A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that infant brain development during the first year of life is linked to families’ ability to meet everyday needs. Using brain activity recordings collected during routine pediatric visits, researchers found that infants whose caregivers reported significant financial hardship  showed differences in brain maturation over the first year of life. The findings highlight the potential importance of policies and supports that help families meet basic needs during this critical period of early brain development.

Researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Bern in Switzerland have conducted the first cross-temporal, multinational study to compare views of gender using data collected 30 years apart.

An international study reveals that people’s beliefs about the attributes of women and men follow from the differing social roles that they typically occupy in homes and workplaces in their respective societies.

New research led by Mass General Brigham investigators suggests that long COVID is more prevalent in school-aged children and adolescents who experience economic instability and adverse social conditions. The multi-center, observational study found that the risk of long COVID was significantly higher in households that faced food insecurity and challenges such as low social support and high levels of discrimination. Results are published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Self-harming and self-sabotaging behaviours, from skin picking to ghosting people, all stem from evolutionary survival mechanisms, according to a compelling new psychological analysis.