December 2007

Most parents would hotly deny favouring one child over another but new research suggests they may have little choice in the matter.
Biologists studying a unique species of beetle that raises and cares for its young have found that parents instinctively favour the oldest offspring.

The University of Manchester research — published in Ecology this month — supports the findings of studies carried out on human families but is significant in that it suggests a wholly natural tendency towards older siblings. [continue reading…]

How people can learn to stop worrying

We all worry from time to time, but some people find it particularly hard to stop themselves from worrying about lots of different things. People whose lives are seriously affected by worrying can be helped to change their way of thinking, which reduces the uncontrollability of worry. [continue reading…]

Helping children’s emotional development

Psychologists can help parents to expand their children’s emotional vocabulary through a technique called ‘Emotion-rich Reminiscing’ (ER), with important results for those children’s later emotional literacy and behaviour. [continue reading…]