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Pressure to achieve at school at age 15 is linked to depressive symptoms and risk of self-harm, and the association appears to persist into adulthood, finds a study led by UCL researchers. The authors of the new study, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health , say their findings suggest that reducing academic pressure in schools could reduce depression and self-harm among young people.

How does language impact moral dilemmas? Dr Irini Mavrou and Professor Andrea Revesz (both UCL Ioe), along with a colleague, explore the cognitive and emotional processes behind moral judgement by bilingual speakers. If you're bilingual, moral choices can often feel more urgent and emotionally charged in one language yet distant and rational in another.

In an article for the Institute of Alcohol Studies, Dr Sharon Cox (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care) reports on new analysis finding that one in eight people who drink at increasing or higher-risk levels felt guilt or remorse after drinking in the past six months. Many people recognise the feeling.

Women and people with anxiety are both prone to low confidence in their own abilities, but a new study by UCL researchers has found that the two groups are prone to two distinct types of underconfidence. When they took more time to reflect on their answers in a simple experimental task, people with anxiety grew less confident in their answers, while women who were underconfident gained confidence.

A major new study from The University of Manchester has found little evidence that social media use or video gaming are causing mental health problems in young teenagers, challenging one of the most widespread concerns among parents and teachers today. The research - published in the Journal of Public Health - is based on the experiences of more than 25,000 pupils across Greater Manchester, and is one of the largest and most detailed studies of its kind.

A real world study led by University of Manchester neuroscientists has shown that higher daytime light exposure positively influences different aspects of cognition. The first study of its kind, published in the journal Communications Psychology and funded by Wellcome Trust, also showed that stable light exposure across a week and uninterrupted exposure during a day had similar effects.

Researchers have developed the first scientifically validated 'personality test' framework for popular AI chatbots, and have shown that chatbots not only mimic human personality traits, but their 'personality' can be reliably tested and precisely shaped - raising implications for AI safety and ethics.

Six particular depressive symptoms when experienced in midlife predict dementia risk more than two decades later, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. Midlife depression has long been considered a risk factor for dementia in later life. However, new findings published in The Lancet Psychiatry suggest that this relationship is driven by a small cluster of specific symptoms rather than by depression overall.

Teenagers who are unhappy with their bodies are more likely to develop symptoms of eating disorders and depression in early adulthood, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. The research, believed to be the first of its kind, followed more than 2,000 twins born in England and Wales. It found that higher body dissatisfaction at age 16 predicted greater symptoms of eating disorders and depression well into the twenties, even after taking into account family background and genetics.

As many as one in six teenagers have self-harmed at some point in their lives. As well as being an indicator of emotional pain, self-harm is also the best-known predictor of death by suicide - yet researchers know little about the emotional and biological factors that lead to it. A new study published in Nature Mental Health, led by Professor Rory O'Connor from the University of Glasgow and funded by the Medical Research Foundation, helps to uncover the biological mechanisms behind why young people self-harm.

Autistic people are more likely to report suicide-related behaviours and psychological distress irrespective of previous traumatic experiences, according to new research from the University of Cambridge.

Researchers have discovered that genes underlying specific behavioural traits in golden retrievers - from trainability to fear of strangers - also shape human personality and mental health. The findings are really striking - they provide strong evidence that humans and golden retrievers have shared genetic roots for their behaviour.

Eating disorders, such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating, can lead to a variety of complex and long-lasting physical and mental health impacts, according to a new study led by the universities of Keele and Manchester. Previous research has found the risks of serious conditions like diabetes, renal and liver failure, fractures, and premature death, are particularly raised within the first 12 months of being diagnosed with an eating disorder.

One of the most common antidepressants, sertraline, contributes to a modest improvement in core depression and anxiety symptoms, including low mood, within two weeks, finds a new analysis of a major clinical trial led by UCL researchers. The study, published in Nature Mental Health , analysed the findings of the PANDA trial, which first published results in 2019 and found that sertraline may have an earlier impact on anxiety than depressive symptoms.

Living in a neighbourhood where people trust each other is linked to an increased risk of severe mental illness among people from ethnic minority groups, despite the opposite being true for white majority populations, finds a new study in Sweden led by UCL researchers. People in Stockholm who live in neighbourhoods where they feel safe and supported have a lower risk of psychotic disorders and bipolar disorder - but only for people of Swedish or European origin, according to the Nature Mental Health study by researchers from UCL and Karolinska Institutet.

An innovative study by University of Manchester researchers has shown that mothers' feelings of being overwhelmed and unhappiness, not fathers', are directly associated with their children's feelings of nervousness, worry and unhappiness. The study, published in BMJ Open , funded by Wellcome and the Royal Society, definitively confirm the mother's role as central to the emotional wellbeing of the family unit.

Autistic children and adults may be experiencing PTSD at higher rates than official diagnoses suggest, with their symptoms misdiagnosed or dismissed as being autism traits because of 'diagnostic overshadowing,' finds a new analysis by UCL researchers. The study, published in  Clinical Psychology Review , reviewed diagnosed PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) rates in over 190,000 autistic people globally, and compared them with other evidence of PTSD symptoms prevalence.

Study reveals genetic and developmental differences in people with earlier versus later autism diagnosis Researchers find different genetic profiles related to two trajectories that autistic children tend to follow. One linked to early diagnosis, and communication difficulties in infancy. The other linked to later diagnosis, increased social and behavioural difficulties in adolescence, and higher rates of conditions like ADHD, depression, and PTSD.

A new study from our Department of Psychology has found that identity distress (difficulty forming a cohesive identity) could be a behind the higher rates of poor mental health experienced by autistic people. Understanding the roots of poor mental health Until now it had been thought that masking, where autistic people hide certain stigmatised autistic traits of theirs as a survival strategy, was behind the elevated incidence of poor mental health.

A new study from The University of Manchester has found that a well-known mental health intervention for children may be no more effective than the usual social and emotional learning (SEL) programmes already being taught in primary schools. The research, published in the Journal of Educational Psychology , was led by experts from the Manchester Institute of Education working alongside colleagues from the University of Dundee and Necmettin Erbakan University in Turkey.