Health and Wellness – Psychology Benefits Society

October 25, 2018October 25, 2018Administrator

APA Joins Forces with the CDC Tips From Former Smokers® Campaign to Reduce Smoking Disparities

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is continuing its national tobacco education campaign—Tips From Former Smokers® (Tips®)—with hard-hitting TV commercials that feature real people who have experienced the harms caused by smoking. The 2018 campaign ads are again highlighting the immediate and long-term damage caused by smoking, and strongly encouraging smokers to quit.

The American Psychological Association (APA) is one of a cadre of national organizations partnering with the Tips® campaign.

September 6, 2018Administrator

Black Boys and Men Face Daunting Odds, Here’s How We Can Promote Their Resilience and Future Success

When my son was just eight weeks and two days into his gestational period, I settled my anxiety of giving birth to a Black male. The night before I gave birth, unlike his twin sister, he was hovered up into the corner of my womb and his heart rate had begun to slow down. That following morning, he was born. Now 20, my Black son has dreams and aspirations but there is the threat of death in the air.

August 23, 2018August 23, 2018Administrator

Why We Need to Act Now to Address the Harmful Effects of Unemployment on Black Millennial Men

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for Black males between ages 20 and 24 is more than double the national average for this age group (14.3% vs. 7.1%). The APA report on “Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic and Sexual Minority Boys & Men” prompted a deeper focus on how these employment disparities lead to adverse health impacts, specifically amongst Black millennial men. An APA fact sheet examines this narrowed topic.

August 3, 2018August 3, 2018Administrator

What Can We Do to Combat the Maternal Mortality Crisis Affecting Black Women in America?

Alarmingly, maternal mortality rates for women living in the U.S. are the highest in the developed world with stark racial disparities. Black women specifically have the highest maternal mortality rate in the U.S. and are nearly four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes compared to White women.

June 29, 2018June 29, 2018Administrator

Depression in Black Boys Begins Earlier Than You Think

From 2001 to 2015, the suicide risk for Black boys between the ages of 5 and 11 was two to three times higher than that of White boys, according to a new research letter in JAMA Pediatrics (Bridge, 2018). This concerning trend continues through adolescence as reported by the Nationwide Youth Risk Behavior Survey (Kann et al., 2017). The rates of attempted suicide, including attempts that resulted in an injury, poisoning, or overdose, are 1.2x higher among Black males compared to White males.

June 5, 2018June 7, 2018Administrator

The Cost of Being Poor in a Warming World

f you don’t feel the impacts of climate change directly in your daily life, you probably aren’t poor.

Major news outlets regularly publish features on scientific studies by climatologists ringing the alarm on how many degrees global temperatures have increased, the rise in severity and frequency of natural disasters, and the dire future effects on the environment if human behavior does not change. However, most people aren’t climatologists or journalists. Climate change, for some folks, is an abstraction discussed over the dinner table or argued about in social media comment sections, or perhaps a notion thought about when presented with the choice of garbage or recycling bins.

May 17, 2018May 17, 2018Administrator

Older Adults and Disasters: What You Need to Know

When it comes to disasters, older Americans are the age group most likely to experience devastating outcomes due to a variety of risk factors. #OAM18

May 4, 2018May 4, 2018Administrator

3 Simple Psychological Strategies You Can Use to Help Prevent Against Stroke

By Ryan C. Thompson & Rowena Gomez, PhD (Palo Alto University) Improving physical health behaviors, such as eating healthy and exercise, is not the only way to protect older adults from stroke. In fact, psychological factors have been shown to play a role in increasing as well as reducing the risk of stroke. For example, […]

March 29, 2018March 29, 2018Administrator

What is the Recipe for Success? 5 Ways Cooking Can Keep You Young

By Erin Cochrane, Sam Gilchrist, and Anna Linden (Department of Psychology, Saint Olaf College, Northfield, MN) Aging gracefully isn’t always a sweet process. The World Health Organization warns that malnutrition is a looming issue for our aging population1, but sensory losses can make food less appealing and increase risk for undereating and weight loss2. […]

February 12, 2018February 12, 2018Administrator

Let’s Talk About Sex — After 60

Older adults account for an increasing proportion of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, in the United States. Notwithstanding, sex after sixty continues to remain shrouded in silence and stigma. In this post, doctoral student Christina Pierpaoli Parker discusses the reasons for and consequences of the scantiness of late life sexual health conversations, concluding with recommendations for increasing their visibility.