This spooky season, we’re exploring the history, mystery, and science of the Loch Ness Monster. We've spoken to experts and monster hunters and even tried recreating the most iconic evidence. Here’s all our Loch Ness content in one place.
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The human fascination with fear is a long-standing puzzle. From ghost stories told around a campfire to the latest blockbuster horror film, many people actively seek out experiences designed to frighten them. This seemingly contradictory impulse, where negative feelings like terror and anxiety produce a sense of enjoyment and thrill, has intrigued psychologists for decades. Researchers are now using a variety of tools, from brain scans to personality surveys, to understand this complex relationship.
Their work is revealing how our brains process fear, what personality traits draw us to the dark side of entertainment, and even how these experiences might offer surprising psychological benefits. Here is a look at twelve recent studies that explore the multifaceted psychology of horror, fear, and the paranormal.
(You can click on the subtitles to learn more about the studies.)
A new theory proposes that horror films appeal to us because they provide a safe, controlled setting for our brains to practice managing uncertainty. This idea is based on a framework known as predictive processing, which suggests the brain operates like a prediction engine. It constantly makes forecasts about what will happen next, and when reality doesn’t match its predictions, it generates a “prediction error” that it works to resolve.
This process doesn’t mean we only seek out calm, predictable situations. Instead, our brains are wired to find ideal opportunities for learning, which often exist at the edge of our understanding. We are drawn toward a “Goldlilocks zone” of manageable uncertainty that is neither too simple nor too chaotic. The rewarding feeling comes not just from being correct, but from the rate at which we reduce our uncertainty.
Horror films appear to be engineered to place us directly in this zone. They manipulate our predictive minds with a mix of the familiar and the unexpected. Suspenseful music and classic horror tropes build our anticipation, while jump scares suddenly violate our predictions. By engaging with this controlled chaos, we get to experience and resolve prediction errors in a low-stakes environment, which the brain can find inherently gratifying.
Research from an evolutionary perspective suggests that our enjoyment of horror serves a practical purpose: it prepares us for real-world dangers. This “threat-simulation hypothesis” posits that engaging with scary media is an adaptive trait, allowing us to explore threatening scenarios and rehearse our responses from a position of safety. Through horror, we can learn about predators, hostile social encounters, and other dangers without facing any actual risk.
A survey of over 1,100 adults found that a majority of people consume horror media and more than half enjoy it. The study revealed that people who enjoy horror expect to experience a range of positive emotions like joy and surprise alongside fear. This supports the idea that the negative emotion of fear is balanced by positive feelings, a phenomenon some call “benign masochism.”
The findings also showed that sensation-seeking was a strong predictor of horror enjoyment, as was a personality trait related to intellect and imagination. It seems those who seek imaginative stimulation are particularly drawn to horror. By providing a vast space for emotional and cognitive play, frightening entertainment allows us to build and display mastery over situations that would be terrifying in real life.
To better understand what makes a horror movie entertaining, researchers surveyed nearly 600 people about their reactions to short scenes from various horror subgenres. The study found that three key factors predicted both excitement and enjoyment: the intensity of fear the viewer felt, their curiosity about morbid topics, and how realistic they perceived the scenes to be.
The experience of fear itself was powerfully linked to both excitement and enjoyment, showing that the thrill of being scared is a central part of the appeal. Morbid curiosity also played a significant role, indicating that people with a natural interest in dark subjects are more likely to find horror entertaining. The perceived realism of a scene heightened the experience as well.
However, not all negative emotions contributed to the fun. Scenes that provoked high levels of disgust tended to decrease enjoyment, even if they were still exciting. This finding suggests that while fear can be a source of pleasure for horror fans, disgust often introduces an element that makes the experience less enjoyable overall.
Fear is not just for adults. A large-scale survey of 1,600 Danish parents has revealed that “recreational fear,” or the experience of activities that are both scary and fun, is a nearly universal part of childhood. An overwhelming 93% of children between the ages of 1 and 17 were reported to enjoy at least one type of scary yet fun activity, with 70% engaging in one weekly.
The study identified clear developmental trends in how children experience recreational fear. Younger children often find it in physical and imaginative play, such as being playfully chased or engaging in rough-and-tumble games. As they grow into adolescence, their interest shifts toward media-based experiences like scary movies, video games, and frightening online content. One constant across all ages was the enjoyment of activities involving high speeds, heights, or depths, like swings and amusement park rides.
These experiences are predominantly social. Young children typically engage with parents or siblings, while adolescents turn to friends. This social context may provide a sense of security that allows children to explore fear safely. The researchers propose that this type of play is beneficial, helping children learn to regulate their emotions, test their limits, and build psychological resilience.
