A one-off training session increased how much time fathers spent with their children and on chores by about two hours a week, reports a new study from the University of Tokyo. A team in Japan provided male employees and their managers with either information on positive office attitudes towards paternity leave or a work-life balance training session. The former corrected common misconceptions, but fathers who attended the training reported real behavioral change. This unexpectedly freed up 3.6 hours of time which mothers used for their own work. This study shows how small workplace interventions can have wider positive impacts, for families and businesses.A one-off training session increased how much time fathers spent with their children and on chores by about two hours a week, reports a new study from the University of Tokyo. A team in Japan provided male employees and their managers with either information on positive office attitudes towards paternity leave or a work-life balance training session. The former corrected common misconceptions, but fathers who attended the training reported real behavioral change. This unexpectedly freed up 3.6 hours of time which mothers used for their own work. This study shows how small workplace interventions can have wider positive impacts, for families and businesses.

A teen’s mental health, as well as their body mass index (BMI) and screen time, are significantly associated with their sleep quality, according to a new paper published June 10, 2026 in the open access journal PLOS One by Jianying Li of Shanxi University, China, and colleagues. The study also found that girls and adolescents living in more rural areas tend to have lower sleep quality.

Instagram Reels about Crohn’s disease are moderate in quality – with medical‑advice videos often containing misinformation – per study highlighting need for critical evaluation of social media health content

Children’s mental health may be indirectly harmed by their mothers’ experience of a major disaster, through the financial and social losses the disaster causes, according to a new study published June 17, 2026 in the open access journal PLOS One by Ariane Lisann Rung of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, US, and colleagues.

Carnegie Mellon University and University of California, San Francisco researchers found that childhood trauma, poverty, social isolation and other adverse life experiences are associated with brain changes linked to schizophrenia-spectrum disorders — findings that could help researchers identify people at risk earlier and develop interventions before severe symptoms emerge.