Drawing on the example of a novel flat-fare public transport ticket, this study explores the potential of behavioral insights to contribute to the success of traditional policy instruments. The ticket is evaluated using the EAST framework to identify attributes that are aligned with recommendations from behavioral science. The impact of these attributes on the decision to use the ticket is analyzed with a representative survey of German citizens. The results highlight the importance of nonmonetary attributes for using the ticket, especially those that are associated with simplicity and flexibility. These behaviorally aligned attributes are found to be particularly important for new subscribers and to differ in relevance for respondents of different income groups. Notably, a ‘flat-rate bias’ is indicated by a discrepancy between the stated importance of relevant attributes and stated usage. The study underscores the necessity for policymakers to integrate behavioral insights into the design of public transport policies.

New military recruits, typically emerging adults, must rapidly adapt to the stressors of basic combat training (BCT) – a developmentally significant and intentionally stressful experience. Drawing on a developmental psychopathology framework of risk and resilience, we prospectively examined predictors of psychological adaptation in a longitudinal sample of recruits (age mean = 19.0, SD = 3.0) assessed before and after BCT (59.7% of those eligible for follow-up; N = 657). Pre-registered hierarchical linear regressions tested direct and moderating effects of individual difference variables previously linked to risk and resilience. Higher levels of prior adversity, worse self-regulatory difficulties, and (unexpectedly) higher general cognitive ability at baseline were associated with worsening post-BCT internalizing distress, after accounting for baseline symptoms. Gender, baseline social support, and baseline Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) scales were not associated with longitudinal changes in internalizing distress, and no moderation effects were found. Our findings suggest that bolstering emotion regulation skills, especially among those with prior adversity, may be important for preventing the emergence of psychopathology and promoting more successful adaptation to military roles. The unexpected association between cognitive ability and distress may reflect context sensitivity, suggesting that the demands of BCT may alter the typical adaptive function of cognitive strengths.

This model proposes that clinical complexity is defined with respect to treatment complications, not just client characteristics. In complex cases, there are significant barriers in the working alliance between the client and the therapist, and this limits the gains the client can receive. In any course of therapy, client, therapist, healthcare and contextual factors interact to facilitate or complicate the therapeutic process. Each participant has facilitative factors that are therapy-enabling, and complexity factors that challenge the therapeutic process. Some clients have multiple complexity factors and it is helpful to specify them and try to mitigate them. However, identifying clients as complex cases can overlook facilitative factors and take attention away from therapist and service variables. Overcoming alliance barriers relies on bringing attention to them, reflecting on the various factors that influence them, and communicating explicitly about them in supervision and therapy. Practical applications are explored for clients, therapists and services using a case example to illustrate the key points.

Personal autonomy is increasingly challenged by institutional rules and societal demands. This research examines how institutional restrictions on what people do, when they do it, and how they do it influence their experience of agency. Across two experimental studies, participants indicated their experienced agency in everyday scenarios where institutions determined one or more of these three components. The results indicate that experienced agency is most strongly undermined when institutions decide what goal a person must pursue. The more components were restricted, the lower the experienced agency, revealing a cumulative effect. The second study further tested whether framing the achievement of a goal as an opportunity to experience freedom could buffer against these effects. This manipulation did not attenuate the impact of restrictions, suggesting that immediate control over decision-making plays a more critical role in shaping experience of agency than anticipated future freedoms. These findings offer insight into how institutional rules shape people’s experience of agency and may help guide the design of policies that better respect and preserve personal autonomy.

Although temperamental negative affectivity has been identified as a developmental mechanism mediating the link between perinatal risk and internalizing problems in early childhood, its role in predicting broader behavioral and emotional problems across childhood remains understudied. We examined the longitudinal relations among perinatal complications (i.e., prenatal maternal depression and cardiometabolic complications, preterm birth, and low birth weight), children’s negative affectivity (Mage = 2.76; SD = 2.32; range = 0.24–12.46 years), and children’s internalizing, externalizing, and total problems (Mage = 5.12; SD = 2.63; range = 1.50–16.85 years) in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program (N = 3070; 47% females). Results support child negative affectivity as a mechanism in the developmental pathway linking perinatal maternal depressive symptoms and preterm birth to future emotional and behavioral problems, underscoring the importance of early prevention and intervention efforts to promote psychological well-being of at-risk children.

The UK has recently introduced regulations to prevent design features of online gambling products that may ‘encourage problem gambling behaviour’. One change has been to prohibit win-associated and celebratory audiovisual effects following monetary losses in online slots, intended to disable a misleading design feature known as ‘losses disguised as wins’ (LDWs). We assessed 26 popular online slots available to UK consumers. Contrary to regulatory guidance, 17 used win-associated sounds following LDWs, and 18 used sound effects following LDWs that we judged as ‘celebratory’. To independently validate our appraisal of these sound effects, we asked 400 UK-based gamblers to assess whether a selection of sound effects recorded from commercially available online slots communicated a positive outcome. In every case, the average consumer classifications of the recorded sounds were consistent with our own, validating our initial assessments. These results suggest that the misuse of celebratory sound effects in online slots still occurs in the UK market, despite this regulation. We argue that this is in part due to ambiguities in regulatory guidance that have enabled operators to technically comply with the regulation while circumventing its intended effect. We conclude by offering suggestions to amend and improve this regulation.

Research teams studying bilingualism often focus on a specific population of bilinguals, which can limit the generalizability of their findings. This study explored how U.S. adolescents who speak a non-English language vary in their language experiences and cognition using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The sample included 6683 English monolinguals, 1138 heritage bilinguals, 592 dual language education (DLE) bilinguals and 1751 other bilinguals. SES varied across groups: sequential bilinguals (i.e., DLE and other bilinguals) had higher parental education and income than monolinguals, while heritage bilinguals had the lowest SES. Sequential bilinguals reported higher English proficiency and greater English use with family and friends than heritage bilinguals. Sequential bilinguals initially outperformed monolinguals on cognitive tasks, who in turn outperformed heritage bilinguals. However, these differences disappeared once SES was controlled. Findings highlight the importance of considering SES and language experiences when studying bilingualism’s cognitive effects and help explain inconsistencies in prior research.

This study examines whether behaviourally informed training can improve the effectiveness of phone-based tax debt collection in a public-sector setting. In collaboration with the Bulgarian National Revenue Agency, we implemented a two-day training programme for call centre agents focused on persuasion, negotiation and behavioural influence techniques derived from behavioural science and nudge theory. The impact of the intervention is assessed using descriptive comparisons of monthly aggregated debt-collection performance indicators before and after the training. We find that, following the intervention, trained agents achieved markedly better outcomes relative to pre-intervention periods, including an increase of approximately 20% in the total amount of debt collected over the subsequent three months and a higher rate of secured payment agreements. Notably, these improvements contrast with historical seasonal patterns that typically show a decline in collections during the same period. While the analysis is descriptive and does not permit definitive causal inference, the results provide strong indicative evidence that targeted behavioural training can enhance compliance outcomes in live, interpersonal interactions. The study contributes to the behavioural public policy and persuasion literatures by extending behavioural insights beyond written or digital nudges to real-time, conversational settings. From a practical perspective, the findings highlight the potential value of soft-skills and behavioural training for frontline public servants as a scalable and cost-effective tool for improving tax administration performance.