EurekAlert! News by Subject: Social & Behavior - News by Subject: Social & Behavior

Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 12-Nov-2025 21:11 ET (13-Nov-2025 02:11 GMT/UTC)

13-Aug-2025

MSU study finds tiny microbes shape brain development

Michigan State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research from Michigan State University finds that microbes play an important role in shaping early brain development, specifically in a key brain region that controls stress, social behavior, and vital body functions.

Journal: Hormones and Behavior

13-Aug-2025

Parents may have been more likely to cheat than non-parents during the COVID-19 pandemic

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a survey study of more than 1,000 U.S. adults who were in committed, heterosexual relationships during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents were more likely than non-parents to report an increased desire for infidelity since before the pandemic, and were also more likely to report having actually cheated on their partner during the pandemic. Dr. Jessica T. Campbell of Indiana University Bloomington, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on August 13, 2025.

Journal: PLOS One

13-Aug-2025

US clinicians are more likely to question credibility of Black than White patients in medical notes

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Clinicians are more likely to indicate doubt or disbelief in the medical records of Black patients than in those of White patients—a pattern that could contribute to ongoing racial disparities in healthcare. That is the conclusion of a new study, analyzing more than 13 million clinical notes, publishing August 13, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Mary Catherine Beach of Johns Hopkins University, U.S.

Journal: PLOS One

13-Aug-2025

Binge gaming was associated with depression, anxiety, and poor sleep, with boys more likely to report binge gaming than girls, in Hong Kong survey of 2,592 children and adolescents

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Binge gaming was associated with depression, anxiety, and poor sleep, with boys more likely to report binge gaming than girls, in Hong Kong survey of 2,592 children and adolescents

Journal: PLOS One

13-Aug-2025

Discovery confirms early species of hominins co-existed in Ethiopia

University of Arkansas
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The team found fossils of Homo that confirm the earliest evidence for the human lineage at 2.8 million years ago as well as evidence of Homo at 2.6 million years ago, solidifying the antiquity of Homo. Unexpectedly, the team also found evidence that Homo overlapped at the site with a different type of hominin, Australopithecus, at 2.6 million years ago.

Journal: Nature
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

13-Aug-2025

Can officials say what they need to say about a health emergency in 280 characters?

Texas A&M University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Public health officials had an unprecedented tool for near-instant, widespread communication during the COVID-19 pandemic and mpox epidemic: social media.

Now, one of the first studies of its kind, led by a health policy expert with the Texas A&M University School of Public Health, has found that X (Twitter at the time of the events) brought advantages — as well as disadvantages — in getting the word out.

Journal: Journal of Medical Internet Research

13-Aug-2025

Discovery of new fossils — and a new species of ancient human ancestor — reveals insights on evolution

University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNLV anthropologist leads international research team find of Ethiopian fossils; details published in Aug. 13 issue of Nature journal.

Journal: Nature