A study involving 300 college students suggests that your favorite movie genre might offer clues about your personality. Using the well-established Big Five personality model, researchers found consistent links between film preferences and traits like extraversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism.
Fans of horror films tended to score higher in extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, suggesting they may be outgoing, cooperative, and organized. They also scored lower in neuroticism and openness, which could indicate they are less emotionally reactive and less drawn to abstract ideas. In contrast, those who favored drama scored higher in conscientiousness and neuroticism, while adventure film fans were more extraverted and spontaneous.
While these findings point to a relationship between personality and media choice, the study has limitations. The sample was limited to a specific age group and cultural background, so the results may not apply to everyone. The research also cannot determine whether personality shapes film choice or if the films we watch might influence our personality over time.
Morbid curiosity, a trait defined by an interest in dangerous phenomena, may help explain why some people are drawn to music with violent themes, like death metal or certain subgenres of rap. A recent study found that people with higher levels of morbid curiosity were more likely to listen to and enjoy music with violent lyrics.
In an initial survey, researchers found that fans of music with violent themes scored higher on a scale of morbid curiosity than fans of other genres. A second experiment involved having participants listen to musical excerpts. The results showed that morbid curiosity predicted enjoyment of extreme metal with violent lyrics, but not rap music with violent lyrics, suggesting different factors may be at play for different genres.
The study authors propose that morbid curiosity is not a deviant trait, but an adaptive one that helps people learn about threatening aspects of life in a safe, simulated context. Music with violent themes can act as one of these simulations, allowing listeners to explore dangerous ideas and the emotions they evoke without any real-world consequences.
People who enjoy horror movies may have been better equipped to handle the psychological stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. A study conducted in April 2020 surveyed 322 U.S. adults about their genre preferences, morbid curiosity, and psychological state during the early days of the pandemic.
The researchers found that fans of horror movies reported less psychological distress than non-fans. They were less likely to agree with statements about feeling more depressed or having trouble sleeping since the pandemic began. Fans of “prepper” genres, such as zombie and apocalyptic films, also reported less distress and said they felt more prepared for the pandemic.
The study’s authors speculate that horror fans may have developed better emotion-regulation skills by repeatedly exposing themselves to frightening fiction in a controlled way. This “practice” with fear in a safe setting could have translated into greater resilience when faced with a real-world crisis.
Engaging with frightening entertainment might temporarily alter brain network patterns associated with depression. A study found that in individuals with mild-to-moderate depression, a controlled scary experience was linked to a brief reduction in the over-connectivity between two key brain networks: the default mode network (active during self-focused thought) and the salience network (which detects important events).
This over-connectivity is thought to contribute to rumination, a cycle of negative thoughts common in depression. By demanding a person’s full attention, the scary experience appeared to pull focus away from this internal loop and onto the external threat. The greater this reduction in connectivity, the more enjoyment participants reported.
The study also found that individuals with moderate depression needed a more intense scare to reach their peak enjoyment compared to those with minimal symptoms. While the observed brain changes were temporary, the findings raise questions about the interplay between fear, pleasure, and emotion regulation.
A recent study has found a connection between the type of horror media people watch and their beliefs in the paranormal. After surveying over 600 Belgian adults, researchers discovered that consumption of horror content claiming to be based on “true events” or presented as reality was associated with stronger paranormal beliefs.
Specifically, people who frequently watched paranormal reality TV shows and horror films marketed as being based on a true story were more likely to endorse beliefs in things like ghosts, spiritualism, and psychic powers. Other fictional horror genres, such as monster movies or psychological thrillers, did not show a similar connection.
This finding aligns with media effect theories suggesting that when content is perceived as more realistic or credible, it can have a stronger impact on a viewer’s attitudes. However, the study’s design means it is also possible that people who already believe in the paranormal are simply more drawn to this type of content.
Individuals who strongly believe in paranormal phenomena may exhibit different brain activity and cognitive patterns compared to skeptics. A study using electroencephalography (EEG) to record the brain’s electrical activity found that paranormal believers had reduced power in certain brainwave frequencies, specifically in the alpha, beta, and gamma bands, particularly in the frontal, parietal, and occipital regions of the brain.
Participants also completed a cognitive task designed to measure inhibitory control, which is the ability to suppress impulsive actions. Paranormal believers made more errors on this task than skeptics, suggesting reduced inhibitory control. They also reported experiencing more everyday cognitive failures, such as memory slips and attention lapses.
The researchers found that activity in one specific frequency band, beta2 in the frontal lobe, appeared to mediate the relationship between paranormal beliefs and inhibitory control. This suggests that differences in brain function, particularly in regions involved in high-level cognitive processes, may be connected to a person’s conviction in the paranormal.
