Nearly one third of college-age ‘BORG’ drinkers report blacking out

  A newly popular college drinking trend, the blackout rage gallon (BORG), fosters binge drinking and can lead to a host of alcohol-related harms, according to a new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, published at Rutgers University.

 

Caption

BORGs (blackout rage gallons) on brick steps

Credit

Prevalent in the drinking culture at many U.S. colleges and universities since around 2020, BORGs are one-gallon plastic jugs filled with alcohol and a choice of mixings and flavorings. Preparation for a BORG event, which is often a daytime gathering such as a tailgate or festival, typically involves decorating one’s personal BORG with a clever phrase or social-media-ready pun--for example, “It’s BORG o’clock somewhere” or “BORG to be wild.”

“Excessive drinking in young adults has been fueled by drinking games for many decades,” says lead researcher Andrea C. King, professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the University of Chicago. “But the mixing of hard liquor and additive flavorings in BORGs may be particularly harmful given the sweetness of the beverage and the lure of sharing one’s BORG and tasting others’ concoctions.”

The gallon-sized drink can contain up to a fifth of liquor, or about 17 standard drinks, according to survey answers obtained from more than 100 study participants from a range of private and public U.S. colleges and universities. King’s study is the first to present data on BORG use, as well as users’ and non-users’ perceptions and attitudes, positive and negative consequences, and future intentions.

“Nearly one third of respondents said they experienced a blackout from a BORG event,” says King. “While almost all reported they got buzzed or drunk, some (17%) vomited, and many (59%) said or did embarrassing things, we know that blackouts—that is, disruptions in memory consolidation due to heavy imbibing of alcohol—are a more serious consequence.”

The study also refers to reports of BORG use resulting in injuries and emergency room visits in several instances.

Such findings underscore misconceptions about BORGs, which social-media influencers originally touted as supporting harm-reduction efforts: Some BORG recipe ingredients shared online include electrolytes, caffeine, and/or water to offset a hangover or minimize drunkenness. The study’s data show that BORGs do not support these positive effects.

“BORG use was fueled on social media during the pandemic as a way to reduce virus transmission and drink contamination,” adds King. Yet study participants reported frequently sharing their BORGs with others. Further, they are not simply a pandemic-based phenomenon as BORG use remains popular at special events, day drinking parties, or tailgating before sporting games.

Despite the incidence of alcohol-related harms, many participants said they will likely continue to engage in BORG drinking. Yet, studies such as King’s can inform prevention and education efforts, starting with awareness on the part of both students and parents.

“Having an open discussion can go a long way toward reducing harms at college,” says King. “There are choice points along the way, ranging from whether to attend a BORG event, and if one does attend, whether to bring a BORG beverage and how much (if any) alcohol to put in the beverage. It doesn’t have to be all-or-none, as being aware and mindful to minimize risks can be key.”

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Journal

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

DOI

10.15288/jsad.25-00414 

College students are getting enough protein but want healthier options

 

A new University of Maine study*^ has identified what researchers describe as a campus protein challenge. Although students generally consumed adequate amounts of protein, many reported that campus dining halls failed to provide protein choices they considered flavorful, appealing or prepared in ways they viewed as healthful. 

Instead of asking for more protein, students described wanting better protein experiences, greater variety, better preparation, higher-quality and less heavily processed protein options and meals they were actually excited to eat. 

That distinction could have important implications for campus dining programs, which often evaluate menus based on nutritional adequacy but may overlook whether students perceive those foods as desirable enough to choose. 

"Having protein on the menu doesn't necessarily mean students see it as a good option," said Jade McNamara, Ph.D., corresponding author and researcher in the University of Maine School of Food and Agriculture. "Our findings suggest campuses should think beyond simply providing protein and consider whether students have access to protein choices they find flavorful, varied and prepared in ways they perceive as healthful." 

Evidence of the campus protein challenge 

Researchers surveyed 501 University of Maine undergraduates and conducted focus groups with 20 students. 

Students appeared to be meeting protein recommendations. Participants scored an average 4.8 out of 5 on the total protein foods component of the Short Healthy Eating Index, indicating generally adequate protein intake. 

However, qualitative research analysis of the focus groups revealed that students repeatedly described campus dining halls as barriers to accessing protein foods they actually wanted to eat. 

When describing their experience with protein foods on campus, participants cited: 

• Limited variety and unappealing options  

• Heavily processed choices  

• Fried preparation methods  

• Inconsistent quality  

• Flavorless preparations  

• Limited healthy options  

One student described campus dining as having, "…the slim pickings for healthy foods that are protein-rich." Another said, "Even if they do offer more protein-rich options... they're just not appetizing." 

Researchers believe the issue may be less about protein quantity and more about protein quality, appeal and accessibility. 

The protein challenge reflects broader barriers to healthy eating 

Students' frustrations with protein were part of a larger nutrition picture. 

The average Healthy Eating Index score was just 47.7 out of 100 in this sample of undergraduate students, and one in three students (33.7%) experienced low or very low food security. 

