Recent research: articles from late summer journals
Last updated on 26th December 2014
I read a lot of research. When I find an article of particular interest I download it to my bibliographic database - Endnote - which currently contains over 21,200 abstracts. I also regularly tweet about emerging research, so following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ (click on the relevant icon at the top of this web page) will keep you up to speed with what I'm finding interesting. Additionally you can view this highlighted research by visiting Scoop.it (click on the "it!" icon at the top of this page). At Scoop.it, I stream publications into five overlapping topic areas: Cognitive & General Psychotherapy, Depression, Compassion & Mindfulness, Positive Psychology and Healthy Living. Here you can scan through abstracts (and my comments), follow hyperlinks to the original research papers, and search by keyword (click on the funnel icon or in the tag cloud on the relevant Scoop.it topic pages).
I also provide monthly overviews of this research - sign up for the newsletter to receive this information regularly (see the link at the bottom of this page). Clicking on the topic heading - Cognitive & General Psychotherapy - downloads a hyperlinked PDF list of 30 good recent research studies, including Craske's important paper on "Maximising exposure therapy", Harvey's interesting comparison of BT, CT & full CBT for insomnia, and Mavilidi's helpful suggestion for reducing anxiety & improving performance when taking tests. Click on Depression for an overlapping list of 25 relevant studies (this covers medication too), including Bedson's excellent (and overdue) review of folate augmentation for antidepressants, Beute's intriguing look at the (mental) health benefits of nature & daylight, and Limb's authoritative wake-up call on the great gains obtainable from better identification & treatment of depression in cancer sufferers. The Compassion & Mindfulness link brings 20 recent abstracts. Boettcher reports encouraging results from a randomized controlled trial of internet delivered mindfulness training, Burkland adds to the growing literature on the emotion regulation benefits of affect labeling, and Goyal provides a major review of the health benefits of meditation programmes. Clicking on Positive Psychology downloads abstracts & links to 20 interesting recent papers including Grossmann's "Exploring Solomon's paradox" on wisdom & self-distancing, Hill's report on increased longevity with purpose in life, and Hone's overview of prevalence & ways to assess flourishing. Finally, the Healthy Living link brings details of 35 articles. There's Cuzick's informative overview of the health benefits of regular low dose aspirin use, Lee's interesting exploration of what kinds of traditional moral stories actually help kids live better, and Yudkin's look at non-coeliac gluten sensitivity.
So much fascinating & helpful information here. Remember you can always search these & earlier studies using keywords on James's Scoop.it pages.
Thank you
Submitted by Giovanni Dienstmann (not verified) on Tue, 23/12/2014 - 09:23.
Hi Dr. Hawkins,
I'm working on a massive compilation of scientific evidence about meditation, and I'm happy I stumbled upon your blog.
Keep up spreading the word about this practice!
Thank You
Submitted by James (not verified) on Fri, 26/12/2014 - 11:11.
Thanks for writing Giovanni ... and good luck with your compilation! James