In Brief
types of psychotherapy, and all forms
and lengths of treatment proved equally
effective. Researchers also found that
treatment conducted online appears to
be as effective as treatment conducted
in person, and that the beneficial effects
of therapy last at least six to 12 months
after treatment has concluded (Clinical
Gastroenterology and Hepatology, online
Dec. 22).
n Men generally have higher levels
of self-esteem than women, but that
gender gap is more pronounced in
industrialized nations, according to
research by University of California,
Davis, psychologists. They analyzed
survey data comparing self-reported self-esteem, gender and age among more than
985,000 individuals ages 16 to 45 from
48 countries. They found that self-esteem
tended to increase with age and that men
at every age tended to have higher levels
of self-esteem than women worldwide.
However, individualistic, developed
nations with higher gender equality,
such as Norway and the United States,
had larger gender gaps in self-esteem
than collectivist, developing nations with
greater gender inequality such as Bolivia
and India (Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, online Dec. 21).
n Eating at times normally reserved
for sleep impairs learning and memory,
according to research conducted at the
University of California, Los Angeles.
The team tested the ability of mice
to distinguish between a previously
presented object and a novel object
and found that the rodents regularly
fed during their sleep-times were
significantly less able to distinguish them
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Whether you order a dessert or drink
may be influenced by how much your
server weighs, according to a study
by Cornell University scientists. They
observed 497 diners ordering dinner in 60
casual sit-down restaurants and matched
those orders to the body mass index of
each diner’s server. Findings show that
diners who ordered their dinners from
heavier wait staff ordered 17 percent
more alcohol and were four times more
likely to order dessert (Environment and
Behavior, online Dec. 28).