Students described multiple barriers to healthier eating, including 

• Rising food costs  

• Limited time  

• Restricted kitchen access  

• Minimal cooking equipment  

• Transportation challenges  

• Residence hall living  

For many students, the reality of campus life meant preparing meals with little more than a microwave while relying heavily on dining halls that often failed to provide protein options they considered appealing. 

Students see promise in meal kits 

Although nearly 90% of students had never used a meal-kit delivery service, many believed meal kits could help address some of the barriers they experienced. 

Students valued: 

• Convenience  

• Simple preparation  

• Portioned ingredients  

• Customizable meals  

Affordability remained the biggest concern, suggesting future campus meal-kit programs would need to balance convenience with cost. 

What this means for campus dining 

The findings suggest the next opportunity for campus dining may not be serving more protein, but serving protein in ways students are more likely to choose. 

Researchers say future campus food solutions should prioritize protein options that are: 

• Flavorful  

• Varied  

• High-quality 

• Convenient  

• Affordable  

• Prepared in ways students perceive as healthful (e.g., not fried, not cooked in a lot of grease) 

• Easy to incorporate into busy student lifestyles  

The findings also provide a roadmap for evaluating practical meal solutions designed around students' real-world preferences. 

For foodservice operators, that could include building meals around versatile, flavorful proteins that pair naturally with vegetables, whole grains and globally inspired flavors to improve both the appeal and overall quality of campus meals. 

Autistic children ages 4-6 showed improved social skills after summer program

 A summer intervention program for autistic children ages 4-6 with no intellectual disability significantly improved their social performance, according to a study by researchers at the Institute for Autism Research (IAR) at the University at Buffalo. It was published in Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders in July.

“Completion of our 5-week summerMAXyc program was associated with significant social, behavioral and autism symptom benefits for the children,” says Christopher J. Lopata, PsyD, co-author on the study and co-founder/co-director of the IAR with Marcus L. Thomeer, PhD; both are professors of pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB. “Developing such foundational skills early in development sets the stage for development of more advanced skills later in childhood, adolescence and adulthood, thus leading to better long-term outcomes.”

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Thomeer notes that while programs for autistic children with no intellectual disability ages 4-6 do exist, few provide intensive social programming. This population also tends to engage in significantly fewer group recreational activities in general than their peers without autism, further limiting social development opportunities.

“This constitutes a significant gap in social intervention development and service provision, which prompted our interest in developing such a program for this population,” he says.

Five weeks, five days a week

The intensive summerMAXyc program was conducted five-days-a-week over five weeks in the summer. The program follows a similar model to that of the IAR’s successful, evidence-based summerMAX program for older children, which has helped improve the social skills of hundreds of children since it began 23 years ago.

In the summerMAXyc program, each 6-hour day included 8 cycles of 30 minutes each, which began with 10 minutes of instruction in particular skills, such as having a conversation or accepting consequences, followed by a 20-minute cooperative activity.

According to the study, the children found that the program was fun and helped them learn skills and make new friends. Average child satisfaction was 14.9 out of a possible 15 with parent satisfaction at 69.8 out of a possible 70. Parents reported significant improvement in the children’s social skills, behaviors and autism symptoms.

There is broad consensus that earlier intervention is associated with better outcomes for autistic children. And parents are often the first to recognize the need.

“Parents reach out to us because their child has difficulty navigating the social world,” says Thomeer. “They describe their autistic children as wanting to have friends but not knowing what to do in social situations.”

Families noticed the difference

Over the course of their child’s participation in summerMAXyc, Thomeer says, parents reported that other family members began to notice the child playing with others, not just playing alone. They also noticed that the child now makes eye contact, asks about others, plays games without getting upset and can recognize and understand different emotions.

According to Thomeer, a mother of one of the participants reported that her child not only noticed that she was frustrated about something, but also told her to “squeeze the orange,” a technique the children are taught where they squeeze an imaginary orange and take a deep breath in order to calm themselves down.

One of the study’s major strengths involved the use of objective observers to assess the children’s social performance. According to Lopata, parents are a critical source of information, however there is a risk of bias because they know that their children are in the intervention. Most social skills intervention studies for autistic children rely on parent ratings alone and therefore suffer from this limitation, he adds.

 “Our use of masked observers – trained individuals – eliminated that risk because they were unaware that the children received an intervention,” says Lopata.

The authors also note that the intervention was similarly successful in improving the children’s social performance and autism features regardless of the child’s age, IQ level, communication ability or level of diagnostic symptoms.

“There is widespread recognition in the field that no intervention will be effective for all autistic children and there is a significant need to determine which children are most likely to benefit from a specific intervention,” says Lopata. “Answering this question can help ensure that scarce resources are efficiently allocated and that children receiving a given intervention are most likely to benefit.”

The next step is to test the intervention in a large-scale randomized clinical trial with a control group, which would be a first for such a social intervention in this population.

