How Childhood Hunger Can Change Adult Personality
The effects of going hungry in childhood may be more lasting than previously thought.
Szalavitz's latest book is Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential — and Endangered. It is co-written with Dr. Bruce Perry, a leading expert in the neuroscience of child trauma and recovery.
Maia Szalavitz
Maia Szalavitz is a neuroscience journalist obsessed with addiction, love, evidence-based living, empathy and pretty much everything related to brain and behavior. She is the co-author of Born for Love: Why Empathy is Essential — and Endangered (Morrow, 2010) and The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog (Basic, 2006), both with Dr. Bruce D. Perry. Her 2006 book, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids (Riverhead, 2006) is the first book-length exposé of the “tough love” business. Szalavitz has been published in TIME Magazine, the New York Times, Elle, Scientific American Mind, the Washington Post, New Scientist and Psychology Today, among many others. She has been awarded the American Psychological Associations Division 50 Award for Contributions to the Addictions and the Media Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
Articles from Contributor
Google Searches Reveal Seasonal Trends in Mental Illnesses
It’s easy to appreciate the seasonality of winter blues, but web searches show that other disorders may ebb and flow with the weather as well.
Size Does Matter: Study Shows Women Judge Male Attractiveness by Penis Size
Call it sexist or sensationalist, but now science suggests it’s so: women find men with bigger penises more attractive.
Majority of Americans Support Legalization of Marijuana
Public support for legalizing marijuana has never been higher, but the latest studies show recreational use is linked with prescription drug misuse.
Can Giving Be Good for Getting Ahead?
Sharing and caring can be good for the soul, but what about the bottom line?
A Sleeping Pill Without The Sleepy Head?
Current sleep remedies risk addiction and memory problems, but a new class of medications may avoid these issues.
Study Shows Seeing Smiles Can Lower Aggression
A happy face can certainly lift spirits, but can it reduce rage?
Brain Scans Can Predict Which Criminals Are Likely to Get Re-Arrested
While criminal activity can’t be reduced to a brain image, understanding changes in brain function could improve the way criminals are rehabilitated.
How Junior High Friendships Affect Adult Relationships
Middle school is typically a time of chaotic emotions, confusing relationships and challenging growing pains. But it may also have a surprisingly lasting influence on the future.
When It Comes to Curbing Drinking, College Students Do Listen
One of the more effective ways to reduce excessive drinking in college is also the most obvious — talk to freshman before they set foot on campus.
Why New York’s Latest Campaign To Lower Teen Pregnancy Could Backfire
To lower teen pregnancy rates in the city, the mayor is relying on fear, guilt and shame. But how effective are such approaches in changing behavior?
Social Isolation, Not Just Feeling Lonely, May Shorten Lives
Feeling lonely seems to go hand in hand with being isolated, but there’s a difference, according to a growing body of research.
How Cultural Stereotypes Lure Women Away From Careers in Science
Women may be underrepresented in science and technology not because they are less skilled in those areas or because they face specific gender barriers to entering these fields, but because they may find better opportunities elsewhere.
