UNED

There are inequalities in the mental health of LGBTQIA+ people, supported by highly credible scientific evidence, particularly with regard to depression, suicidal behaviour and symptoms related to eating disorders. These are the main findings of a study led by IDIBAPS and published in the journal World Psychiatry, in which the researchers reviewed 22 systematic reviews with meta-analyses — comprising 398 studies on this topic — and analysed the 162 associations relating to mental health.

A team from the Teruel-Dinópolis Joint Palaeontological Foundation has discovered, at the La Tejería site in El Castellar (Teruel), the remains of what could be the first diplodocus found outside North America. The research, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, describes 14 exceptionally well-preserved caudal vertebrae from the tail and several cheurones (tail bones). According to the authors, “osteological comparisons and phylogenetic analyses consistently placed the specimen within the genus Diplodocus”. The specimen, which dates back some 150 million years, provides the first intercontinental evidence for this genus and constitutes one of the most robust pieces of palaeontological evidence for episodes of faunal dispersal and exchange between the two continents across the proto-Atlantic Ocean during the Late Jurassic.

The inclusion of transgender women in women's sports categories is a controversial decision. To compare body composition and physical fitness between transgender and cisgender women, a team from Brazil has conducted a meta-analysis encompassing 52 studies and 6,485 individuals, analysing these values before and after gender-affirming hormone therapy. Although trans women showed greater lean mass—an indicator of muscle mass—there were no significant differences in upper or lower body strength, nor in maximum oxygen consumption, compared to cis women one to three years after hormone therapy. ‘The current evidence is, for the most part, of low certainty and heterogeneous quality, but it does not support theories about the inherent athletic advantages of trans women over cis women,’ say the authors of the study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The General Assembly of the United Nations has declared 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer. This initiative aims to ‘raise awareness and focus policy attention on the obstacles and challenges faced by women and girls in agriculture,’ as well as to promote actions to address these issues. But what are these obstacles? We answer questions about the situation of women farmers with data and expert sources. 

Men often struggle with the transition to fatherhood due to a lack of information and emotional support targeted to their needs, suggests a review of the available qualitative evidence, published in the open access journal BMJ Open. The researchers say there needs to be a greater focus on clinical practice, antenatal services and research into men's unique experiences during the perinatal period, which encompasses pregnancy and the first 12 months after birth.

The Twinning project is a UK-based initiative that organises soccer-based programmes, with the collaboration of professional clubs such as some Premier League clubs, to improve the mental and physical health of prisoners. Research has studied the behaviour of more than 670 of these participants and a group that did not participate, as well as collecting data related to the possible reintegration of those who were in this programme. According to the authors, who publish their research in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, ‘the results indicate that social bonding is associated with better behaviour in prison and a greater willingness of host communities to support reintegration efforts’.

Adolescent boys respond aggressively when they perceive that their masculinity is threatened, an analysis shows. In the study, aggression was higher when boys' motivation to follow what is considered 'typical' for their sex came from external expectations - for example, when their parents believed that men should have more power - rather than their own expectations. The study, which analysed data from 207 boys aged 10-14 and one of their parents, is published in Developmental Science.

A study published in JAMA Pediatrics has analysed bone density in 75 transgender youth who underwent hormone blockade in adolescence, followed by hormone treatment.

Research carried out with almost 300 participants from the United Kingdom and Malta revealed that they had more positive emotions, a willingness to help and less prejudice towards Ukrainian asylum seekers compared to Syrian or Somali refugees. According to the author, whose study is published in PLOS ONE, this is explained because “the perceived threat and negative emotions led to greater prejudice, which in turn led to a lower predisposition toward help.”

An analysis of data published in the journal General Psychiatry with more than 66,000 diagnoses of gender dysphoria, mostly made in the United States, concludes that prevalence increased between 2017 and 2021, and that the median age decreased over the same period from 31 to 26 years.