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Journal

Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders

DOI

10.1007/s41252-026-00511-2 

Sibling interactions are an untapped resource for early engineering education

While the roles of parents in a child's education are well-studied, new research is taking a look at the role a sibling plays in collaborating on educational projects, and they found a few key roles often developed in this working relationship.

Recently published research by researchers at Binghamton University and Indiana University recorded nearly 13 hours of video of six pairs of siblings, ages 2-8, working on at-home engineering projects. These projects included building a rain gauge, a paper roller coaster, and an animal house to protect animals from the elements. They found that over the course of these projects, clear roles of the older sibling developed.

The most common was a colleague/peer arrangement, in which both siblings worked side by side on the task. Older siblings in this role often positioned their younger sibling as a partner or collaborator.

Second, there were many times when the older sibling acted as a "lead engineer" on the project -- clearly the one in charge. Some of the examples recorded on video varied: one showed the younger sibling being ignored, while in another, the younger sibling simply waited for instructions from the older sibling before carrying out a task. 

Third and most uniquely, other examples showed the older sibling taking on the form of a provocateur, intentionally teasing or provoking emotions from the younger sibling during a task. In one example of this, provocation did not hinder the project; instead, it led the younger sibling to defend their opinions to the older sibling. Other times, the younger sibling stayed engaged even in the wake of provocation, and also helped build toward solving a problem.

The roles siblings took on largely depended on the existing relationship they had, and the working relationships they developed varied greatly. Still, researchers found that older siblings can be natural and effective teachers in education. Sibling relationships can be a safe space for children to develop engineering-related skills in a way they can't with their friends or teachers. The researchers suggest that more educational engineering programs should be developed that tap into the sibling relationship at home and in after-school programs.

If you would like to interview the lead researcher on this study, Binghamton University Associate Professor Amber Simpson, please send an email to David Hermanovitch at dhermanovitc@binghamton.edu.

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Journal

Journal of Engineering Education

DOI

10.1002/jee.70083 

Combining words with gestures helps children learn

 As children return to school, new research from the University of Iowa shows how parents can help their kids learn while literally being on the same wavelength. 

In a new study, neuroscientists found that adults who use speech and hand gestures when interacting with their child achieve “neural synchrony,” where brain waves in the parent match their child’s. Ece Demir-Lira, associate professor in the UI Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and the study’s corresponding author, says combining words with hand gestures can be applied by parents and teachers alike.

“We find it’s not how much time a parent is with their child, it’s more about the nature of the interaction,” Demir-Lira says. “Those interactions can be even richer if the parent provides additional cues to their children via speech and gesture or encourages their kids to gesture with their hands, too.”

Demir-Lira and graduate student Ying Li wanted to understand how parents help young children solve problems. The researchers especially were interested in whether a particular level of engagement — which they call scaffolding — was best to help kids learn. Previous research has indicated kids learn best when instructions include speech and gestures, but those studies didn’t include parents and children working together or monitor in real time what was happening in their brains.

The researchers enlisted 42 parent-child couples to complete variations of a seven-piece puzzle. The only instructions they were given was the shape to make with the puzzle pieces, such as a bird or a house. While they worked to complete the puzzle, the researchers monitored both participants’ brain activity simultaneously every 30 seconds through a technique that measures blood flow in the brain. The team also recorded the parent-child couples, to track their speech and actions during the puzzle tasks.

In their study, Demir-Lira and Li found that when the parent added gestures to their verbal instructions, blood flow rose in the adult brain’s perception area — the region that senses another’s success or struggle — and simultaneously in the problem-solving area of the child’s brain.

“The same brain wave in the parent and child goes up and down in synchrony together, like two dancers dancing,” Demir-Lira says.

The researchers found that adults who relied only on speech to guide their child with solving a puzzle showed a corresponding rise in brain activity at the beginning, but that connection weakened as the task progressed before rebounding toward the end. Demir-Lira interprets this as an initial burst of connectivity as the two attempt to complete the puzzle, followed by a period when the child loses focus, and ending with another attempt by the parent to help the child complete the puzzle. 

Parents who gave no verbal or physical instructions had the lowest linked brain activity with their child, the researchers report.

While not directly addressed in this study, the researchers believe parents who used speech and gesture were more successful in guiding their child in puzzle solving because they could accentuate a vocal cue by pointing to a puzzle piece or showing how two puzzle pieces go together.

“We think speech and gesture divide the information; they complement each other. Gesture implies spatial relations, which speech is not as good at accomplishing,” Demir-Lira says.

She has seen this when helping her 9-year-old daughter with math problems. For example, when Demir-Lira combines oral instructions with gestures to highlight both sides of a math equation, she says her daughter seems to more easily grasp the material.

“It’s about being more efficient at packaging the information, so the child can understand it more easily,” she says.

The study is titled “Parental speech and gesture scaffolding moderate the neural dynamics of parent-child synchrony.” It was published online on June 26 in the journal Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Li is the study’s first author.