Unusual events like premonitions, vivid dreams, and out-of-body sensations are surprisingly common, and people who report them often share certain psychological traits. A series of three studies involving over 2,200 adults found a strong link between anomalous experiences and a trait called “subconscious connectedness,” which describes the degree to which a person’s conscious and subconscious minds influence each other.
People who scored high in subconscious connectedness reported having anomalous experiences far more frequently than those with low scores. In one national survey, 86% of participants said they had at least one type of anomalous experience more than once. The most commonly reported was déjà vu, followed by correctly sensing they were being stared at and having premonitions that came true.
These experiences were also associated with other traits, including absorption, dissociation, vivid imagination, and a tendency to trust intuition. While people who reported more anomalous experiences also tended to report more stress and anxiety, these associations were modest, suggesting such experiences are a normal part of human psychology for many.
The eerie sensation that someone is nearby when you are alone may be a product of your brain trying to make sense of uncertainty. A study found that this “feeling of presence” is more likely to occur when people are in darkness with their senses dulled. Under these conditions, the brain may rely more on internal cues and expectations, sometimes generating the impression of an unseen agent.
In an experiment, university students sat alone in a darkened room for 30 minutes while wearing a sleeping mask and earplugs. The results showed that participants who reported higher levels of internal uncertainty were more likely to feel that another person was with them. This suggests that when sensory information is limited, the brain may interpret ambiguous bodily sensations or anxious feelings as evidence of an outside presence.
This cognitive process might be an evolutionary holdover. From a survival standpoint, it is safer to mistakenly assume a predator is hiding in the dark than to ignore a real one. This bias toward detecting agents could help explain why ghostly encounters and beliefs in invisible beings are so common across human cultures, especially in situations of isolation and vulnerability.
A new study reports that a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids during pregnancy can prevent some of the lasting neuropsychiatric effects of prenatal THC exposure in rats. The findings, published in Molecular Psychiatry, suggest these protective effects are much more pronounced in male offspring, highlighting a significant sex-based difference in the outcomes.
The rationale behind the investigation stems from the increasing use of cannabis during pregnancy, coupled with a public perception that it is relatively safe. Scientific evidence, however, suggests that prenatal exposure to THC, the main psychoactive component in cannabis, can pose risks to a developing fetus. THC can cross the placenta and directly affect the fetal brain, interfering with the endocannabinoid system, a complex network of signals that helps guide proper brain formation.
This natural signaling system is built from fatty acids, which are lipids. The authors behind the new study hypothesized that since THC disrupts this lipid-based system, a dietary intervention focused on beneficial lipids like omega-3 fatty acids might offer a protective effect. Omega-3s are known to be fundamental for building healthy brain cells and circuits, making them a logical candidate for counteracting some of THC’s disruptive influence.
“Cannabis use during pregnancy is rising and there are misperceptions about its safety for the developing fetal brain. There is also a big knowledge gap about how prenatal cannabis use can impact critical brain developmental systems like the omega-3 fatty acid pathway, which is critical for healthy brain development and mental health outcomes,” said study author Steven R. Laviolette, a professor and director of the Addiction Research Group at the University of Western Ontario.
To explore this, the research team used a rat model. Pregnant rats were divided into four groups. Two groups received a standard control diet, and two received a diet enriched with omega-3 fatty acids. Within each dietary group, half of the dams were given daily injections of THC during gestation, while the other half received a harmless vehicle injection. This created four experimental conditions for the offspring: a control group, a group exposed only to omega-3s, a group exposed only to THC, and a group exposed to both THC and the omega-3 diet.
The researchers then followed the offspring into adulthood, conducting a comprehensive series of tests to assess their behavior, brain function, and brain chemistry. The first observation was related to birth weight. Offspring exposed to THC had significantly lower birth weights, but this effect was prevented in the pups whose mothers were on the omega-3 diet.
Behavioral testing in adulthood revealed clear, sex-specific outcomes. Males exposed to THC showed heightened anxiety-like behaviors in various tests. This anxiety was absent in the THC-exposed males that also received the omega-3 diet, suggesting the diet had a preventative effect. Females did not show the same anxiety-like behaviors from THC exposure.
The researchers also examined cognitive function through tests of social interaction, spatial working memory, and the ability to recognize objects in a specific order. In these tasks, prenatal THC exposure led to deficits in both male and female offspring. The omega-3 diet successfully prevented these cognitive problems in males. For females, the benefits were limited; the diet helped restore social motivation but did not improve their performance on the other memory tasks.
