News Bureau | ILLINOIS

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Viral videos about private moments may affect offline relationships

May 18, 2023 1:15 pm924 views

Posting videos about intimate relationships to social media platforms may affect offline relationships, according to a case study of the “couch guy” video by Emily Mendelson, a graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Lough named School of Social Work dean

May 11, 2023 1:30 pm1767 views

Benjamin J. Lough will be the next dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.
Illinois historian examines how emotional intimacy became politically valued in post-WWII Britain

Mar 24, 2023 8:30 am1340 views

History professor Teri Chettiar said emotional well-being was seen as a key factor for a stable democracy in the period following World War II.
Book: Professional jobs have changed – but not for the better

Mar 22, 2023 1:15 pm633 views

The new book “Crisis in the Professions: The New Dark Age” examines the social, political and economic forces that are changing the practice and public perceptions of elite professions such as law, medicine and higher education.
Illinois Neurodiversity Initiative accepting freshmen applicants for fall semester

Mar 6, 2023 11:45 am4702 views

The Illinois Neurodiversity Initiative at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is accepting applications from neurodiverse students who will be incoming freshmen in the 2023 fall semester.
What's the remedy for medical misinformation?

Feb 27, 2023 1:45 pm664 views

Sociology professor Kevin Leicht is co-leading the development of a software app that will alert clinicians to medical misinformation that's circulating on social media so they can address it with their patients if desired.
Study examines COVID-19 pandemic's effect on Black, Latina women's mental health

Feb 27, 2023 11:00 am970 views

Black and Latina women had high rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms during the pandemic, but prayer had differing effects, kinesiology and community health professor Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo found in a study.
Researchers illuminate gaps in public transportation access, equity

Feb 15, 2023 12:30 pm1260 views

Public transit systems offering broad coverage of stops and routes may still underserve the communities that rely on them the most, according to a new University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study. The study, by former civil and environmental engineering student Dale Robbennolt and Applied Research Institute senior research scientist Ann-Perry Witmer, applies contextual engineering to help determine lapses in equity in public bus transportation access using data from the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District as a case study.
Geography, language dictate social media and popular website usage, study finds

Feb 9, 2023 7:30 am595 views

Since its inception, the internet has been viewed by technology experts and scholars as a way to access information at a global scale without having to overcome hurdles posed by language and geography. However, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found that how people around the world use the same popular social media platforms and websites remains vastly different based on their language and geography.
U of I online social work degree programs address diversity needs

Feb 8, 2023 10:00 am836 views

The School of Social Work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is offering two new degree-completion programs – the iBSW and the iMSW – that aim to address racial and gender disparities in the school’s student population and the social work profession.
Study links exercise intensity, attentional control in late-adolescent girls

Feb 6, 2023 8:30 am1123 views

Adolescent girls who engage in more moderate and vigorous physical activity each day have better attentional control, a new study finds. The study focused on girls and boys aged 15-18.
Site of integrated Illinois town founded by former slave is newest national park

Jan 30, 2023 11:00 am1770 views

The New Philadelphia National Historic Site in western Illinois, commemorating the first U.S. town to be legally founded by African Americans, is the nation’s newest national park. Several University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors were among those leading the effort seeking national park status for the site.
Illinois anthropology professor awarded NEH Fellowship

Jan 17, 2023 3:00 pm694 views

Anthropology professor Erin Riggs has been awarded a 2022 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship.
A strong ethnic identity can buffer or bolster the effects of online sexual racism in Black men

Jan 13, 2023 12:45 pm634 views

A strong commitment to their ethnic identity may be a double-edged sword for young sexual minority Black men when they encounter sexual racism online, according to a study by U. of I. social work professor Ryan Wade.
Does a 'fake news' label help audiences identify false information?

Jan 11, 2023 8:15 am984 views

Using the term “fake news” does not help audiences distinguish false information or sources and may be doing more harm than good, according to resarch by U. of I. communication professor Emily Van Duyn.
Why was the Jan. 6 assault on the US Capitol considered an 'auto-coup d’état'?

Jan 4, 2023 8:00 am958 views

The Cline Center for Advanced Social Research’s Coup d’État Project initially categorized the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as an “attempted dissident coup.” But that classification has evolved to include the additional classification “attempted auto-coup d’état,” said Scott Althaus, the center’s director and a professor of both political science and communication at Illinois.
Implicit bias prevents women from obtaining prompt treatment for health problems

Dec 19, 2022 1:15 pm569 views

Communication professor Charee Thompson studied implicit bias in health care and women’s prolonged struggles to obtain treatment and emotional support for a variety of mental and physical health problems.
Are outspoken social media users more polarized in their views on racial equality?