The National Institutes of Health, through the Clinical and Translational Science Awards program, funded the research. Li’s involvement was funded by an NIH Predoctoral Training Grant.

 

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Journal

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

DOI

10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101771 

Raising kids in a digital world with less fear, more strategy

 In the late 1800s, newspapers ran alarming headlines about a dangerous new technology corrupting the nation’s youth. Books. Kids were sneaking off to libraries to read Horatio Alger, and parents were convinced it would ruin them.

More than a century later, the medium has changed dramatically. But the fear, experts say, has not.

The tension between panic and practicality was at the heart of a packed panel discussion Sept. 8 at UC Irvine, the third installment of the “Raising the Next Generation in the Age of AI” series. Co-presented by UCI’s School of Social Ecology, the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, the Office of Research, the Connected Learning Lab, and CERES (Connecting the EdTech Research EcoSystem), the event brought together researchers, a tech industry leader and a youth advocate for a candid, research-grounded conversation about helping families navigate the challenges of raising children in an increasingly digital world.

Moderated by Candice Odgers, UCI Chancellor’s Professor of psychology and informatics, the discussion featured Yalda Uhls, founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers at UCLA; Melissa Mazmanian, UCI professor of informatics and organization and management; Vani Henderson, head of UX Research, Youth, Trust and Safety at YouTube; and Larz May, founder of #HalfTheStory and co-founder and CEO of Ginko.

The panelists steered the conversation toward empowerment, offering parents concrete strategies they could act on immediately.

Uhls reminded the audience that parental anxiety over new media is nothing new — from novels in the 1800s to Pac-Man in the 1980s, every generation has feared the latest technology would corrupt its children. The research, she argued, often tells a more nuanced story.

“What hasn’t changed is parental fear,” Uhls said. “A truly unique brain and a unique way of thinking is never going to be able to be replaced by technology. Help young people understand that.”

Uhls also drew on decades of parenting research to argue that what works offline works online, too: children thrive with a combination of reasonable rules and genuine warmth.

“Trust Your Gut”

“The trust-your-gut thing is really, really important,” she said, describing how she ultimately allowed her own daughter to spend significant time on video games despite her own anxiety — a decision she said paid off. Her daughter went on to be her class valedictorian and received two job offers out of college.

She added that navigating today's media landscape requires teaching children how to evaluate what they consume.

“It’s really important to help your children understand media literacy,” Uhls said, noting that while young people may outpace their parents on certain tools, they still need guidance in recognizing misinformation and understanding how content is produced and by whom.

Mazmanian, whose research involved spending up to 100 hours inside nine different family homes, found that the media rules that actually stuck weren’t the ones handed down by schools or parenting groups, they were the ones that came from a parent’s instincts about their specific child.

“Ask yourself, what am I scared of? Really, truly, what am I scared of? And why?” she said. “Am I scared because I’ve been watching the news? Because my school told me to be? Or, because I’m seeing something really concrete happen with my child? Those are really different reasons, and they call for really different answers.”

Mazmanian’s study of 100 parent-teen pairs revealed that teens are significantly more forgiving of their parents’ screen time than parents are of theirs.

More importantly, she said, the families with the most conflict were those where teens felt their parents simply didn’t understand what they were doing online — whether socializing, creating or exploring hobbies.

YouTube Tricks

Henderson shared that many parents don’t realize how many controls already exist within YouTube’s ecosystem:

• The YouTube Kids app lets parents select the right content level for their child and offers options to set a timer, block specific videos or channels, or limit their child to watching only hand-picked channels 
• Kid Accounts on regular YouTube allow parents to link their account to a child’s and select content settings that limit what their child can watch.
• YouTube Shorts can be set to a timer, or turned off entirely.
• Parents and teens also have the option to link accounts to share teen channel activity; and parents can set digital wellbeing tools for their teen.

“I take my role as somebody who works at YouTube with a great sense of responsibility,” Henderson said, “because I’m helping to build products not only for my kids and my neighbors’ kids, but for your kids and kids all over the world.”

Panelists agreed that bans alone — whether on phones or AI tools — are a starting line, not a solution.

May, who works directly with students and schools across the country, was direct about the reality on the ground.

“Whether you want to hear it or not, your kids are using AI,” she said. “It might not be happening in the school walls, but when they go home, it’s happening.”

She warned that fear-based approaches are driving teens toward apathy, which she called the real risk, greater than any single technology.

She pointed to one student so anxious about his school’s murky AI policy that he now records himself doing homework every night, just in case he needs to prove he didn’t cheat.

“Behind every screen is a child’s superpower,” May said, “and AI should be used to amplify that superpower, not replace it.”

May argued that the antidote to screen overuse isn’t more restriction — it’s genuine engagement.

“The opposite of AI is social connection,” she said, urging parents to invest in the real-world interests and relationships that can meaningfully compete with the pull of devices.

May also turned the anxiety conversation back on the adults in the room.

