Social Sciences

Behavior treatment works as well as drugs for children with ADHD and bypasses the risk of medication's side effects, a meta-analysis of 174 studies on ADHD treatment conducted at the University at Buffalo, has shown.

Most research on developmental pathways leading to substance use and related disorders focuses on factors related to aggressive, acting-out behaviors in children as early risk factors for alcohol and drug use.

The University at Buffalo Regional Institute has issued a detailed analysis of Western New York's voting patterns in the 2008 presidential election. Among the key findings are that the region's most populated areas -- urban and suburban -- voted for Barack Obama, although 85 percent of the region's municipalities voted for McCain. The region also voted more Democratic in 2008 compared to 2004, especially rural areas, while the region's rank of registered Republicans shrank.

In what appears to be a match made in social research and human services heaven, the University at Buffalo School of Social Work's Buffalo Center for Social Research has entered into a five-year contract to provide research expertise to Hillside Family of Agencies, a children and family human services nonprofit headquartered in Rochester, N.Y.

The spectacular increase in the use of psychiatric drugs over the past 50 years involved what a University at Buffalo historian calls "a massive break with what we consider 'normal' mental health," one linked to myriad social and cultural changes in America.

If you and your child are romping in the park or enjoying a stroll on a warm spring day and a dog approaches, be ultra vigilant. Children, warm weather, and dogs, even family dogs, don't mix well, according to a study conducted by pediatric otolaryngologists from the University at Buffalo's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Dennis A. Andrejko of Williamsville, associate professor of architecture in the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning and an expert on energy-conscious architecture, has been elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

A new book based on 15 years of on-the-ground research in Cuba describes two Cubas -- one for Cubans, one for outsiders -- that co-exist but do not mix, and explains how the Cuban culture we do not see was critical in sustaining the Castro regime while other socialist countries collapsed.

The University at Buffalo will offer the first UB Coast to Coast Entertainment and Media Conference June 27-28 in Los Angeles. Created specifically for UB alumni, students and friends of UB, but open to the public, UBC2C will feature workshops in acting, writing, directing, music production, independent film production and marketing, as well as entertainment business marketing, taught by UB industry alumni.

After a collective trauma, such as Thursday's crash of Continental Flight 3407, an entire community (or even the nation) can be exposed to the tragedy through media coverage and second-hand accounts, according to Mark Seery, Ph.D., University at Buffalo assistant professor of psychology.