“We were surprised by 1) how severe the THC-induced abnormalities in omega-3-6 levels were in the brain and 2) how males and female offspring were differentially impacted by these effects, demonstrating that male vs. female offspring show differential sensitivity to maternal cannabis exposure,” Laviolette told PsyPost.
To understand the brain activity behind these behaviors, the team recorded electrical signals from neurons in three interconnected brain regions: the prefrontal cortex, the nucleus accumbens, and the hippocampus. They found that THC altered the normal firing patterns of brain cells differently in males and females. In the prefrontal cortex, THC caused hyperactivity in both sexes. The omega-3 diet restored normal activity in males but was less effective in females.
In the hippocampus, a region important for memory and mood, THC had opposite effects on activity in the two sexes. It made neurons in males underactive, while making neurons in females overactive. The omega-3 diet successfully corrected this imbalance in both sexes, returning neuronal activity to normal levels. The communication patterns between brain regions, which rely on coordinated rhythmic electrical waves, were also disrupted by THC. Again, the omega-3 diet helped normalize these communication rhythms more effectively in males than in females.
The deepest level of analysis looked at the molecular makeup of the brain, focusing on the lipids and proteins that are the building blocks of brain function. The results here were particularly revealing. THC exposure caused widespread disruptions in the balance of fatty acids and other lipid molecules in all three brain regions studied.
Even in the males whose behavior and brain activity appeared to be normalized by the omega-3 diet, these fundamental lipid imbalances persisted into adulthood. This suggests that while the dietary intervention could prevent outward symptoms, it did not completely fix the underlying chemical disruption caused by THC.
“While our dietary intervention prevented some of the negative impacts of fetal cannabis exposure, it did not fully restore normal fatty acid levels in the brain,” Laviolette said. “Thus, further research is needed to determine the precise balance of omega-3 (e.g. DHA vs. EPA) in order to block these negative outcomes.”
“Our findings are not to suggest that adding omega-3 supplements during pregnancy can prevent the negative effects of maternal cannabis exposure. Cannabis use during pregnancy is always dangerous and can have unintended negative effects on the developing child’s brain.”
Similarly, THC altered the levels of important proteins involved in brain cell communication and structure. The omega-3 diet helped correct many of these protein changes in males, but the effects were far less consistent in females. The findings collectively point to a scenario where the omega-3 diet provides a substantial buffering effect against THC-induced damage in the male brain, but the female brain seems to respond very differently to both the initial THC exposure and the dietary intervention.
“The major finding is that we found that exposure to THC during fetal brain development can strongly disrupt the normal balance between the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid pathways in the developing brain,” Laviolette explained. “These pathways need to be balanced in order to control processes like inflammation and oxidative stress, which are linked to increased risk for many cognitive and psychiatric problems in children.”
“We found that if we intervened with a high omega-3 dietary intervention during pregnancy, we were able to prevent many of the negative outcomes from maternal cannabis use. Importantly, this is not to suggest that taking omega-3 along with cannabis is a safer option, rather, it demonstrates that cannabis can strongly interfere with the developing brains normal balance of the omega-3-6 signaling pathways and that it would be necessary to restore healthy omega-3 fatty acid levels to block some of these dangerous side-effects of maternal cannabis use.”
“We also found that maternal cannabis use impacts three major brain areas, the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and striatum, all of which had disruptions in normal fatty acid signaling levels and male and female offspring showed cognitive deficits in later life that were associated with pathology in these brain areas,” Laviolette said.
The study has some limitations. The research was conducted in rats, and while these models are informative for understanding basic neurobiology, the findings do not automatically translate to humans. The specific mechanisms, such as the diet’s effect on inflammation in the placenta, were not directly measured and require more investigation.
Looking ahead, researchers plan to further explore the biological reasons for the profound differences between male and female responses. They also hope to investigate whether providing omega-3 supplementation later in life, such as during childhood or adolescence, could help reverse or prevent problems that emerge long after birth.
The study, “Perinatal omega-3 sex-selectively mitigates neuropsychiatric impacts of prenatal THC in the cortico-striatal-hippocampal circuit,” was authored by Mohammed H. Sarikahya, Samantha L. Cousineau, Marta De Felice, Hanna J. Szkudlarek, Kendrick Lee, Aleksandra Doktor, Amanda Alcaide, Marieka V. DeVuono, Anubha Dembla, Karen Wong, Mathanke Balarajah, Sebastian Vanin, Miray Youssef, Kuralay Zhaksylyk, Madeline Machado, Haseeb Mahmood, Susanne Schmid, Ken K.-C. Yeung, Daniel B. Hardy, Walter Rushlow & Steven R. Laviolette.
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A new study suggests that when mothers experience both depressive symptoms and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, their two-year-old children may face a heightened risk of developing their own depressive symptoms and attention difficulties. The combination of these maternal conditions appears to create a compounded challenge for early child development. The findings were published in the journal Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology.
