Population Health

Emergency department visits for self-harm have spiked since the pandemic. Experts explain the psychology behind the behavior and how to overcome it. Vibh Forsythe Cox, clinical associate professor of psychology and director of the Marsha M. Linehan DBT Clinic at the UW, is quoted.

Much of what can make linking friends scary — insecurity, envy, an instinct to hold tight to the people you love — isn’t new; it’s fundamentally human. But keeping your friends to yourself, what I call “friend hoarding,” is a modern practice. Katherine Stovel, professor and chair of sociology at the UW, is quoted.

Across the animal kingdom, models have vastly underestimated the energy costs of reproduction. Lauren Buckley, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

New research is shedding light on how war inflicts mortality, displaces families and erodes mental health. Nathalie Williams, professor of sociology and of international studies at the UW, is quoted.

New research from the University of Washington investigated responses to sweetened beverage taxes using the purchasing behavior of approximately 400 households in Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland and Philadelphia. Researchers found that after the tax was introduced, lower-income households decreased their purchases of sweetened beverages by nearly 50%, while higher-income households reduced purchases by 18%.

In “Primary Trust,” which opens at Seattle Rep on Oct. 24 and runs through Nov. 24, playwright Eboni Booth brings audiences on a deep dive into the epidemic of adult loneliness. Nicole McNichols, associate teaching professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

Success in Gig Harbor comes as more schools are looking to reign in cell phones. Four of the five school districts in Kitsap County now have bans, a pair of which are new this fall. Central Kitsap, the lone holdout, plans to have a ban by early next year. Lucía Magis-Weinberg, assistant professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

"This time of year, aspiring elected officials insist that we must get tough on crime to keep us safe. 'Getting tough' almost always includes imposing more and longer prison sentences. Unfortunately, most of those claims are based on myths, fear, and half-truths. Therefore, voters should insist that calls for increased punishment be replaced by programs that can actually reduce crime, help victims, and increase public safety," writes David Trierweiler. Heather Evans, assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at the UW School of Medicine, and Katherine Beckett, professor of sociology and of law, societies and justice at the UW, are mentioned.

A new study comparing the brains of children before and after COVID-19 found that adolescent girls’ brains had aged faster than expected during the social isolation and lockdowns brought on by the pandemic. Patricia Kuhl, professor of speech and hearing sciences at the UW and co-director of the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, is quoted.

New research found that teens’ brains “aged” during the COVID-19 lockdowns due to the loss of social interaction. Girls were the most impacted. Patricia Kuhl, professor of speech and hearing sciences at the UW and co-director of the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, is quoted.

Neuroimaging found girls experienced cortical thinning far faster than boys did during the first year of COVID lockdowns. The UW's Neva Corrigan, research scientist at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, and Patricia Kuhl, professor of speech and hearing sciences and co-director of the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, are quoted.

COVID lockdowns, such as school closures, canceled sports activities and stay-at-home orders, prematurely aged teen brains by as much as four years, researchers from the UW found. Patricia Kuhl, professor of speech and hearing sciences at the UW and co-director of the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, is quoted.

New research from the University of Washington found lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unusually accelerated brain maturation in adolescents. This maturation was more pronounced in girls. When measured in terms of the number of years of accelerated brain development, the mean acceleration was 4.2 years in females and 1.4 years in males.

The research team hopes to survey at least 300 middle and high school students, teachers and parents this school year at western Washington schools with bans. Lucía Magis-Weinberg, assistant professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

A school in northwest Seattle is part of an experiment playing out in districts around the nation as educators try to rein in the widespread use of smartphones on campus. Restrictions and strategies for implementation vary. Educators have a long list of reasons for wanting cellphone-free policies, but formal research is limited on the impacts of school smartphone use and the effects of bans. Lucía Magis-Weinberg, assistant professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.