ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A new University of Michigan study finds that black fathers are 50 percent more likely to be depressed than men in the general population. One quarter of black fathers were depressed at some time over the five-year course of the study.
Additionally, black fathers with lower levels of education and income have elevated rates of depression. Depression is twice as prevalent among those without a high school education. (more…)
Richard Boyer. Image credit : University of Montreal
Pathological gamblers are risking more than their money, they are also three times more likely to commit suicide than non-betters. A new Montreal inter-university study has shown these gamblers are also plagued by personality disorders. These findings, published in a recent issue of the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, may have implications for developing improved targeted suicide prevention programs.
“The World Health Organization estimates that suicide is one of the top ten causes of death in the Western world,” says study co-author, Richard Boyer a Université de Montréal professor and researcher at the Centre de recherche Fernand-Seguin at the Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital. “In addition, pathological gamblers account for five percent of all suicides. These staggering statistics motivated us to study the difference between gamblers and non-gamblers.”(more…)
ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Every year about this time, on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that traditionally begins the holiday shopping season, early-morning consumers stand in long lines eager to purchase some sought after prize. From the outside, it looks as if these holiday shoppers can’t wait to plunk down their cash, but Ross School marketing professor Scott Rick says consumers often behave differently than they would ideally like to behave.
“Some consumers chronically spend more than they would like, and some consumers chronically spend less than they would like,” he said. “Where an individual falls within the range of desiring to spend more or less largely determines whether he or she is a tightwad or a spendthrift, characteristics that determine quite a bit about a person’s spending habits.” (more…)
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Bob Woodward ’65 discussed “Secrets: Uncovering Mysteries in the 21st Century” during a conversation with Steven Brill ’72, LAW ’75, founder of the Yale Journalism Initiative, and Paul Needham ’11, journalism scholar and former editor-in-chief of the Yale Daily News. (more…)
Professor Joseph Walther led an MSU research project that found that comments accompanying YouTube public service announcements were more persuasive to viewers than the videos themselves. Image credit: Michigan State University
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University researchers, studying public service announcements placed on YouTube about marijuana use, have found that the comments accompanying the PSAs are more influential among viewers than the videos themselves.
The researchers showed four anti-marijuana PSAs, and the accompanying comments, to college students and asked for their evaluations of the PSAs and their attitudes about marijuana.
What was found was that negative, derisive comments about the video led the students to perceive the video as worse than when the comments were positive, even though they watched the videos individually. And when students identified with the anonymous commenters, the comments affected their perceptions of marijuana’s harmful effects.
“Generally, the comments changed people’s attitudes more than the variations of the videos,” said Joseph Walther, a professor in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, and the Department of Communication, who led the research.(more…)
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Residents of the Middle East who are heavy viewers of Arab television news networks like Al Jazeeraare more likely to view their primary identity as that of Muslims, rather than as citizens of their own country, a new study suggests.
Because networks like Al Jazeera are transnational – focusing on events of interest across the region rather than those in any one country – they may encourage viewers to see themselves in broader terms than simply residents of a particular nation, the researchers said.
“The goal of these relatively new networks is not to represent specific national interests, but to appeal to audiences across the region,” said Erik Nisbet, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University.(more…)
ANN ARBOR, Mich.— African American and Native American teens who do well in school suffer from a higher “nerd penalty” than white, Asian, and Hispanic youth, according to a new analysis.(more…)
A new study on gaming and health in adolescents, conducted by researchers at Yale School of Medicine, found some significant gender differences linked to gaming as well as important health risks associated with problematic gaming. Published yesterday in the journal Pediatrics, the study is among the first and largest to examine possible health links to gaming and problematic gaming in a community sample of adolescents.
Rani Desai, associate professor of psychiatry and epidemiology and public health at Yale, and colleagues anonymously surveyed 4,028 adolescents about their gaming, problems associated with gaming and other health behaviors. They found that 51.2% of the teens played video games (76.3% of boys and 29.2% of girls). The study not only revealed that, overall, there were no negative health consequences of gaming in boys, but that gaming was linked to lower odds of smoking regularly. Among girls, however, gaming was associated with getting into serious fights and carrying a weapon to school. (more…)