Researchers have long understood that a mother’s mental health can influence her child’s development. Conditions like depression and ADHD have been studied independently, with each showing links to certain challenges in parenting and child outcomes. However, these two conditions frequently occur together in individuals, creating a more complex set of difficulties. The combined impact of these co-occurring symptoms on very young children has not been well explored.
This gap in knowledge prompted the study led by Michal Levy and a team of researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. They wanted to understand how maternal depression and ADHD symptoms might jointly predict a child’s emotional and attentional development. The researchers focused on the period from pregnancy through the first two years of a child’s life. This early stage is a time of rapid brain growth and development, where a child is highly dependent on caregivers for emotional regulation and support, making it a particularly sensitive period.
To investigate this, the researchers conducted a longitudinal study, following a group of families over an extended period. The study began with 156 mothers and their children, who were recruited during the second trimester of pregnancy. Data was collected at three different times: during pregnancy, when the infants were three months old, and again when the children reached two years of age. This multi-wave approach allowed the researchers to track how symptoms and behaviors changed over time.
During the pregnancy assessment, mothers completed questionnaires to report on their symptoms of ADHD . They also reported on their own depressive symptoms at all three time points: during pregnancy, at three months postpartum, and at the two-year follow-up. When the children were two years old, their development was assessed in two ways. First, mothers filled out a standardized checklist to report on any depressive symptoms their child might be exhibiting, such as sadness, irritability, or loss of interest in play.
Second, the children’s ability to sustain attention was measured directly through a structured play session. Each two-year-old was brought into a lab setting and given a set of colorful blocks to play with independently for up to four minutes. An experimenter was present but did not interact with the child. These play sessions were video-recorded. Later, trained research assistants watched the recordings and coded the child’s level of focused attention in five-second intervals. High attention was marked by a steady gaze and active, engaged play with the blocks, while low attention was noted by off-task glances and passive handling of the toys.
The analysis of the data revealed a complex interplay between the two maternal conditions. The most significant developmental difficulties in children at age two were seen when mothers reported high levels of both ADHD symptoms and depressive symptoms. The findings showed that a mother’s depressive symptoms were associated with worse outcomes for her child, but primarily when her ADHD symptoms were also elevated.
Specifically, the researchers found that higher maternal depressive symptoms at three months after birth were associated with more depressive symptoms in their two-year-old children. However, this connection was only statistically significant for mothers who also had moderate to high levels of ADHD symptoms. For mothers with low levels of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms, their level of depression did not show a significant link to their child’s depressive symptoms.
A similar pattern emerged when looking at the children’s focused attention. The study found that a mother’s depressive symptoms at three months were linked to lower focused attention in her two-year-old during the block-playing task. Again, this relationship was only present when the mother reported high levels of ADHD symptoms. The presence of both conditions in the mother appeared to create a dual risk factor that amplified the potential for challenges in the child.
The study also noted that depressive symptoms reported by mothers at three months postpartum were a stronger predictor of child outcomes than depressive symptoms reported during pregnancy. The authors suggest that this may point to the importance of the postnatal caregiving environment. After a child is born, disruptions in mother-child interactions caused by maternal mental health challenges may have a more direct effect on a child’s emerging emotional and attentional skills.
The researchers acknowledge some limitations in their work. The assessment of children’s depressive symptoms was based on reports from their mothers, which could be influenced by the mothers’ own mental state. Future research could benefit from including observations from other caregivers or clinicians to get a more comprehensive picture of the child’s emotional state.
Additionally, the study did not directly measure parenting behaviors. While it is likely that the combination of maternal depression and ADHD affects children through disruptions in parenting, such as inconsistent routines or reduced emotional availability, this study did not observe those mechanisms. Future studies could include observations of parent-child interactions to better understand how these maternal symptoms translate into behaviors that shape child development. Finally, maternal ADHD symptoms were only measured once, during pregnancy.
Despite these limitations, the research provides important insights into the compounded risks associated with co-occurring maternal mental health conditions. The findings suggest that the combination of maternal depression and ADHD symptoms may create a uniquely challenging environment for a young child. This highlights a need for more integrated approaches to maternal mental health screening and support, recognizing that addressing one condition without considering the other may not be enough to promote optimal child development.
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A new study suggests that while a majority of young American adults worry about mass shootings, their shared fear does not unite them on the issue of gun control. Instead, for certain groups, higher levels of fear are linked to stronger opposition to firearm restrictions, a finding that complicates predictions about the nation’s future gun policy. The research was published in the journal Social Science Quarterly.
