in Full: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/217955.php
Article Date: 03 Mar 2011 – 0:00 PST
The more honesty and humility an employee may have, the higher their job performance, as rated by the employees’ supervisor. That’s the new finding from a Baylor University study that found the honesty-humility personality trait was a unique predictor of job performance.
“Researchers already know that integrity can predict job performance and what we are saying here is that humility and honesty are also major components in that,” said Dr. Wade Rowatt, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor, who helped lead the study. “This study shows that those who possess the combination of honesty and humility have better job performance. In fact, we found that humility and honesty not only correspond with job performance, but it predicted job performance above and beyond any of the other five personality traits like agreeableness and conscientiousness.”
Read in Full: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/217924.php
Photo taken at Callahan Museum of the American Prining House for the Blind
Thursday 3rd March, 2011.
A new campaign has been launched on World Book Day that aims to greatly increase the number of books made available to blind and partially sighted people.
The RNIB says more than 95 per cent of books that are published never become available in large print, audio or braille.
The charity hopes its Talking Books campaign will tackle a problem for blind people in Britain that it calls ‘unacceptable’.
The RNIB is collecting donations from the public to spend on making more titles avaliable, especially children’s stories.
The campaign has the backing of celebrities, including the writer Julian Fellowes and TV presenter Ian Hislop.
There are almost two million people living in the UK with sight loss.
Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20110303/tuk-charity-launches-books-for-the-blind-dba1618.html
GEN news highlights: Mar 2, 2011
Researchers are implicating several new candidate genes and genomic variants as contributors to autism and note that many more remain to be discovered. While the gene alterations are individually very rare, they mostly appear to disrupt genes that play important functional roles in brain development and nerve signaling. While an association between genomic variants in certain nervous system processes and autism has been hypothesized in the past, the scientists believe that their work definitively links these biological functions to autism.
“This large study is the first to demonstrate a statistically significant connection between genomic variants in autism and both synaptic function and neurotransmission,†states Peter S. White, Ph.D., a molecular geneticist and director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“Prior genomic studies of autism have successfully identified several genes that appear to confer risk for autism, but each gene appears to contribute to only a small percentage of cases,†adds Xiaowu Gai, Ph.D. “Our approach considered whether groups of genes with common biological functions collectively accounted for a greater percentage of autism risk.†Dr. White was senior author and Dr. Gai was lead author on the study, which appears online in Molecular Psychiatry. The paper is titled “Rare structural variation of synapse and neurotransmission genes in autism.”
Read in Full: http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/genetic-roots-of-autism-found-to-be-highly-complicated/81244762/
Hi,
The Government has announced a one billion pound cut to Disability Living Allowance (DLA). Next week in parliament, MPs will debate plans for a new system which could make it much harder for adults with autism to claim DLA. We have a chance to make them think again.
Our Who benefits? report demonstrates what a lifeline DLA is for many adults with autism and their families. We need to do everything we can make sure the Government’s plans do not unfairly disadvantage people with autism.
We need you to ask your MP to help protect this crucial benefit for people with autism.
Thanks, as always, for your support.
Jane Asher
President
National Autistic Society
P.S. Following a survey of our campaigners, you now can send an email using an easy read form.