“The real anxious generation is you,” she told the audience, challenging parents to examine whether their fears are truly about their children or about their own discomfort with a world they don’t fully understand.

Rather than coming from a place of anxiety and fear, May encouraged parents to use technology as a window into their child’s interests. For example, she suggested asking a reluctant writer to narrate their essay aloud on a walk, then using AI to help shape that voice into a written draft, a way of letting the child’s authentic voice lead, with technology in a supporting role.

Expert Tips

“We’re seeing from many countries that the bans aren’t working; that many of the cell phone policies might not be delivering on the promises they were made on, and so, we want to be here to find that solution space with all of you,” Odgers said before asking the panel to provide actionable advice for parents. These are their tips:

• Be positive about your child’s tech use. Ask what they love online and let them be the expert. You might be surprised.
• Walk the walk. Kids notice when parents scroll through dinner or check phones during bedtime stories.
• Start with yourself. Before addressing your child’s screen use, examine what is driving your own fear.
• Give teens a seat at the table. Involving young people in family tech conversations, and even school policy discussions, builds trust and better outcomes.
• Put your phone to bed before your child. Guarantee them your full, undivided attention at the end of the day.
• Remember Henderson’s reminder that “there’s no one-size-fits-all parenting.” Use the tools available on platforms like YouTube to set boundaries that reflect your family’s specific values, your child’s age and your own comfort level — not someone else’s rulebook.
• Take May’s advice to heart: “Find your joy” and help your child find theirs. When children are deeply engaged in something that excites them, whether cooking, historical costuming or building communities around shared passions, screens become a springboard rather than an escape.
• Forgive yourself. As Odgers put it: “So much of the time we look at the screen and think we can solve the problems our kids face there, but the solutions are much deeper.”

CERES also offers resources for parents, including:

• Navigating Social Media: A Teen Wellness Toolkit
• How Parents Can Support Youth Well-being Around Digital Media
• Age Appropriate Media for Kids and Teens — How YouTube Works
• Google’s Parental Controls and Family Link
• What We’re Getting Wrong About Teens and Tech
• California Teen Tech Council: Nominate a Teen
• Does Your Teen Want to be Part of Research?
• Media Moms & Digital Dads: A Fact-Not-Fear Approach to Parenting in the Digital Age
• Dreams of the Overworked: Living, Working and Parenting in the Digital Age
• 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People

The full panel discussion is available on YouTube. Videos and resources from other panels in the series can be found on the CERES website.

New diagnoses of cannabis use disorder (CUD) among adolescents climbing

 New diagnoses of cannabis use disorder (CUD) among adolescents in Northern California began climbing after recreational cannabis was legalized in California in 2016, reversing a steady decline in the three years prior, according to a new study published in the journal Addiction. The researchers say their findings call for disorder-level outcomes to be tracked alongside standard measures of use prevalence and frequency when evaluating the public health effects of cannabis legalization.

"Most surveys of adolescent cannabis use tell us how many teens have tried cannabis, but don’t tell us how many are developing a disorder that brings them into clinical care," said Alisa Padon, Ph.D., the lead author on the study and research director at Getting it Right from the Start, a project of the Public Health Institute. “The public health goal is to reduce the harms caused by cannabis use and we cannot reduce what we do not measure.”   

National surveys have shown that overall rates of teen cannabis use have stayed relatively flat for two decades. Those figures are often cited as evidence that legalization has not affected young people. However, research shows that the risk of developing CUD, a complex condition that involves a problematic pattern of cannabis use, rises sharply with more frequent use and with earlier age of first use. By tracking diagnoses over time rather than at a single point, the study makes visible a shift toward frequent and problematic use that national survey figures of cannabis use alone do not reveal.

Researchers analyzed six years of electronic health record data from 637,000 adolescents receiving care at Kaiser Permanente Northern California. The periods studied were before the 2016 ballot measure passed, between passage and implementation, and after recreational retail sales began, through early 2020. Using an interrupted time series design, they tested whether trends in new CUD diagnoses shifted across those policy periods. The cohort had a mean age of 14.1 years at baseline and was 50.9% male, 33.6% non-Hispanic White, 29.6% Hispanic, 17.1% non-Hispanic Asian, 8.0% non-Hispanic Black and 11.5% multiple, other, or unknown race and ethnicity. Average enrollment lasted 27.4 months, and the demographic makeup of the cohort was similar across time periods.

Key findings:

• CUD diagnoses fell about 6% a year before the 2016 vote and rose about 8% a year after, a reversal of the prior trend.
• The upward trend continued after recreational retail sales began.
• By early 2020, more than three years after passage, diagnoses were back to their 2014 level.
• Among the 637,461 adolescents studied, 8,804 were newly diagnosed with CUD over the six years.

The shift in CUD diagnosis began at passage of legalization rather than at the opening of retail stores, which the authors say may reflect changes in the broader legal and social environment around the vote. Passage reduced criminal penalties for cannabis offenses for juveniles, potentially altering how teens weighed the consequences of use. It may also have acted as a normative signal that cannabis is socially acceptable or low-risk, a message amplified by cannabis-related promotion around the 2016 ballot campaign. In addition, as the retail market matured, youth-appealing advertising, product variety and higher-potency THC products expanded, factors that can increase the likelihood of progression to frequent use.

