Research Highlights

Our research highlights focus on behavioral and social sciences funded by the National Institutes of Health. These articles are for informational purposes only. They do not signify endorsement of specific studies or offer medical or treatment advice.

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Research Highlights by Year

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HIV red ribbon and stethoscope
Understanding the Effects of Violence Among People with HIV and How to Improve the Delivery of Care
Violence is a major public health issue with profound effects on lifelong health, opportunity, and overall well-being. People of all backgrounds can encounter many different types of violence, including adverse childhood experiences, intimate partner violence (IPV), and community-based violence.
Woman carrying grocery basket in front of cold beverage shelves.
Using Pictorial Health Warnings to Reduce the Purchasing of Sugary Drinks for Children
Sugary drinks, also known as sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), can be a major source of added sugars in everyday diets. These drinks include soda, fruit drinks, sports drinks, and energy drinks. Researchers are interested in ways to reduce SSB consumption. A study supported by the National Institutes of Health tested whether pictorial warning labels—pictures depicting potential health problems—could reduce parents’ purchases of SSBs compared with regular labels. They found that pictorial warnings were effective in encouraging parents to make healthier purchasing choices for their children.
Girl looking at phone
Neural Sensitivity Influences Social Well-Being in Youth During COVID-19

Researchers have found that the strength of young people’s brain responses to social rewards influenced their feelings of social satisfaction and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period with limited in-person interactions. Adolescents aged 10 to 17 whose brains are highly sensitive to social rewards felt lonelier when they had fewer in-person and virtual interactions than those whose brains are less sensitive to social rewards.

elderly wife consoling husband
A New Model for Studying Social Isolation and Health in People with Serious Mental Illnesses

Researchers have developed a promising new framework for studying the link between social disconnection and poor physical health in people living with serious mental illnesses (SMI). Drawing on published research from animal models and data from the general population, this framework builds on existing social isolation and loneliness models by integrating insights from evolutionary and cognitive theories. This research was supported by the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research and the National Institute of Mental Health.

March 2024 Research Spotlight
Linkages between long-term nursing home stay, chronic pain, and social isolation
Long-term nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) who experienced “contextual isolation” were more likely to have pain relative to those who did not experience any contextual isolation.
Deep Neural Network
Research Spotlights: February 2024

Deep Neural Network algorithm successfully predicts incident cardiovascular disease in non-Hispanic Black adults, indicating significance of social determinants of health

Black-White residential segregation and cardiovascular mortality rates

sound waves
Research Spotlights: January 2024

The roles of aging and reward sensitivity on auditory and reward networks

ABCD joins the band: the shared musical environment during childhood, language, and executive function

How infant-directed song captures attention

Research Spotlights
Research Spotlights: December 2023

Caregiving as a chronic stressor detrimental to mental health – or not?

Adoption and scaling up of overdose education and naloxone distribution through a “hub with many spokes” model.

Research Spotlights
Research Spotlights: November 2023

Modulating effect of the gut microbiome on the effect of second-hand smoke exposure on behavioral and cognitive performance: a mouse model

Disparities in sleep-wake patterns by labor force status: Population-based findings

Results from "Live Well", a randomized controlled community-based participatory intervention to prevent obesity in new immigrant mother-child dyads

Research Spotlights
Research Spotlights: October 2023

Tracking and characterizing longitudinal change in physical activity behaviors among study participants from different sociodemographic backgrounds

Insights and strategies for improving equity in graduate school admissions: a program review

Using community-based geographical information system (GIS) to recruit older Asian Americans in an Alzheimer's disease study