Basic Behavioral Science Research For Mental Health

DHHS Publication NIH 95-3682. Offers an overview of progress and promising lines of basic behavioral science research. Basic behavioral science includes a wide range of topics in psychology and related sciences, e.g., linguistics and ethology, as well as research domains often described as social science, such as sociology and cultural anthropology. Highlights aspects of this research requiring the National Institute of Mental Health's (NIMH) special attention and stimulation.

Addresses topics from significant research activities in all the major areas of behavioral science. Conveys the important scientific questions which are under investigation & presents new questions for future research. Integrates discussions & written contributions of many behavioral & social scientists. Chapters include: emotion & motivation; vulnerability & resilience; perception, attention, learning, & memory; thought & communication; social influence & social cognition; family processes & social networks; & sociocultural & environmental processes.

This volume is the product of a course on longitudinal prospective re search arranged by the three editors in Arhus, Denmark, in 1978. The course was supported by the Nordisk Kulturfond for young researchers from the Nordic countries, who had planned or had simply involved themselves in longitudinal prospective research projects of various kinds. The twenty-six participants represented a wide range of professions: statisticians, psychologists, psychiatrists, nutritionists, and public health researchers. The teachers came from many countries and represented many disciplines. The course was very successful, especially from the point of view of the quality and investment of the teachers. We felt also that the course met a strong need in this relatively new field of research. Therefore, we asked the teachers to prepare written versions of their lectures so that they could have wider dissemination; they agreed to do so. The present book is composed of these contributions. The first chap ter, after outlining some of the problems with traditional strategies in mental health research, goes on to suggest some of the possible preven tive applications of longitudinal research methods. Included in Parts II and III are papers on design problems and on the tools of long-term research, such as genetics and classification, biological measurements, epidemiological guidelines, statistical models, disease registers, and de velopmental psychology.