“The new study shows that cannabis laws are tied to changes in young people's rates of cannabis use disorder,” said senior author Kelly Young-Wolff, PhD, MPH, a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. “As potency has risen, it's more important than ever that families understand this is a product that can be addictive and, for some kids, requires real medical care.”

The pattern of CUD diagnosis the research team found echoes a companion study on adolescent self-reported cannabis use they published earlier this year in JAMA Network Open. The study found use was falling before California’s legalization, began climbing after the law passed but before retail stores opened and continued rising to a high of 9.5% in early 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began. In 2024 adolescent use was at 6.5%—near where it stood just before legalization.

The new study has several limitations. The study population were adolescents insured through and seeking care at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, so results may not apply to teens in Southern California, other states or those who are uninsured. Because Proposition 64 took effect statewide, there was no comparison group of unexposed adolescents, and the single-group design cannot rule out unmeasured trends over the same years, including broader shifts in adolescent mental health, screening practices or health care use. The analysis was not preregistered, and the study period ended before the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting conclusions about longer-term trends.

Study:

Padon, AA, Cortez, CA, Alexeeff, SE, Slama, NE, Liccardo Pacula, R, Silver, LD, Sterling SA, Campbell CI, Satre DD, Does MB, Young-Wolff KC. Adolescent Cannabis Use Disorder Following Recreational Cannabis Legalization in California, USA: A Population-Based Interrupted Time Series Study. Addiction. 2026. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/add.70597

Children who began reading for pleasure early in life showed a slew of benefits

 

Reading for pleasure – from tucking into a Jane Austen classic to devouring a Heartstopper graphic novel – is linked to better mental health, greater empathy and a lower risk of dementia, say researchers.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have joined with The Queen’s Reading Room – the charity founded by Her Majesty The Queen – to highlight the benefits of reading for pleasure at any age as part of the National Year of Reading.

In 2025, Professor Barbara Sahakian and Dr Christelle Langley from the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge published Brain Boost: Healthy Habits for a Happier Life. It was while writing this book that they became aware of how widespread the benefits to reading for pleasure are – but also, how there was surprisingly little research in this area.

Today, in a review published in Psychological Medicine, Professor Sahakian and Dr Langley, together with Vicki Perrin, CEO of The Queen’s Reading Room, argue that it doesn’t matter what or how we read, reading for enjoyment can bring huge benefits – and reading with others, whether it’s as part of a book club or a parent reading with their children, can bring even greater rewards.

Professor Sahakian said: “Reading is a great way to support our brain health, develop important cognitive skills and boost our wellbeing. It’s something we ought to be encouraging from an early age, given the increasing evidence of its benefits, particularly to children, but really, it’s never too late to start, and it can bring benefits throughout our lives and into old age.”

Reading among children and adolescents is at its lowest levels since records began, surveys have shown, particularly among adolescent boys and children from disadvantaged backgrounds. But even those who say they enjoy reading the least still recognise its educational value, with nearly half saying it helps them learn new words or new things.

Some of the strongest evidence of the benefits of reading for pleasure come from a study by Professor Sahakian, Dr Langley and colleagues of more than 10,000 young people, which found that children who began reading for pleasure early in life showed benefits including : better attention, memory, and executive functioning, greater academic achievement, fewer mental health problems, and healthier lifestyles, including more sleep and less screen time.

Dr Langley said: “Given how beneficial reading for pleasure is at a young age, we should be doing everything we can to introduce children and young people to reading. The important thing is to find something they’d really enjoy reading about – it might be a TV programme or a game – and use this as a way in. Reading comics and graphic novels could also be a helpful introduction as they might be seen as less intimidating, maybe less boring, than novels.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, reading is strongly associated with improved literacy skills – but it is even linked to mathematical achievement, as reading and maths share similar cognitive processes such as language skills, memory, and executive function.

The benefits are not limited to children and young people. Surveys have suggested a multitude of benefits for adults, particularly related to wellbeing, including reduced stress and better relaxation, greater empathy and understanding of others, and a more tolerant attitude to different perspectives.

Reading has emerged as the most popular method for stress relief, with almost two in five adults (38%) choosing books as their ultimate way to unwind. A neuroscience study commissioned by The Queen’s Reading Room in 2024 found that just five minutes of fiction can reduce stress by up to 20%, as well as boosting concentration and problem-solving skills and helping readers feel less lonely. One survey even found that more people turned to books for comfort (35%) than to wine (31%) or a hot bath (10%).

