Understanding aging requires more than counting birthdays
People’s bodies can be old or young for their chronological age, depending, in part, on the amount and types of stressors they have experienced. Scientists can estimate people’s biological age, but whether they use oral tissue or blood to make the measurement matters, according to a new study led…
Supportive co-parenting may help secure infant attachment development
The World Health Organization recommends that babies should exclusively breastfeed for at least the first six months of their lives and continue alongside the introduction of other foods for at least two years, as breastmilk contains the nutrients and antibodies needed to help infants thrive.…
Feb. 5 lecture to discuss how sleep health affects daily life, long-term health
Orfeu Buxton, Elizabeth Susman Professor of Biobehavioral Health at Penn State, will present the 2025 Pattishall Research Lecture, “Sleep Health Across the Life Span.” The lecture, sponsored by the College of Health and Human Development, will be presented on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 3 p.m. in the…
Consistent bedtime linked with better child emotion and behavior regulation
Sleep can affect a child’s attitude and behavior, as many parents can attest, but a consistent bedtime may be more influential than sleep quality or duration, according to a new publication authored by researchers in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development and Penn State College of…
Gatzke-Kopp named president-elect of Society for Psychophysiological Research
Lisa Gatzke-Kopp, professor of human development and family studies and Social Science Research Institute cofunded faculty member, recently was named president-elect of the Society for Psychophysiological Research. The presidential role spans three years, over which she will serve as president-…
$3.1M grant to fund study on early signs and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease
A four-year, $3,148,346 National Institute of Aging (NIA)-funded project aims to use computational models and psychology to study the early signs of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias (ADRD) that may appear approximately 20 years before an official diagnosis, according to Zita Oravecz,…
Recovery community centers linked to support factors for substance use recovery
More than 46 million people in the U.S. suffered from substance use disorders and more than 100,000 died by overdose in 2001, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. To address this crisis, recovery community centers (RCCs) have emerged in cities across the U.S.…
Connell appointed The Ken Young Family Professor for Healthy Children
Christian M. Connell, professor of human development and family studies, was recently named The Ken Young Family Professor for Healthy Children in the College of Health and Human Development. The professorship is part of a $1 million gift to support a faculty member focused on enhancing the health…
Harm reduction education, tools access may help women prevent opioid overdose
Woman with opioid use disorder and who are also involved with the criminal legal system face unique challenges and stigmas that may keep them from seeking substance use treatment and harm reduction tools that could prevent overdose deaths, according to new research led by a team from Penn State.…
Less sleep and later bedtime in childhood linked to future substance use
A good night’s sleep is essential for children’s health and development, but childhood sleep patterns may also be linked to future substance use. A new study, led by a team of Penn State researchers, found that adolescents were more likely to have consumed alcohol or tried marijuana by age 15 if…
Ask an expert: Health care in the 2024 presidential election
Health care has often taken a central role in political campaigns, and the 2024 presidential election is no different. But the debate around health care isn’t just about policy. The issues at stake — such as health care coverage and affordability, reproductive health and substance use disorders —…
Mitigating barriers for children walking and biking to school
Nearly 20 years ago, the U.S. Congress approved funding to implement the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program across the country. SRTS promotes safe and accessible active transportation, like walking or biking, for students to school through infrastructure improvements, safety education,…
Secure access to food and water decreasing for US children
Between 2005 and 2020, the number of children facing simultaneous water and food insecurity in the United States more than doubled. Additionally, Black and Hispanic children were several times more likely than white children to experience food and water insecurity at the same time. This is…
Dehydration in middle-aged and older adults may lead to attention challenges
Dehydration can lead to a wide array of mild to severe symptoms, from temporary inconveniences on mood to life-threatening concerns. Researchers in the Penn State Department of Biobehavioral Health studied how dehydration affects cognitive performance. They found that even mild…
Professor wins diversity mentorship funds to bring Texas student to Penn State
It was a presentation he never intended to do, yet it changed the entire outlook of his post-undergraduate journey. Little did Michael Segovia know, his presentation at an October conference in warm San Antonio, Texas, would a bring him to chilly State College in February for a post baccalaureate…
Vowel intelligibility testing may help monitor progression for people with ALS
Approximately 31,000 people are living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the United States, with an average of 5,000 new cases every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ALS, commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive…
Fentanyl and COVID-19 pandemic reshaped racial profile of overdose deaths in US
For as long as statistics about opioid overdose deaths have been collected in the United States, white individuals have been much more likely to die than Black individuals of the same age. With the rapidly increasing rate of fentanyl overdoses in the late 2010s, that trend began to…
Calorie restriction study reveals complexities in how diet impacts aging
Penn State researchers may have uncovered another layer of complexity in the mystery of how diet impacts aging. A new study led by researchers in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development examined how a person’s telomeres — sections of genetic bases that function like…
$3.1M NIH grant to fund project developing ALS communications interventions
A team of Penn State researchers was recently awarded a five-year, $3.1 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to evaluate clinical interventions to improve speech communications for people diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS. The progressive…
Researchers identify distinct sleep types and their impact on long-term health
Poor sleep habits are strongly associated with long-term chronic health conditions, according to decades of research. To better understand this relationship, a team led by researchers in Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development identified four distinct patterns that characterize how…
Lecture to discuss behavioral factors that drive what, why and how children eat
Kathleen L. Keller, Penn State professor of nutritional sciences and food science and Social Science Research Institute cofunded faculty member, will present the 2024 Pattishall Research Lecture, “Understanding Children's Eating Behaviors: The What, Why and How?” The…
Suicidality among individuals with substance use disorders increased in 2020
Individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) were significantly more likely to consider, plan and attempt suicide than those without SUDs in 2020, according to a new study by researchers at Penn State. Adolescents and women with SUDs were also more likely to experience suicidality — the term for…
Evaluating the quality of civilian transitions in post-9/11 veterans
Researchers at Penn State’s Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness (Clearinghouse) have developed a new framework for assessing the quality of military-to-civilian transitions (MTCTs) among post-9/11 veterans. The Clearinghouse team recently published the details of the new framework…
Interactive screen use reduces sleep time in kids, researchers find
While screen time is generally known to affect sleep, new research suggests that interactive engagement, such as texting friends or playing video games, delays and reduces the time spent asleep to a greater extent than passive screen time, like watching television — especially for teens. The…
Q&A: Can virtual reality help people eat a healthier diet?
With heart disease and diabetes — which can be caused or worsened by poor diet — among the leading causes of death and illness for adults in the United States, researchers in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development are studying influences on human eating behavior. There is…
News Topics: NutritionCollege of Health and Human Development