Four pairs of toys were presented to each of the 11 participants for 30 seconds, with half the toys presented with joint engagement and the other half without joint engagement. During the joint engagement condition, the examiner strove to engage the…

Recently, numerous empirical studies have been published on utilitarian walking as a travel mode due to benefits of walking on physical and mental health, as well as its potential to decrease air pollution and traffic congestion and to promote sustai…

Between January 2008 and February 2010, 8.8 million people lost their jobs, real personal income declined by 6%, and net household wealth fell by 15%. The “Great Recession” simultaneously shocked the employment, housing, and stock markets—the primary…

Social inequalities in infant health are a highly prioritized population health issue in our country. Rates of adverse birth outcomes, such as low birthweight (2,500 g), are consistently higher among poor and unmarried women, as well as non-Hisp…

Large-scale data mining of more than 1,000 human genomes recently discovered genetic variants related to differences in educational attainment. We followed-up results from that data mining study to uncover the developmental and behavioral paths that…

Prevention of child abuse and neglect is an ongoing public health need that disproportionately affects children born to very young parents. Children of teen mothers are twice as likely to enter foster care compared to mothers aged just 20–21 years. C…

The National Institutes of Health today announced $157 million in awards in fiscal year 2016 to launch a seven-year initiative called Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO). The ECHO program will investigate how exposure to a r…

Only 2 out of 10 older adults meet the national guidelines for physical activity in the United States. Little is known about interrelationships of many socio-ecological factors to improve physical activity behavior among Hispanic older adults. As we…

It now is well known that stress negatively impacts both physical and mental health. Across species, higher levels of stress are associated with mortality rates; systemic inflammation; development of various physical health conditions, like asthma, d…

Why do people report better mental health in some countries than in others? In the early 2000s, the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted the World Mental Health Survey in 14 countries and found that the prevalence of mental disorders varies sign…