The benefits can be particularly important later in life. Leisure activities that stimulate the brain – particularly reading – are linked to slower cognitive decline and a reduced risk of dementia in older adults. For example, in a study of almost 5,500 adults aged 55 years and older, individuals who frequently engaged in activities including reading were significantly less likely to develop cognitive impairment over a five-year follow-up period. Another study found that reading newspapers, magazines, and books was associated with a 33% reduction in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

So, why is reading for pleasure so beneficial? Brain imaging studies show a link between reading and differences in brain structure, including: larger volumes and cortical areas in brain regions involved in language, learning, emotional regulation, and executive control; stronger white matter connectivity supporting language processing; and increased cortical thickness in key language-related brain areas.

While most studies only show associations, evidence is emerging of a causal link. Structural brain changes have been shown to follow reading interventions. For example, a small study of 11 children with dyslexia aged 7–11 found that an eight-week training programme focused on mental imagery, articulation, and tracing of letters, letter groups, and words significantly improved reading skills – and these improvements were accompanied by increases in grey matter volume in key brain regions.

The Queen’s Reading Room was first launched on social media in January 2021 as a way of sharing book recommendations and connecting readers during lockdown and has since grown into a global movement of more than 12 million people in 184 countries. The charity works to restore reading to the heart of daily life, through its flagship festival and neuroscientific study, and works in homeless shelters and domestic violence refuges where it uses shared reading as a therapeutic tool in recovery. This social connection can be important to our mental and physical wellbeing, particularly later in life.

Professor Sahakian said: “Shared reading groups and book clubs appear to provide additional benefits through social interaction. They can help people feel less isolated and more connected to others, which has been shown to reduce the risk of dementia.

“While these clubs can be fun and beneficial at any age, they’re perfect for older people who may be not so mobile – they might not be able to go out as an exercise group or a cycling group, but a reading group is something most people can enjoy.”

Vicki Perrin, CEO of The Queen’s Reading Room, added: “At The Queen’s Reading Room, we have seen first-hand the transformative power of individual and shared reading to change lives. Books truly do make life better, and we’re excited to do our bit to help everyone, everywhere, make more room for reading.”

Reference

Sahakian, BJ, Perrin, V & Langley, C. Reading and associations with brain health, cognition, wellbeing and mental health. Psychological Medicine; 15 Sept 2026; DOI: 10.1017/S0033291726105625

Gender gaps in information received about work/life balance

 This paper provides the first causal evidence that gender affects the information an individual receives about careers utilizing a large-scale field experiment in which real college students seek career information from 10,000 working professionals. 

When students ask broadly for information about a career, female students receive substantially more information on work/life balance than male students. This gender difference persists when students specifically ask about work/life balance. A survey of professionals suggests non-altruistic motives for discussing work/life balance with women. 

Combining findings from the field experiment and results from an information intervention, the authors conclude that gender gaps in information received about work/life balance are consequential for gender gaps in career intentions.

The Benefits of Personalized Supports for Low-Income Students

 Children from low-income families face barriers outside the classroom that impede learning and limit opportunities for economic mobility. This study looks at Communities In Schools (CIS), a program that places coordinators in high-poverty schools to connect struggling students with personalized support. Coordinators match students to resources that address academic, behavioral, and basic needs—such as tutoring, mental health counseling, and housing stabilization. CIS is the largest program of its kind in the U.S., reaching 2 million students annually. 

Using the staggered rollout of CIS, the authors find that the program boosts test scores for struggling students. These gains persist, raising high school completion and adult earnings. Improvements in test scores explain only about half of CIS's impact on high school graduation; the remainder reflects progress on non-cognitive outcomes such as attendance and behavior. Consistent with CIS's emphasis on personalization, coordinators tailor services to distinct student needs, yet students with different needs experience comparable long-run gains. 

Placing a trusted adult in schools, backed by a network of programs and services, may offer a scalable way to improve economic mobility.

How Therapeutic Video Games Are Becoming Prescription Medicine for Mental Health

 Once the subject of concern and debate with respect to their impact on well-being, video games are increasingly being redeemed in research and developed for the express purpose of addressing and improving mental health. In this News and Perspectives article, JMIR Correspondent Benedette Cuffari reports on the state of serious games.

Key Takeaways:

• Serious video games use evidence-based psychological methods to support the development of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral skills.
• Therapeutic video games range from US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–authorized treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to commercial games that may support emotional well-being and resilience.

Most mental health disorders emerge during adolescence, with peak onset at just over 14 years of age. The adolescent brain is characterized by a high degree of neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to adapt and form new connections—suggesting that adolescence may also be an ideal period of life for improving and promoting positive mental health through innovative approaches.

But stigma, high costs, and inequitable access to mental health services often prevent adolescents with mental health disorders from receiving treatment, with only half of American adolescents, for example, receiving needed mental health support. If left untreated, these individuals are more likely to drop out of school, experience behavioral difficulties, abuse drugs, and die by suicide; the need for more effective alternatives to conventional treatments is urgent.

What Are Serious Games?

