Self-Control Just Might Be Contagious

MONDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- If you spend time with people who exhibit self-control -- resisting the death-by-chocolate cake after a restaurant meal, for instance -- you can expect your own self-control to be pretty good, too, according to new research.

But the opposite seems true, too: Spending time with people with less-than-ideal self-control will influence you negatively, the researchers found.

"Before, we knew people tended to hang out with other people who were like themselves," said Michelle vanDellen, a visiting assistant professor of psychology at the University of Georgia, who led the research, which was published online in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

"But in these studies, we actually show there is a direct effect of our friends' behavior on our own behavior," vanDellen said. The findings apply, she said, "not only to the people we [choose to] hang out with, but those we are forced to hang out with," such as co-workers on the job.

The conclusions came from five studies conducted by vanDellen and her co-author, Rick Hoyle of Duke University.

The best study, she said, and the most fun, involved 71 participants and two plates of food -- one stacked with carrot sticks, the other with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. The participants either watched someone exhibit self-control by eating the carrots and leaving the cookies, or vice versa. Later, the participants took self-control tests (not involving cookies and carrots). Those who had watched a person eat cookies did less well than those who had watched someone eat carrots.

In another study, the researchers found that 36 participants randomly assigned to think of a friend with good self-control persisted longer on a handgrip test used to measure self-control than did the participants assigned to think about a friend with bad self-control.

Another study involved assigning 42 people to list the names of friends with good and bad self-control. As the participants took a test designed to measure self-control, a name was flashed very briefly on a computer screen. Those who saw the name of a friend with good self-control did better on the test than those who saw the name of a friend with poor self-control.

The researchers also assigned 112 people to write about a friend with good self-control, a friend with bad self-control or an outgoing friend. Those who wrote about a friend with good self-control did best on a test of self-control, those who wrote about a friend with bad self-control did worst and those who wrote about an outgoing friend scored in between the others.

In the fifth study, 117 people were randomly assigned to write about friends with good or bad self-control. Those who wrote about a friend with good self-control did better on word identification tests related to self-control, the researchers found.

"I think the message is really two-fold," vanDellen said of the research. "The first is, one way you can improve your behavior is by finding social networkers that support you." It makes sense, she said, to seek out people you know have self-control if you want to boost your own.

The other message, she said, is accountability. The research suggests that others aren't just watching your behavior when you show a lack of self-control but might actually be influenced by it. If a woman's husband is trying to lose weight, for instance, the last thing she should do is act like a lazy person who doesn't exercise in front of him, she said.

The research findings make sense, said Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis. "Surrounding yourself with motivated, healthy people improves your odds of staying in control," she said.

Diekman said that's certainly the case with healthy eating. "When it comes to making healthy choices, we know that it is easier to skip dessert, limit portions or purchase the right foods if others we are with support these behaviors," she said.

By Kathleen Doheny HealthDay Reporter Copyright © 2010 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

PBS Series Profiles Adolescents with Severe Depression

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is airing a national three-part series this month on emotional health called This Emotional Life. Daniel Gilbert, Ph.D., Harvard University psychology professor and author of Stumbling on Happiness, narrates an exploration of the struggles and triumphs of individuals who grapple with the complexities of their mental health every day. A Part 2 profile highlights the intractable depression of Caitlin, a high school student who has suffered from the mood disorder since the eighth grade.

“Human beings change a great deal during adolescence, so while somebody is struggling with depression, they’re unable to make the social gains, the intimacy gains, the academic gains that are so necessary when somebody is developing from adolescence to a young adult. It essentially robs people of their lives,” said Caitlin’s doctor, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Sheila Marcus, M.D., from the University of Michigan. “The problem with letting depression linger is we know that there are subtle changes in the brain such that it’s an illness that becomes harder to treat as you let it take its course.”

Caitlin’s story underscores the need for early identification of depression and other mental health disorders so that treatment can promptly begin and young people can be given the best chance for a healthy future.

This Emotional Life will be re-broadcast on PBS throughout January. Check local listings or purchase the series DVD, available for $34.99.

Switching Antidepressants

Even today, the general public has little understanding of what's entailed in taking an antidepressant medication. Many think their doctor will give them a "miracle pill" and their depression will be cured. Unfortunately, for many, that's not the case.

As you may have discovered already, there's a large group of people with major depression for whom the first, even second antidepressant doesn't perform the way they hoped it would.
This brings us to our new special report on "Switching Antidepressants". In 5 pages, exclusively on HealthyPlace.com, find out
• why people with major depression sometimes switch antidepressant medications
• why you should never suddenly stop your antidepressant
• how to change antidepressants safely

It's a must-read for anyone taking an antidepressant and comes along with audio comments from HealthyPlace.com members who share their personal insights into changing antidepressants and their experiences with antidepressant discontinuation syndrome; something you never want to have.

You might also want to read the "Gold Standard for Treating Depression," an in-depth, authoritative examination of the best treatments for depression, which includes depression treatment video interviews with award-winning mental health author, Julie Fast.

Earlier Bedtimes May Fight Teen Depression

Teens Who Regularly Sleep 5 or Fewer Hours Are 71% More Likely to Report Depression

By Bill Hendrick, WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Jan. 1, 2010 -- Adolescents whose parents set earlier bedtimes are significantly less likely to suffer from depression or have suicidal thoughts compared to youngsters who hit the sack later, new research indicates.

Youngsters in the study whose parents set bedtimes of midnight or later were 24% more likely to suffer from depression and 20% more apt to have thoughts of suicide, compared to youngsters with bedtimes of 10 p.m. or earlier, researchers report in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.

This suggests sufficient sleep may offer youngsters some protection from depression and thoughts of suicide, the researchers say.

Adolescents who reported they usually sleep five or fewer hours per night were 71% more likely to report depression, and 48% more likely to have thoughts of committing suicide, compared to young people reporting eight hours of sleep nightly, the study shows.

"Our results are consistent with the theory that inadequate sleep is a risk factor for depression," says study researcher James E. Gangwisch, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

He and his colleagues collected data on 15,659 adolescents and their parents who had participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a school-based sample of students in seventh to 12th grades, between 1994 and 1996.

The researchers found that:

* The average sleep duration was 7 hours and 53 minutes. The researchers note that adolescents need 9 hours of sleep daily.
* Nearly 70% of youngsters said they went to bed at a time that complied with the weeknight limit set by their parents.

The researchers say lack of sleep may produce moodiness that hinders the ability to cope with stresses of daily life, harming relationships with peers and adults. They say educating adolescents and their parents about the benefits of healthier sleep practices may be beneficial.

The researchers conclude that parents of adolescents should set earlier bedtimes to make sure their teens get adequate sleep.

One of the researchers, Gary K. Zammit, PhD, of Columbia, reported receiving research support from GlaxoSmithKline and other pharmaceutical companies. He also disclosed he has financial interests in two companies involved in sleep research.