Microaggressions have been a topic of significant debate in the psychological and social sciences. Despite an extensive body of empirical evidence, numerous misconceptions persist. This paper deconstructs common misconceptions surrounding microaggressions and addresses their origins, underlying biases, and empirical refutations. We explain the mechanisms that cause and maintain microaggressions through a CBT lens. We examine widely propagated misconceptions, including claims that microaggressions lack scientific validity, are too subjective to measure, and are not indicative of racism or other forms of prejudice. Drawing on the substantial literature base, including validated psychometric scales, experimental studies, and cross-cultural analyses, we demonstrate that microaggressions are not only real but also have significant psychological and social consequences. Empirical evidence links microaggressions to outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and lower self-esteem, reinforcing their relevance in clinical, educational, and workplace settings. CBT models provide a useful lens for understanding how individuals navigate the psychological complexities associated with microaggressive behaviours, helping explain why some people resist acknowledging microaggressions and their consequences. Lastly, we highlight the importance of education for reducing the prevalence of microaggressions and mitigating their harmful effects. Our goal is to provide clinicians with correct information so that they may skilfully and empathetically help clients experiencing microaggressions, and to no longer accept microaggressions as a harmless, misunderstood, or dismissed phenomenon. By debunking these misconceptions, this work contributes to a more scientifically grounded understanding of microaggressions, emphasizing the necessity of continued research and intervention efforts to address the impact of discrimination in society.

Key learning aims

1. (1) Build awareness around the various misconceptions associated with microaggressions.

2. (2) Knowledge of why these misconceptions exist, where they came from, and why they are important to consider and refute.

3. (3) Refuting misconceptions with scientific explanations and evidence.

4. (4) Understand how CBT clinicians can better prevent and respond to microaggressions.

This study investigates bilingual language control across comprehension and production. In three experiments, Chinese–English bilinguals alternated between tasks on every trial. In the comprehension task, participants judged the meaning of a written word (Experiment 1) or a spoken word (Experiments 2 and 3) in either language. In the production task, they named pictures in only one language (Experiments 1 and 2) or in either language (Experiment 3), with half of the trials involving language switching. Thus, salient visual language cues were available only in Experiment 1, and within-production language switching occurred only in Experiment 3. Language switch costs from comprehension to production emerged only in Experiment 2, where spoken word comprehension was paired with single-language production. These findings suggest that reduced saliency of language cues encourages a shared language control mechanism across comprehension and production when within-production control demands are low, supporting the adaptive nature of bilingual language control.

This study tests how form overlap with the L1 influences young learners’ ability to recognize L2 words from continuous speech before they receive classroom instruction in English as a foreign language (EFL). German 6- to 9-year-olds were tested on their ability to recognize words in English utterances that overlapped in form with their German translation equivalents (e.g., cognate words, milk-Milch /mɪlk/ – /mɪlx/) or did not (e.g., non-cognate words, smoke – Rauch, /smoʊk/ – /raʊ̯x/). German form similarity neither influenced performance at the group level nor when differences in individual German skills were considered. This pattern of results remained even when, in Experiment 2, the German word form was pre-activated visually. Unlike adults’, pre-EFL learners’ recognition of words in continuous speech is not affected by form similarity to German, which we link to differences in metalinguistic awareness and the role of form-meaning mappings, especially in early FL learning.

Brief distress tolerance interventions aimed at improving ability to tolerate psychological discomfort are being used trans-diagnostically, by both clinicians and paraprofessionals. Such brief interventions, delivered by a range of professionals could help to bridge the current worldwide gap between demand for and availability of mental health support. Despite a good theoretical rationale for the effectiveness of distress tolerance skills, empirical evidence for stand-alone interventions is lacking. This report details an evaluation of a 6- to 8-week distress tolerance intervention delivered in a community mental health setting by clinicians and paraprofessionals, using routinely collected outcome data. The aim was to better understand data completion, the proportion of responders and any pre-intervention differences between responders and non-responders. Pre-intervention routine outcome measures were found to be reasonably complete, with good post-intervention follow-up. Distress tolerance specific measures were less complete. Where it was possible to calculate reliable change (n=163), 58.3% of clients were classified as responders to the distress tolerance intervention which is comparable to CBT outcomes, and response rate is improving over time. There was no evidence that clients were more or less likely to respond depending on their age, presenting problem, mood scores pre-intervention, referrer discipline or the role of the person delivering the intervention. Responders were found to have significantly poorer ability to tolerate distress pre-intervention compared with non-responders. Men were disproportionately likely to be non-responders which may indicate a need for improved access.

Key learning aims

1. (1) To increase practitioners’ understanding of distress intolerance as a factor that may sustain difficulties and serve as a valuable focus for intervention.

2. (2) To demonstrate the potential effectiveness of a brief psychological approach delivered by clinicians and paraprofessionals targeting distress tolerance in achieving meaningful, reliable change.

3. (3) To illustrate how services might identify which clients benefit most from a distress tolerance intervention to inform referral decisions and enhance client outcomes.