“This is a generation of people who live with significant fear and anxiety over mass violence,” said senior author Jillian Turanovic, associate professor of sociology. “But we found that those shared fears do not unite them in attitudes on gun policy. In fact, they polarize them.”
The researchers sought to investigate a common assumption about the generation of Americans aged 18 to 29. Often called the “massacre generation,” these emerging adults grew up in an era defined by high-profile school shootings and constant media coverage of mass violence. Given these formative experiences, many observers have predicted that as this generation gains political power, they will form a unified front in favor of stricter gun legislation. The research team wanted to examine if this belief held up to scrutiny, or if shared anxiety over mass violence might produce more complex and even contradictory outcomes.
To explore this question, the scientists conducted a survey of 1,674 emerging adults from all 50 states in May 2023. The survey was designed to measure participants’ attitudes toward gun control by asking their level of agreement with statements about firearm access, such as whether owning more guns enhances safety or if guns should be allowed on college campuses.
Separately, the survey assessed their fear of mass shootings by asking how much they worried about an attack occurring in different public settings, including schools, shopping malls, and large events. The researchers then used statistical analysis to determine the relationship between fear and gun policy sentiment, while also accounting for other factors like political affiliation, gender, race, education, and personal experiences with crime.
The study confirmed that fear of mass shootings is widespread among this age group, with more than 60 percent of respondents reporting that they worry a mass shooting will affect their lives. In general, the researchers found a modest connection between higher levels of fear and greater support for gun control policies. This overall trend, however, masked deep divisions within the generation.
When the researchers analyzed the data by political identity, a starkly different pattern emerged. For young adults who identified as Republicans or conservatives, experiencing greater fear of mass shootings was associated with less support for gun control. This finding suggests that for these individuals, the fear of violence may reinforce a belief in armed self-defense, often described as the “good guy with a gun” perspective, rather than a desire for more government regulation of firearms.
A similar polarizing effect was observed among young men. While men and women with low levels of fear had similar views on gun policy, the gap between them widened as fear increased. Among young men, higher levels of fear were connected to increased opposition to gun restrictions. This may reflect cultural ideas that link masculinity with the roles of protector and provider, where owning a firearm is seen as a tool for ensuring personal and family safety.
The researchers also looked at whether the relationship between fear and gun attitudes differed by region. They found an unexpected pattern in the Northeast. In contrast to other parts of the country where fear tended to increase support for gun control, in the Northeast, higher levels of fear were associated with a slight decrease in support for such policies. The authors speculate this could be because some of the nation’s strictest gun laws are already in place in the Northeast, and high-profile attacks in the region may lead some residents to question the effectiveness of these laws.
The study did not find that race, ethnicity, or educational attainment significantly altered the relationship between fear of mass shootings and views on gun control. This indicates that political ideology and gender may be more powerful drivers of gun policy attitudes within this generation, at least when it comes to responding to the threat of mass violence.
The authors note some limits to their work. The survey provides a snapshot in time and cannot establish whether fear directly causes a shift in policy attitudes or if pre-existing attitudes shape how individuals react to fear. Because the sample, while diverse, was not perfectly representative of all young adults in the U.S., the findings should be seen as exploratory.
Future research could track individuals over time to better understand how their views evolve, particularly after they experience a mass shooting event in their community. Additional studies could also examine a broader range of specific gun policies, such as waiting periods or red flag laws, to get a more detailed picture of young adults’ preferences.
Ultimately, the research indicates that the political future of gun legislation is not as straightforward as some might assume. The shared experience of growing up under the shadow of mass shootings does not automatically create a consensus on solutions. For policymakers and advocates, these findings suggest that addressing gun violence will require acknowledging the deep-seated ideological divides that persist even within America’s youngest generation of voters.
For years now, research studies across the world looking at happiness across our lifetimes have found a U-shape: happiness falls from a high point in youth, and then rises again after middle age. This has been mirrored in studies on unhappiness, which show a peak in middle age and a decline thereafter.
Our new research on ill-being, based on data from 44 countries including the US and UK, shows this established pattern has changed. We now see a peak of unhappiness among the young, which then declines with age. The change isn’t due to middle-aged and older people getting happier, but to a deterioration in young people’s mental health.
A closer look at data from the US shows this clearly. We used publicly available health data, which surveys more than 400,000 people each year, to identify the percentage of people in the US in despair between 1993 and 2024. Those we define as being in despair were the people who had answered that their mental health was not good every day in the 30 days preceding the survey.
Across most of the period, among both men and women, levels of despair were highest among the oldest age group (45-70) and higher for the middle-aged (25-44) than the young (18-24). However, the percentage of young people in despair has risen rapidly. It’s more than doubled for men, from 2.5% in 1993 to 6.6% in 2024, and almost trebled for women – from 3.2% to 9.3%.
