Consumer sentiment rises for the first time in three months
June 16, 2026
CNN reports that consumer sentiment may finally be recovering after falling to historic lows due to wartime price spikes.The University of Michigan’s latest survey of Americans, released Friday, showed that sentiment rose 9% to a preliminary reading of 48.9 early this month, the first...
Faculty Spotlight: Josh Ehrlich
June 15, 2026
Advancing Global Aging and Sensory Health ResearchJosh Ehrlich‘s interest in population health came long before medical and public health school. His undergraduate education was in anthropology which fundamentally challenged his views on issues like illness and well-being. Where he previously...
Most people over 50 have LGBTQ+ friends or family, but LGBTQ+ people over 50 face more aging-related challenges, poll finds
June 1, 2026
University of Michigan team explores connections between non-LGBTQ+ and LGBTQ+ people of all ages, and the health and social experiences of LGBTQ+ people over 50 People over 50 are growing older in a very different environment for LGBTQ+ people than the one they grew up in. Now, a new...
ISR welcomes the 2026 Junior Professional Researcher cohort
May 26, 2026
ANN ARBOR — Six young researchers will join the Institute for Social Research as the 2026 Junior Professional Research Researcher cohort this summer. Over the next two years, these six researchers will embed in projects throughout ISR, sharpening their research skills and building key...
Consumer confidence falls as gas prices, inflation worries climb
May 22, 2026
ANN ARBOR—Consumer sentiment fell for the third straight month as supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz continue to lift gasoline prices, according to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. Sentiment is now just below the previous historical trough seen in June...
Mothers in silence: 1 in 5 experience perinatal mental illness, yet most go untreated
May 19, 2026
May’s Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month campaigns are actively targeting perinatal complications and fighting to close the gap in careEXPERT Q&AANN ARBOR—Twenty percent of women experience mental health conditions, such as depression or anxiety, during pregnancy and the first...
Steroid use falls, but creatine use climbs rapidly
May 14, 2026
Findings dovetail with the trends of ‘looksmaxxing’ and teen fitness cultureANN ARBOR—U.S. teens report far less anabolic steroid use than they did two decades ago, but creatine use has risen rapidly in recent years, according to a new University of Michigan study.Combined with...
Rural-urban divide: Neighborhood conditions shape teen smoking
May 12, 2026
ANN ARBOR—Teens in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to smoke, but it depends on whether they live in rural or urban areas.A new University of Michigan study highlights a distinct rural-urban gap in adolescent health. It reports that the link between neighborhood disadvantage and...
New paper finds there may be no safe level of air pollution exposure
May 12, 2026
ANN ARBOR — People forced to breathe polluted air may be shortening their lives one breath at a time.People living within a 25-kilometer high-pollution buffer zone lived about four fewer years on average than their peers in less polluted areas according to a new study led by Reed DeAngelis...
Lockable phone pouches in schools improve student well-being over time, not test scores or bullying
May 4, 2026
ANN ARBOR—A popular device for restricting cell phone use in middle and high schools is effective at achieving that aim, leading to short-term disruption but ultimately positive effects on student well-being, new research finds.The U.S. study conducted by a University of Michigan...
