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Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 24-Oct-2026 05:16 ET (24-Oct-2026 09:16 GMT/UTC)

Researchers find no connection between pesticide exposure and social difficulties common in autism

NYU Langone Health / NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Prenatal exposure to certain insecticides used in agriculture does not appear to be linked to social communication problems and other traits related to autism, a new study shows.

Journal: JAMA Pediatrics

Suicide risk after social network exposure to suicide attempts in adolescents and young adults

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About the Study: In this cohort study of adolescents and young adults, exposure to suicide attempts within one’s social network was associated with subsequent suicide attempt onset and higher depressive symptoms over time. Assessing recent exposure to suicide attempts may help identify youths at elevated suicide risk not detected through symptom-based screening alone.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Study finds sustainable farming program helps refugees, immigrants boost health while launching agribusinesses

University of Kansas
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare, spent time with New Roots, a program in Kansas City that works with resettled refugees, immigrants and English language learners. They found that the program that teaches sustainable agriculture in an urban setting provides an alternative to "company jobs," while improving physical and mental health of participants while teaching lessons on farming and American business practices, including sales, taxes, insurance and more.

Journal: Journal of Community Practice

PolyU develops Hong Kong’s first screening tool to detect social frailty in seniors

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Loneliness and social isolation are widely recognised as harmful to elders’ health, yet frontline care workers have long lacked a simple, objective way to identify those most at risk. Researchers at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have developed a set of community-based, preventive approaches to addressing social frailty among seniors, including a new screening tool and nature-based interventions in care facilities. This work responds directly to the Government’s policy shift from treatment towards prevention and community-based care.

Journal: Contemporary Nurse

Autism research tool uncovers how nature, nurture shape children's risk

University of Virginia Health System
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The powerful new autism-research tool sorts out which health effects come from genes and which come from a child's environment.

Journal: Nature Genetics

New study uncovers TikTok mental health advice risks for young people

University of Birmingham
Peer-Reviewed Publication

TikTok's design makes it harder for young people to think critically about the mental health content they see, new University of Birmingham research suggests.

Journal: Digital Health

Language skills stay strong in older adults, even while other cognitive abilities decline

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In older adults, activity of the brain’s language processing network is nearly identical to that seen in the brains of younger adults during language tasks, according to a new brain imaging study from MIT and Boston University.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, MIT’s McGovern Institute, Simons Center for the Social Brain, Poitras Center for Psychiatric Disorders Research, Quest for Intelligence

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