Despair also rose markedly among the middle-aged, but less rapidly. It’s gone up from 4.2% to 8.5% for women and from 3.1% to 6.9% for men. The percentage of older men and women in despair rose only a little over the period.
As a result, by 2023-24 relative levels of despair across age groups were reversed for women. The youngest age group has the highest levels of despair, and the oldest age group the lowest. For men, the level of despair was similar for the youngest and middle-aged groups, and lowest for the oldest age group.
These trends have resulted in a very different relationship between age and ill-being over time in the US.
Between 2009 and 2018, despair is hump-shaped in age. However, the rapid rise in despair before the age of 45, and especially before the mid-20s, has fundamentally changed the lifecycle profile of despair. This means that the hump-shape is no longer apparent between 2019 and 2024.
Despair rose the most for the youngest group but also rose for those up to age 45; it remained unchanged for those aged over 45.
Our study found similar trends for Britain, based on analyses of despair in the UK Household Longitudinal Survey and anxiety in the Annual Population Survey. It also shows that the percentage in despair declines with age in another 42 countries between 2020 and 2025, based on analyses of data from the Global Minds Project.
Investigating causes
Research into the reasons for these changes is underway but remains inconclusive. The growth in despair predates the COVID pandemic by a number of years, although COVID may have contributed to an increasing rate of deterioration in young people’s mental health.
There is a growing body of evidence that identifies a link between the rise in ill-being of the young and heavy use of the internet and smartphones. Some research suggests that smartphone use is indeed a cause of worsening youth mental health. Research that limited access to smartphones found significant improvements in adults’ self-reported wellbeing.
However, even if screen time is a contributory factor, it is unlikely to be the sole or even the chief reason for the rising despair among the young. Our very recent research, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, points to a reduction in the power of paid work to protect young people from poor mental health. While young people in paid work tend to have better mental health than those who are unemployed or unable to work, the gap has been closing recently as despair among young workers rises.
Although the causes of the changes we describe have yet to be fully understood, it would be prudent for policymakers to place the issue of rising despair among young people at the heart of any wellbeing strategy.
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A study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family examined the connection between fathers taking paternity leave and the developmental progress of their young children in Singapore. The researchers found that when fathers took two weeks or more of paternity leave, it was associated with increased involvement in childcare, stronger father-child bonds, and improved family dynamics. These factors, in turn, were linked to better academic performance and fewer behavioral challenges in children as they grew from preschool into early primary school.
Previous research , mostly from Western countries, has found that paternity leave was connected to fathers being more involved in childcare and to stronger family ties. However, there was less understanding of how this policy directly influenced the development of young children, especially over a longer period. This gap in knowledge was particularly notable in Asian societies, where paternity leave policies are often newer and offer shorter durations compared to European nations.
In Asia, many regions have only recently introduced paternity leave policies, or they do not have them at all. The length of leave available to fathers in these countries is generally shorter. For example, some countries offer only a few days, while others, like South Korea and Japan, have expanded leave to up to a year.
“Many Asian societies, including Singapore, are facing the challenges of raising fertility rates and the related issues of gender inequality within the family. Some western governments (especially Nordic countries) had introduced longer parental leave to alleviate parents’ work-life conflict and encourage fathers’ participation in childcare decades ago,” said study author Wei-Jun Jean Yeung, a professor and chair of the Family, Children, and Youth Research Cluster at the National University of Singapore.
“In Asian countries, while maternity leave has been widely provided, paternity leave is either relatively short compared to Nordic countries, or non-existing. We believe paternity leave is very important because it helps fathers build stronger bonds with their children and improve couples’ relationships, which could indirectly reduce gender inequality and potentially affect couples’ intention to have a child.”
“However, no study has comprehensively examined how paternity leave affects family relationships and early childhood development. This gap led us to start our research on the topic. This paper is our second study, following our first one published in 2022. We believe the results will be useful for Singapore and other Asian countries, particularly East Asian countries such as South Korea, Japan, and China, which also shares more prevalent patriarchal norms and ‘ultra-low’ fertility levels.”
The research was guided by two main theoretical perspectives: family systems theory and social capital theory. Family systems theory suggests that a family operates as a connected unit, where the actions and experiences of one member, such as a father’s involvement in childcare, can influence other parts of the family, including children’s development and the relationships between parents.
Social capital theory posits that strong relationships and bonds within a family, such as those between parents and children, contribute positively to a child’s development. Paternity leave is seen as a way to enhance this family social capital by giving fathers time to become more competent and involved caregivers.
