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How to motivate older kids without using rewards, punishment or fear. (No, really.)
Bo Burnham’s movie “Eighth Grade” brilliantly captures the challenges facing tweens and teens. Kids at that age are experiencing a complicated and often awkward time of self-discovery and growth. They are concerned with their identity and sense of self, yet much of what they see and experience can thwart their confidence and ability to make healthy, safe choices. It’s our job as parents and educators to help them develop those skills, but it’s not always clear how to do that effectively.
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Treating Teen Depression Might Improve Mental Health Of Parents, Too
An estimated 12.8 percent of adolescents in the U.S. experience at least one episode of major depression, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. According to previous studies, many of those teens' mental health is linked to depression in their parents. But new research suggests there's a flipside to that parental effect: When teens are treated for depression, their parents' mental health improves, too. We tend to think of depression as affecting individuals. But Myrna Weissman, a psychiatry professor at Columbia University, says, "Depression is a family affair." Weissman has studied depression in families for years.
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Three essential skills for setting work-life boundaries
Ample research suggests that giving yourself time to recharge—separate from email, Slack, social media, etc.—improves happiness, health, and productivity. But even if you know that, communicating such boundaries to demanding colleagues and clients can be difficult, especially when their work depends on yours. Few people struggle with this balancing act more intensely than the FBI’s kidnapping negotiators, whose real-time engagement, responsiveness, and expertise could make or break a life. Organizational psychologist and Wharton professor Adam Grant talked to one such negotiator on WorkLife, his TED podcast about “how to make work not suck.”
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Maria Konnikova Shows Her Cards
As a science writer at The New Yorker, Maria Konnikova, 34, focuses on the brain, and the weird and interesting ways people use their brains. Dr. Konnikova is an experimental psychologist trained at Columbia University. But her latest experiment is on herself. For a book she’s researching on luck and decision-making, Dr. Konnikova began studying poker. Within a year, she had moved from poker novice to poker professional, winning more than $200,000 in tournament jackpots. This summer Poker Stars, an online gaming site, began sponsoring Dr. Konnikova in professional tournaments. We spoke recently for two hours at the offices of The Times.
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This plate design gets young kids to eat more veggies, study finds
Segmented plates with pictures of recommended foods in each compartment led preschoolers to eat more vegetables, according to a research letter published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. These lunch trays have shown similar results in elementary school kids, but not in younger children. The researchers say that this could be a tool to nudge children toward healthy habits early in life. "It's a really important time period in children's lives to experience fruits and vegetables," said report author Emily Melnick, a doctoral candidate in health and behavioral sciences at the University of Colorado Denver.
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A ‘Generationally Perpetuated’ Pattern: Daughters Do More Chores
It has long been true that women are paid less than men at work and do more of the labor at home. It turns out those patterns start as early as childhood. Although there are a few signs that the gap is shrinking, a variety of data shows that girls still spend more time on household chores than boys do. They are also paid less than boys for doing chores and have smaller allowances. One recent analysis, for example, found that boys ages 15 to 19 do about half an hour of housework a day, and girls about 45 minutes. Although girls spend a little less time on chores than they did a decade ago, the time that boys spend hasn’t significantly changed.
