Data gaps in Psychology

Representative open questions

Showing 30 of 48 — one per source paper, highest-quality first.

• Psychosocial factors in sustainable youth social work: enhancing resilience, self-efficacy, and pro-environmental behavior among Chinese youth (2026) · doi

  The study proposes that eco-anxiety and environmental fatalism operate as emotional barriers reduced by resilience-building interventions, but does not empirically measure or track changes in these specific emotional constructs as mediating pathways between psychological interventions and behavioral outcomes.

• Systematic survey of neurocognitive studies that examine connections between domain-general cognitive characteristics and mathematical processing (2026) · doi

  While oscillatory EEG correlates of arithmetic strategy use have been documented for addition and subtraction, the survey reveals no comparable neurocognitive investigations of strategy switching in complex multi-step mathematical problems or algebra. EEG studies should directly compare oscillatory patterns during procedural versus conceptual mathematical reasoning across different problem complexity levels.

• When faces trigger feelings: multi-stakeholder experiences, use, and expectations of facial-emotion learning technologies and materials for autistic people (2026) · doi

  The paper documents that some autistic children refuse to engage with emotions labeled as negative (anger, sadness) in facial-emotion apps because the emotional displays provoke anxiety or distress. Research is needed to determine which specific emotions and facial expressions trigger rejection versus acceptance in autistic populations, and how to design curricula that safely introduce challenging emotions.

• Adversity and Resilience in Children With Moderate-to-profound Intellectual Disabilities: A Multi-source, Multiple-case Study Across Developmental Stages (2026) · doi

  Parental internal strains (e.g., emotional exhaustion, sleep deprivation, guilt, temporary withdrawal) are documented qualitatively, but quantitative measures linking specific parental strain profiles (e.g., burnout severity, depression screening scores, sleep hours) to child resilience outcomes and caregiver-child interaction quality are absent from this multi-case study of intellectual disabilities.

• Artificial intelligence of things (AIoT) based smart elderly care in Beijing China faces challenges and requires policy solutions (2026) · doi

  The paper documents a supply-demand mismatch in AIoT elderly care services regarding neglected psychosocial needs and misalignment with consumption habits, but lacks empirical measurement of which specific psychosocial services (e.g., cognitive engagement, emotional support, social connectivity features) are most underserved and what percentage of elderly users would adopt tiered, flexible pricing models versus current service designs.

• A Machine Learning-Based Sentiment Analysis Framework for Twitter Tweets Using Natural Language Processing (2026) · doi

  The sentiment analysis system is currently trained and validated only on English-language Twitter tweets; the paper identifies extending multilingual support to other languages as a concrete gap, requiring adaptation of the NLP preprocessing pipeline and VADER sentiment analyzer for non-English social media discourse in mental health contexts.

• 4. Assessment in a chemistry course (2018) · doi

  The excerpt notes that student exam completion time is 'at least double that of colleagues or PhD students' but does not systematically investigate how this time discrepancy varies by question type (mechanism problems versus identification questions) or affects content validity of chemistry assessments.

• Effects of AI-enhanced immersive learning environments on English proficiency, intercultural competence, and learner engagement (2026) · doi

  The facial expression recognition data (Table 11) show significant differences in emotional engagement (happy, surprise, attention) between control and AI-enhanced groups, but the study does not longitudinally track whether these emotional engagement patterns sustain beyond the intervention period or predict long-term retention of English proficiency and intercultural competence gains.

• Bridging the Gap in Mathematics Education: The Efficacy of Deep Learning and STEM-Based PBL on Critical Thinking (2026) · doi

  The study compares deep learning STEM-based PBL against conventional instruction (control group) but does not examine whether specific components of the deep learning approach (cognitive, emotional, or social dimensions) differentially contribute to improvements in each critical thinking aspect, such as which dimension most strongly predicts inference versus evaluation performance.

• Depression and Anxiety as Aspects of Mental Health in Celiac Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analytical Synthesis (2026) · doi

  The interaction between developmental stage, peer relationships, and gluten-free diet adherence in adolescents requires age-specific longitudinal investigation, as this population shows elevated rates of depression, anxiety, and body image dissatisfaction but lacks tailored screening protocols and developmental stage-matched interventions.

• Digital displacement (2026) · doi

  The study identified that racialized international students (specifically Muslim MENA students) may experience intensified identity-related distress in virtual programs due to lack of in-person community and cultural affirmation, yet the DIDS measure and identity difficulty construct were not disaggregated by student racial/ethnic or religious identity categories; future research should examine how identity development trajectories and ruminative exploration patterns differ across racialized international student subgroups in online learning environments.

• Living with loss: environmental grief, solastalgia, and young adults’ experiences after wildfires (2026) · doi

  The sample is limited to predominantly educated, urban-centric young adults with relatively high social capital in Turkey; stratified sampling must include rural communities and individuals with lower educational backgrounds to determine how social vulnerability moderates the experience of solastalgia and disenfranchised grief in wildfire-affected populations.

• Navigating The Healthcare Landscape: Lived Experiences of Filipino Workers Accessing Insurance and Medical Services in Japan (2026) · doi

  The research identifies mental distress and burnout among Filipino migrant workers caused by financial strain from insurance contributions combined with remittance responsibilities, but provides no quantitative assessment of mental health outcomes (anxiety, burnout severity, depression symptoms) stratified by employment type (employee health insurance versus national health insurance) or length of employment in Japan.