The researchers analyzed data from the Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study (SG-LEADS), which collected information from a large, representative sample of Singaporean children and their primary caregivers in two waves: 2018/2019 and 2021. The study focused on children who were born after May 1, 2013, which is when Singapore’s paternity leave policy began.
The final sample included 3895 children who lived with two parents and whose primary caregiver was their mother. For analyses focusing on developmental outcomes, the sample was further narrowed to children aged three and above who had reported data on both behavioral problems and academic achievements in both waves.
To measure children’s development, the study used the Children’s Behavior Problems Index (BPI) for children aged three and above, which assesses externalizing behaviors like aggression and internalizing behaviors like anxiety. Academic achievements were measured using test scores for letter-word identification and applied problems from the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement. The key independent variable was paternity leave-taking, categorized based on whether fathers took no leave, one week of leave, or two weeks or more of leave, as reported by the mothers.
The researchers also examined several factors as potential intermediaries. Fathers’ involvement was measured by mothers’ reports of how much fathers participated in childcare activities like bathing, changing diapers, and playing. Father-child closeness was assessed by mothers’ statements about how close their child felt to their father. Family dynamics was a broader concept encompassing family conflict, marital satisfaction, and parenting aggravation, all reported by mothers.
The results showed that taking two weeks or more of paternity leave was associated with higher scores in children’s letter-word identification when they were three to six years old, and again when they were five to eight years old. This suggests a direct and lasting benefit for verbal skills.
For children’s applied problems, which measure numeracy skills, taking two weeks or more of leave was positively related to scores when children were three to six years old. Taking one week of leave was linked to better applied problems scores when children were five to eight years old, after accounting for earlier scores. This indicates some direct benefits for numerical abilities as well.
The researchers also found positive connections between paternity leave and the intermediary factors. Specifically, taking two weeks or more of paternity leave was linked to greater fathers’ involvement in childcare activities, stronger father-child closeness, and more positive family dynamics.
Fathers’ involvement, in turn, was positively related to father-child closeness, and both of these were associated with better family dynamics. While fathers’ involvement and father-child closeness did not directly influence children’s verbal academic scores, father-child closeness was directly related to children’s applied problems scores when they were three to six years old.
For children’s behavioral outcomes, paternity leave did not have a direct effect. Instead, its impact was entirely indirect. Taking two weeks or more of paternity leave was associated with fewer behavioral problems in children when they were three to six years old, and also later when they were five to eight years old, primarily through improved family dynamics. This suggests that paternity leave helps reduce children’s behavioral challenges by fostering a more supportive and cohesive family environment.
“Paternity leave is good for family relations and for children’s development,” Yeung told PsyPost. “It has the potential to improve spousal relations and parent-child relation. Our results show that 2 weeks or longer paternity leave was linked to greater fathers’ involvement in childcare, closer father-child relationships, and enhanced family dynamics (i.e, family members have fewer conflicts, mothers have higher marital satisfaction and feel less stressed about raising children). It can also have long-term benefits for children’s cognitive development and social-emotional well-being during early childhood.
“However, paternity leave should be at least two weeks or longer. We found one-week paternity leave does not have a positive impact on family dynamics and child development. It is possible that one week is too short for fathers to build a routine, learn the many new skills needed to care for a baby, and figure out how to work together with the mother. Two weeks gives fathers and mothers more time to adjust emotionally and practically, and to enjoy time with their new baby.”
“We should encourage countries to provide government-subsidized paternity leave that is at least two weeks long, and enable fathers to take paternity leave, because of its potential benefits to family and child well-being.”
The researchers controlled for a range of other influences, such as parents’ education, income, age, children’s age and gender, and household living arrangements, including the presence of domestic helpers or grandparents.
“A common misinterpretation of the results is that fathers who are more likely to take paternity leave are of higher socioeconomic status (SES), and it is the higher SES that makes their children do better cognitively and behaviorally,” Yeung said. “In our study, we have used rigorous methodology to address this selectivity issue, including using data from a nationally representative longitudinal study and taking into account a large number of parents’ and family characteristics to “isolate” the net impact of paternity leave taking on children’s developmental outcomes. ”
But there are still some limitations to consider. The study did not have information on fathers’ gender attitudes or their involvement before the child’s birth, which could influence their decision to take leave and their subsequent parenting behaviors. The measures for fathers’ involvement and family relationships were based on mothers’ reports, which might introduce some bias.
Future research could benefit from including perspectives from both parents. The measure of fathers’ involvement could also be expanded to include engagement in children’s educational and social activities more broadly. The researchers also acknowledge that while they used robust methods to account for pre-existing differences between fathers who took leave and those who did not, it cannot definitively prove a causal link due to the potential for unmeasured factors to play a role.
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