TL;DR: A 2026 study protocol in PLOS One describes a planned longitudinal study that will track academic stress, depressive symptoms, diet, sleep-related wearable measures, salivary cortisol, and other health indicators across a university semester, but it does not yet report outcome results. Key Findings Study protocol only: The source describes the planned design and hypotheses; …
TL;DR: A 2026 mouse study in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research found that chronic intermittent ethanol plus repeated forced-swim stress left mice drinking more alcohol months later and impaired reversal learning in midlife, alongside locus coeruleus signs of oxidative stress and weaker adrenergic autoregulation. Key Findings Persistent effects reached midlife: The experiment followed 55 C57BL/6J …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Psychopharmacology found that low oral THC doses did not meaningfully reduce most subjective or physiological responses when healthy adults retrieved memories of a prior social stress task. Key Findings Low-dose THC groups: Participants aged 18-35 were assigned to placebo, 5 mg THC, or 10 mg THC groups, with 12 people …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint cohort analysis in medRxiv found that about 24.1% of the sample met the PCL-5 threshold for probable post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, while frequent uncensored video exposure was associated with higher PTSD symptom severity after accounting for other risk factors. Key Findings Indirect trauma design: Researchers studied people who were not …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Communications Biology found that restraint stress weakened medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC, a frontal brain region that helps organize social behavior) activity during social testing, while stress-activated amygdala and hypothalamic oxytocin inputs pushed the circuit toward inhibition. Key Findings Two-hour acute restraint preserved basic sociability but disrupted social novelty preference, suggesting …
TL;DR: A 2026 qualitative study in BMC Psychiatry found that children interviewed 1 month after pediatric intensive care unit discharge described post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms tied to pain, sleep disruption, frightening procedures, sensory overload, and isolation. Key Findings Post-PICU interviews showed trauma symptoms: Researchers spoke with 11 children, including 6 boys and 5 girls …
TL;DR: A 2026 cross-sectional study in Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness found that 159 of 230 Farsi-speaking refugees in German refugee camps screened at high risk for depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms, while resilience, psychological flexibility, meaning in life, and social support also predicted posttraumatic growth. Key Findings High distress was common: 159 of …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science found that trauma-exposed adolescents, especially those with higher posttraumatic stress symptoms, showed disrupted parent-cued fear extinction across skin-conductance, behavioral-learning, and functional MRI (fMRI) measures. Key Findings 87 dyads entered the extinction task: The analysis included typically developing adolescents and trauma-exposed adolescents with lower or higher …
TL;DR: A study in Communications Biology found that environmental enrichment, richer housing with objects, running space, and novelty, reduced early-life-stress-linked visceral pain and depression-like behavior in rats while normalizing a CB1 receptor-sensitive prefrontal-limbic stress circuit. Key Findings Early stress model: Researchers used neonatal colorectal distension (CRD), a controlled early-life gut stressor, in male and female …
TL;DR: A 2026 randomized pilot trial in European Journal of Psychotraumatology found no overall PTSD advantage when refugee-focused emotion-regulation skills training was added before narrative exposure therapy, but refugees living with high visa or family insecurity showed preliminary self-report gains from the skills-first approach. Key Findings 71 adult refugees were randomized: Participants met DSM-5 criteria …