Serious games have emerged as a promising strategy to address mental health concerns, particularly for adolescents, by combining entertainment with validated therapeutic approaches. Compared to traditional video games developed primarily for recreational purposes, serious games are designed by using established principles from cognitive behavioral therapy or acceptance and commitment therapyhttps://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/acceptance-and-commitment-therapy-act-therapyto support cognitive and emotional skills.

Like conventional video games, serious games can immerse users in fictional worlds through a combination of auditory, visual, and tactile stimuli that then help engage them in therapeutic cognitive, behavioral, or emotional learning processes. Typically, they incorporate an overarching storyline, accompanied by player dialogues, in-game feedback, mini-games or quizzes, and other gaming elements to simulate real-life situations. These games can be designed to prevent or treat mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, autism, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and to supplement existing therapies, emotional development education, and standardized academic evaluations.

How Video Games Became Prescription Medicine

For practicing clinicians, therapeutic video games connect evidence-based strategies with patient engagement. “Video games create a safe environment where clients can explore complex emotional themes and practice real-life coping mechanisms,” notes Megan Connell, PsyD, ABPP—a board-certified clinical psychologist specializing in neurodivergent care for women and girls. “Games offer a diverse range of experiences where patients can process challenges through an interactive medium.”

Now, one of them can even be prescribed: EndeavorRx, the first and only video game to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for children between 8 and 17 years of age with primarily inattentive or combined-type ADHD. The basis of EndeavorRx is for users to guide alien avatars traveling on flying saucers through dynamic worlds with changing landscapes and moving obstacles.

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It’s designed to challenge users’ ability to pay attention to multiple things at once, improving their ability to focus and filter out distractions. Powered by a proprietary adaptive algorithm, EndeavorRx continuously adjusts its difficulty to personalize the treatment experience for each patient, which maintains engagement by encouraging them to perform better during each game. With a prescription of up to 25 minutes of play, 5 days a week, for at least 4 consecutive weeks, EndeavorRx has been shown to improve attention capacity in 73% of children.

EndeavorRx should not, however, be considered a stand-alone treatment for ADHD or a replacement for standard medication. Rather, it should be incorporated as one component of a broader treatment plan that may include medication, educational programs, and/or therapy.

From Serious Games to Commercial Games With Serious Impact

Beyond FDA-authorized software, commercial off-the-shelf video games—not explicitly built for therapeutic purposes—are nonetheless increasingly being evaluated as low-cost and accessible mental health interventions. “We utilize indie games like Gris quite a bit,” says Connell, referring to a video game where users guide the main character as she processes a deeply emotional loss. “Each level explores a different aspect of grief, finding yourself, and discovering your own purpose while confronting challenges.”

Eudaimonic video games, like Gris, aren’t designed as mental health treatments but can evoke meaning and improve mood through self-growth experiences that directly address emotional states. In addition to enhancing resiliency to stress, frustration, or sadness through meaningful and reflective scenarios, these video games could function as therapeutic tools for promoting relaxation and emotional well-being.

Even video games like Dark Souls, which was originally created for entertainment purposes alone, may have eudaimonic effects. This combat-focused action role-playing game is incredibly challenging, even for experienced players, and requires characters to die repeatedly as part of the core experience. Yet, research examining the themes present in an online forum dedicated to the game suggests that individuals respond favorably to this dynamic and view it as useful for coping with difficult emotional experiences, like depression. By forcing players to sit with frustration, Dark Souls teaches players to practice perseverance, even when their depression tells them to give up, through frequent failures accompanied by rewarding moments of achievement and victory, while also prompting existential reflection and providing community.

Like EndeavorRx, Dark Souls, Gris, and other nonprescription video games can complement established treatment approaches for their respective indications rather than serve as a replacement for standard treatment. This caveat is particularly important for users who turn to these games to escape from or avoid negative moods, as their overuse can contribute to problematic or excessive gaming rather than help players develop and apply real-world coping skills.

The Future of Serious Games

Many existing serious games are limited by a one-size-fits-all design that requires all players to interact under the same rules, with minimal adaptation to individual differences. To overcome this limitation, AI tools are being explored for their potential to create personalized and realistic environments that adapt, in real time, to changes in the players’ behavior during gaming. Additional customizations can be based on the players’ learning styles, personal strengths, and challenges to make the gaming experience more personalized and engaging.

Virtual gaming experiences can also be enhanced with immersive technologies like virtual reality, which blurs the lines between reality and the digital world to create a more realistic experience that allows players to focus their attention on targeted stimuli. For example, the PainWaive game combines a brain-monitoring headset with the game application to help users learn how to consciously regulate brain activity linked to chronic nerve pain. PainWaive and similar digital therapeutics offer a nonpharmacological alternative that can reduce reliance on addictive prescription opioids.

Incorporating physiological sensors to monitor heart rate, skin conductance, or brain activity also adds a useful layer—providing feedback to users and feeding back into game parameters. As these tools evolve, clinicians emphasize that their integration into the clinic must remain thoughtful. “Any intervention can be helpful or harmful; it depends on how you want to wield it and use it,” Connell concludes.