Dec 7, 2022 1:15 pm994 views

In a study of U.S. adults’ social media activity and polarization of their views on the Black Lives Matter movement, communication professor Stewart Coles found that people low in racial resentment who expressed themselves more frequently on these media were less supportive of BLM.
Diagnoses of suicidal ideation surged among Black pregnant women in 10-year study

Nov 29, 2022 8:00 am1188 views

Diagnoses of suicidal ideation and depression increased dramatically among pregnant Black women from 2008-2018, according to a study led by University of Illinois social work professor Karen Tabb Dina.
Study: COVID-19 policies harmed minority women's perinatal experiences, magnified inequities

Nov 15, 2022 11:30 am639 views

A study by a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign team explored the impact of health care providers’ COVID-19 mitigation policies on women of color who were pregnant or gave birth during the pandemic.
Nine Illinois scientists rank among world's most influential

Nov 15, 2022 8:00 am7068 views

Nine U. of I. researchers have been named to the 2022 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list. The list recognizes research scientists and social scientists who have demonstrated exceptional influence – reflected through their publication of multiple papers frequently cited by their peers during the last decade. This year’s list includes 6,938 individuals from around the world whose papers rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science.
Study shows the power of 'thank you' for couples

Nov 14, 2022 10:15 am2260 views

Gratitude may be a powerful tool for couples, increasing relationship satisfaction and protecting against common stressors, says research by human development and family studies professor Allen W. Barton.
Refugee teens in Uganda who 'sext' more likely to use condoms, studies find

Nov 2, 2022 11:15 am697 views

Studies led by social work professor Moses Okumu found that teens in Uganda who "sexted" were more likely to use condoms and that the online media they use may be means of providing sexual health interventions.
People who viewed sex as a leisure activity enjoyed more, better sex during the pandemic

Oct 13, 2022 7:45 am2170 views

People who viewed sex as a leisure activity used their pandemic downtime to engage in more frequent, creative and satisfying sex, U. of I. professor Liza Berdychevsky found in a recent survey.
Peer adversity may cause girls to feel their self-worth is constantly at risk

Oct 10, 2022 8:30 am593 views

Girls with a history of adversity may be especially sensitive to situations that threaten their self-worth, according to new research by psychologists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
New database catalogs police shootings in Illinois to improve accountability

Oct 7, 2022 11:00 am1737 views

The Cline Center for Advanced Social Research and an interdisciplinary team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign experts have developed a statewide registry on the use of lethal force by police officers in Illinois.
What do we know about political advertising?

Oct 5, 2022 1:30 pm1308 views

It can be challenging to distinguish between a paid political ad and one that is not in today’s media environment, especially on social media. News Bureau editor Lois Yoksoulian spoke with advertising professor Michelle Nelson about the topic. New research from Nelson and her colleagues found that most adults – even those who are politically engaged and educated – do not fully understand online targeting, sources and funding for political ads, or the unique regulatory environment for political speech that is different from commercial speech.
Men's experiences of sexual racism differ in two online dating communities

Sep 28, 2022 11:30 am5178 views

While sexual racism abounds on dating apps, Black men who are sexual minorities reported differing forms of it on the popular apps Jack’d and Grindr, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found.
Illinois language justice collective helping to preserve Indigenous Mayan languages

Aug 30, 2022 2:00 pm1375 views

An Indigenous languages collective at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is helping local Maya learn to read and write Q’anjob’al and working with interpreters for the community.
Study: Slogans protesting federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate displayed three themes

Aug 26, 2022 9:00 am1446 views

U. of I. sociology professor Tim Liao's analysis of the protest slogans about the federal COVID-19 vaccine-or-test mandate in November 2021 found three distinct themes.
Study: Holocaust Museum motivates visitors to create social change

Aug 15, 2022 9:45 am1782 views

New research suggests that exploring one of the darkest chapters in mankind’s history – the Holocaust – may inspire tourists to act on human rights and social change.
Study links protecting Indigenous peoples' lands to greater nonhuman primate biodiversity

Aug 10, 2022 1:00 pm1106 views

By comparing geographic patterns of nonhuman primate biodiversity and human land-use, researchers discovered that areas managed or controlled by Indigenous peoples tend to have significantly more primate biodiversity than nearby regions. They also found that lorises, tarsiers, monkeys and apes whose territories overlap with Indigenous areas are less likely to be classified as vulnerable, threatened or endangered than those living fully outside Indigenous lands.
Study links insulin resistance, advanced cell aging with childhood poverty

Jul 25, 2022 12:15 pm741 views

Black adolescents who lived in poverty as children and were pessimistic about their future had accelerated immune cell aging and greater levels of insulin resistance in their mid- to late twenties, according to a study by Allen W. Barton, a professor of human development and family studies.
North 'plaza' in Cahokia was likely inundated year-round, study finds

Jul 21, 2022 8:00 am2675 views

The ancient North American city of Cahokia had as its focal point a feature now known as Monks Mound, a giant earthwork surrounded on its north, south, east and west by large rectangular open areas. These flat zones, called plazas by archaeologists since the early 1960s, were thought to serve as communal areas that served the many mounds and structures of the city.