• Rhythmic skills mediate the link between music training and cognition via attention and phonological processing (2026) · doi

  The mediation model linking musical training to cognition via rhythmic skills was tested on a sample with only three participants with more than six years of formal musical training and five self-identifying musicians. The extent to which the thresholded rhythmic skills model and mediation pathway replicate in populations with expert or professional musicians (defined as 10+ years training or performing status) requires dedicated investigation.

• Exploring the Antidepressant Properties of Essential Oils: A Natural Approach to Mental Well-Being (2026) · doi

  The paper demonstrates that essential oils present limited onset of response compared to conventional antidepressants, but does not characterize the temporal pharmacokinetics of essential oil absorption, blood-brain barrier penetration, or receptor occupancy kinetics required to understand why onset is delayed relative to synthetic drugs.

• The Influence of Limited Educational Game Tools (APE) on Early Childhood Learning at RA Nurul Jihad Kindergarten (2026) · doi

  The research identifies that limited APE availability inadvertently increases social interaction opportunities through forced sharing and turn-taking, but lacks longitudinal data tracking how this scarcity-driven social development compares quantitatively to social-emotional outcomes in resource-rich kindergarten settings.

• Lived experiences of humour as a coping strategy in higher education (2026) · doi

  The study identified that humour may function as emotional repression when used excessively, yet lacks longitudinal data on the long-term psychological impacts of humour-based coping in university students, particularly regarding cumulative effects on mental health when humour is used chronically to mask emotional expressions.

• The silent accumulation: AI as mental contaminant (2026) · doi

  The framework currently lacks domain-specific evidence beyond GPS navigation to validate broader claims about cumulative technological impacts on cognitive-social capacities. Research must establish correlational and causal relationships across multiple technology domains (social media, algorithmic recommendation systems, attention-fragmenting interfaces) to validate the proposed cumulative exposure pathways.

• Teachers’ Flexibility and Coping Mechanisms among Teachers Impacted by School Closures (2026) · doi

  The paper documents purpose reaffirmation as a resilience mechanism through student-teacher attachment during school closures, but lacks measurement of how attachment strength (frequency of contact, interaction quality) correlates with maintenance of professional identity and sense of purpose among displaced teachers.

• Gamification to work on the numbers in a mathematics course: Study of emotions and performance in higher education (2026) · doi

  While the paper examines gamification in higher education mathematics, there is no analysis of individual differences in responsiveness to gamification—specifically whether students with different baseline mathematics self-efficacy levels, anxiety profiles, or prior achievement motivations show differential emotional and performance responses to escape room activities. Moderation analyses with these student characteristics are missing.

• Cannabis use frequency may differentially impact cognitive performance in young adults with and without HIV (2026) · doi

  Previous studies of HIV and cannabis use have focused largely on heavy, such as daily, use. Study of mild/moderate use was necessary to discover different patterns for YWH, including examination of a range of cannabis use frequency which is critical for understanding population-specific impacts on cognitive functioning.

• Impact of subanesthetic ketamine delivered via AmyloLipid nanovesicle (ALN)-based intranasal system on biobehavioral responses in an animal model of PTSD (2026) · doi

  Limited research on the comparative efficacy of different ketamine isomers (R,S vs R vs S) when delivered via intranasal ALN-based nanovesicles in PTSD models.

• Inteligencia emocional sobre los celos y la dependencia emocional en parejas de la selva peruana (2026) · doi

  The particular cultural and social characteristics of Tahuamanu province in the Peruvian Amazon, including high reported violence against women, unequal access to mental health services, and limited educational opportunities, conditions the expression of emotions and modes of affective bonding but requires further investigation.

• Beyond cognition: the four-seasons framework for integrating affect into mathematics teaching (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies 25 specific pedagogies but does not provide comparative analysis of their differential effectiveness or optimal sequencing within and across the four seasons.

• Determinants of poor sleep quality in hemodialysis patients: a multicenter cross sectional study in Sri Lanka (2026) · doi

  Investigations are underway to examine the correlation between patients' anxiety and depression levels and the sleep quality and general quality of life of HD patients.

• ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SCORES IN PATIENTS WITH BURNING MOUTH SYNDROME (2108) · doi

  The need to establish standardized evaluation protocols and larger sample sizes to reduce variability in reported prevalence rates of anxiety and depression in BMS.

• Examination Stress and OSCE Performance in Basic Clinical Skills: A Study Among Medical Students (2026) · doi

  Future research should investigate the impact of specific coping mechanisms on OSCE success.

• Mindcare AI: Transforming Mental Health Support with AI (2026) · doi

  The system currently uses digital behaviours and self-reported data, but could incorporate physiological markers from wearable devices, such as heart rate variability and sleep patterns, to more accurately detect subtle shifts in mental health.

• Physical Activity in the Prevention and Treatment of Depression and Anxiety Disorders: A Narrative Literature Review (2026) · doi

  Substantial heterogeneity exists across study protocols regarding the type, duration, and frequency of exercise, which complicates the formulation of precise prescriptions.

• PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS AND TRANSFORMATION OF STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ONGOING WAR IN UKRAINE (2026) · doi

  The research does not examine long-term effects of language learning as a stress-coping mechanism beyond the immediate war period, or how attitudes persist after the conflict resolution.