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a common, often debilitating condition that frequently goes undiagnosed and untreated. Limited training for mental health clinicians may contribute to this gap, but no study to date has systematically mapped BDD teaching within professional training courses. The current study aimed to establish the extent of BDD training provided to psychological therapists in the UK, comparing it with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a related condition with a similar population prevalence and impact. A cross-sectional survey design was employed. Surveys were sent to all UK Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy, n=32) and Post-graduate Diploma in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (PgDip, n=30) courses, initially as a general request and then under the Freedom of Information Act. All courses responded. Teaching on BDD and OCD in DClinPsy and PGDip courses was summarised descriptively, and differences were assessed using z-tests of proportions. Results indicated that BDD is taught less frequently than OCD (61.3% vs 96.8% of courses) and for shorter durations (7.9% vs 60.0% provide more than 1 day of training). DClinPsy courses offer BDD training less often than PgDip (40.6% vs 83.3%) and most BDD teaching occurs within the adult stream. The current findings highlight a significant gap in BDD training within UK psychological therapy programmes, particularly DClinPsy courses, potentially contributing to under-recognition and under-treatment of BDD. These findings call for better integration of BDD into core curricula for mental health professionals, alongside the development and evaluation of low-resource training solutions than can be rolled out among the existing workforce.

Key learning aims

1. (1) To consider the barriers that individuals with BDD experience in accessing care.

2. (2) To recognise that BDD is under-represented in psychological therapy training courses.

3. (3) To consider ways of increasing BDD training, through curricula reform and through scalable, online programmes.

4. (4) To be aware of available BDD assessment measures and therapist CBT manuals, which clinicians can use to guide their practice.

Religious service attendance is associated with better well-being, but observational associations do not establish causation. We analyse six annual waves of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study ($N = 46{,}377$) to estimate causal effects of monthly attendance on 24 well-being indicators using target trial emulation. Deterministic ‘make everyone attend’ contrasts fail positivity: only 2–3% of non-attenders initiate attendance per year. We therefore estimate supported stochastic interventions ($\delta = 5$) among baseline non-attenders ($N = 38{,}477$) using a sequentially doubly robust estimator with cross-validated machine learning. Effects are selective: small gains appear in meaning and purpose, forgiveness, and sexual satisfaction, with little movement in somatic health, psychological distress, social belonging, or perceived social support. A comparison exposure (+1 hour per week socialising with others) does not reproduce the pattern. We interpret the selective pattern through a prominent cooperative account of religion: gains concentrate in coordination-relevant domains rather than in direct health pathways.

This study investigates incremental processing of subject and object relatives in Italian by comparing two experimental paradigms. Previous research has shown that object relatives are more difficult to process than subject relatives, but the source and timing of this object disadvantage remain debated. Two experiments were conducted using the same linguistic stimuli. Experiment 1 employed a novel mixed design: a lexical maze task for the relative clause combined with a self-paced reading task for the matrix clause. Experiment 2 used a self-paced reading paradigm. Results confirmed a disadvantage for object relatives across both tasks. Critically, the modified maze task revealed that this difficulty emerges immediately after the complementizer and persists in later regions, a finding that was not evident in the self-paced reading task or in previous maze task studies. This shows the greater temporal resolution of the maze paradigm for identifying the locus of syntactic difficulty in incremental processing. Although frequency-based surprisal and memory-based integration accounts explain portions of data, we consider two approaches that can offer a unified account for both early and late effects: an extension of featural relativized minimality and the cue-based retrieval account. We conclude by indicating how future research can disentangle the two accounts.

This study investigates how individual differences in perceptual-cognitive aptitude and L2 learning experience shape the acquisition of English word stress in foreign language (FL) classroom settings, addressing gaps in prior research that has primarily focused on L2 segmental learning. A total of 119 Japanese English-as-a-foreign-language students completed a word stress identification task alongside measures of auditory processing, working memory, and L2 learning experience. Their performance was assessed in terms of both accuracy and processing fluency (reaction time and response stability). Results showed that learners with more precise auditory processing, higher working memory capacity, and more frequent L2 use outside the classroom demonstrated greater accuracy in perceiving English word stress. In contrast, classroom-based experience and the length or onset of FL learning had limited impact. Processing fluency was only weakly related to these factors, showing substantial individual variability. The findings suggest that in input-limited FL contexts, successful L2 suprasegmental learning depends heavily on perceptual-cognitive aptitude and opportunities for L2 use beyond the classroom.

Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is a trait characterized by heightened responsiveness to external and internal stimuli. Past research suggests individuals high in SPS may exhibit depressive symptoms, possibly due to their highly sensitive nervous system. While the link between SPS and sleep quality remains unexplored, studies have established a strong association between depression and sleep. This study aimed to compare sensitivity groups concerning sleep quality and depression and to evaluate depression’s moderating effects on the SPS–sleep quality relationship. An online survey was administered to 1,122 Spanish participants (female 75.8%, n = 850), with a mean age of 24.5 (standard deviation [SD] = 11.2). Analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) indicated that the high-sensitivity group experienced more sleep disturbances and severe symptoms of depression, considering gender, age, and monthly incomes as sociodemographic variables. Depression was found to significantly moderate the SPS–sleep quality relationship (F(2, 1116) = 5.717, p = .003), exacerbating the impact of SPS on sleep disturbances. The study findings suggest that highly sensitive people appear to indicate more severe depressive symptoms, as well as sleep quality disturbances, with the influence of gender, age, and monthly income. Also, depression seems to moderate the relationship between SPS and sleep quality, leading to greater sleep disturbances among highly sensitive individuals with severe depressive symptoms.