New paleoenvironmental analyses of the north plaza suggest it was almost always underwater, calling into question earlier interpretations of the north plaza’s role in Cahokian society. The study is reported in the journal World Archaeology.
Poor diet, household chaos may impair young children’s cognitive skills

Jul 12, 2022 1:30 pm8143 views

Young children’s development of the higher-level cognitive skills called executive function may be adversely affected by household chaos and poor nutrition, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign scholars found.
Study examines pandemic’s impact on volunteer health care workers

Jul 12, 2022 1:00 pm558 views

Having high levels of compassion satisfaction buffered some temporary medical workers at a New York field hospital from stress disorders during the early days of the pandemic, a new study found.
Book examines role of racial justice work in progressive policy changes

Jul 11, 2022 9:30 am357 views

Grassroots organizing efforts strengthen their campaigns for economic policy changes by collaborating with racial justice groups, says urban planning professor Marc Doussard in his new book “Justice at Work: The Rise of Economic and Racial Justice Coalitions in Cities.”
Study examined COVID-19 policies' effects on people with disabilities

Jun 20, 2022 12:00 pm571 views

The closures of gyms and other facilities to contain COVID-19 negatively affected the mental and physical health of some people with disabilities, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found.
Staring at yourself during virtual chats may worsen your mood, research finds

Jun 13, 2022 1:00 pm1958 views

A new study finds that the more a person stares at themself while talking with a partner in an online chat, the more their mood degrades over the course of the conversation. Alcohol use appears to worsen the problem, the researchers found.

Reported in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, the findings point to a potentially problematic role of online meeting platforms in exacerbating psychological problems like anxiety and depression, the researchers said.
Older Latinos redefine family to include friends, neighbors, other community members

Apr 28, 2022 1:00 pm467 views

Latinos view the support of friends and neighbors as so vital to their well-being in later life that they redefine these relationships as family, researchers say in a new study that explored older Latinos’ perspectives on positive aging.
Parents' reactions while helping with math shape young children's achievement

Apr 25, 2022 10:30 am5298 views

Cultivating a love of math – and inspiring the next generation of numbers-oriented professionals – may start with activities that promote enjoyable parent-child experiences, say U. of I. researchers.
Study examines impact of DNA evidence in sexual assault prosecutions

Apr 7, 2022 8:00 am1425 views

DNA evidence has a dramatic relationship with sexual assault prosecutions and convictions, says a new study of one city's data co-written by U. of I. senior research specialist and social work professor Ted Cross.
How does Russian invasion exacerbate Ukraine's humanitarian crisis?

Mar 29, 2022 11:45 am594 views

The damage sustained by Ukraine will require years of rebuilding efforts, says Illinois sociology professor and demographer Cynthia Buckley.
Can historical racism in medicine help explain current racial differences in medical care?

Mar 22, 2022 8:00 am1163 views

Acquiring new medical knowledge and assessing health are not as objective as people think, said history professor Rana Hogarth, who is the adviser for a new series of podcasts by the Science History Institute in Philadelphia to explore issues of racism in science and medicine.
Study ties present-day Native American tribe to ancestors in San Francisco Bay Area

Mar 21, 2022 2:00 pm2013 views

A genomic study of Native peoples in the San Francisco Bay Area finds that eight present-day members of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe share ancestry with 12 individuals who lived in the region several hundred to 2,000 years ago.
Project helps East St. Louis residents overcome barriers to COVID-19 testing, vaccination

Mar 11, 2022 8:15 am1292 views

A project that is underway in East St. Louis, Illinois, is investigating strategies for overcoming barriers to COVID-19 testing and vaccination among more than 548 medically and socially vulnerable residents of St. Clair County.
Vigilantism is an identity for some people, researchers report

Mar 10, 2022 8:15 am1955 views

A new study finds that some people routinely monitor the behavior of others and are eager to punish those who violate laws or societal norms, especially when they believe authorities have failed to do so. These self-appointed enforcers willingly embrace the job of keeping order, aren’t particularly concerned about accidentally punishing innocent people, and consider themselves kind and moral actors, the researchers found.
Private investment in California's solar energy industry increases climate vulnerabilities, study finds

Mar 9, 2022 10:30 am1805 views

The large-scale infrastructure needed to attract private investment in solar energy makes it more vulnerable to climate extremes, said urban and regional planning professor Sean Kennedy.
Study examines accuracy of arrest data in FBI's NIBRS crime database

Feb 18, 2022 1:15 pm988 views

A study of one state's arrest data in the FBI's NIBRS database found that while the majority of the cases were correct, the timings of arrests and other factors may lead to inaccuracies.
Study: High COVID-19 rates in older Latinos linked with economics, outside help

Feb 9, 2022 8:15 am543 views

Financial hardship and outside help were significantly associated with COVID-19 diagnoses among older Latinos, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign social work professor Lissette Piedra and her team found.

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