Skip to main content

Currently Skimming:


Pages 1-18

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 3...
... In this country, it is estimated that 20 percent of adults suffer from an active mental disorder in a given year, and 32 percent can be expected to have such an illness sometime during their life (Robins and Regier, 1991~. These estimates, which come from the National Institute of Mental Health's Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA)
From page 4...
... At least 12 percent (or about 7.5 million) of our nation's 63 million children and adolescents suffer from one or more mental disorders-including autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, severe conduct disorder, depression, and alcohol and psychoactive substance abuse and dependence (DHHS, 1991; IOM, 1989; OTA, 1986~.
From page 5...
... As is detailed in the chapters to come, the knowledge base for preventive interventions, which had been scanty in the 1960s, has undergone a remarkable expansion, fueled by a considerable research effort within the past decade. Fundamental advances in our understanding of the biological substrates and genetics underlying numerous mental disorders and of the role of environmental factors in the onset of specific disorders have been made.
From page 6...
... One way to determine causality and malleability of risk factors for specific disorders is through examination of preventive interventions aimed at a single factor or a cluster of factors. If risk factors can be decreased or in some way altered, and/or if protective factors can be enhanced, the likelihood that at-risk individuals would eventually develop the mental disorder would decrease.
From page 7...
... Also, current understanding of the mechanisms that link risk and protective factors with proximal and distal outcomes is not well established for mental disorders. A great deal more is known about how to prevent some physical diseases (e.g.,
From page 8...
... 8 I Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders TABLE 1.1 Time lLine of Events Related to Prevention of Mental Disorders 1909 The Mental Health Association was founded; subsequently it became the National Association for Mental Health and then the National Mental Health Association (NMHA)
From page 9...
... designated an Associate Administrator for Prevention within ADAMHA to promote and coordinate prevention programs, including those run by NIMH, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) , and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
From page 10...
... was established at NIMH. This was a step toward consolidation of preventive intervention research throughout NIGH into one unit.
From page 11...
... . The lack of clarity regarding risk mechanisms for mental disorders has contributed to a reluctance to launch preventive interventions without additional research (Sameroff, 1990~.
From page 12...
... Major and continuing advances have been made in the validity and reliability of psychiatric classification over the past 30 years, especially for adult disorders. Despite these advances, many problems with the classification of mental disorders remain, all of which will increasingly affect the prevention field as it more specifically focuses not only on the reduction of risk factors but also on the reduction of initial onset of disorders: · Not all scientists whose work is relevant to preventive interventions agree on which diseases to include in the category of mental disorders, and, for a few diagnoses, what constitutes a mental disorder.
From page 13...
... Confusion about terminology extends to the terms prevention and prevention research, which mean different things to different federal agencies, advocacy groups, and professionals (see Chapter 2~. Even scientists within federal research institutes are unlikely to agree as to what constitutes prevention of mental disorders.
From page 14...
... LOOKING FORWARD Despite the obstacles, there has been an expansion in the knowledge base for prevention of mental disorders, an increase in methodology, and the development of some promising preventive interventions. Circumstances have combined to present an extraordinary opportunity to investigate the prevention of mental disorders much more seriously.
From page 15...
... And with this framework in mind, the reader may be similarly guided through this report and experience conceptually the stages he or she would go through in designing a prevention program. Following the introduction and description of definitions in Chapters 1 and 2, the committee presents a series of chapters on lessons learned from prevention of physical illness (Chapter 3~; from the core sciences that provide part of the knowledge base for preventive interventions (Chapter 4~; from a description of illustrative mental disorders (Chapter 5~; from research on risk and protective factors associated with the onset of mental disorders (Chapter 6~; from a review of illustrative preventive interventions for mental disorders that serve as promising models for future interventions (Chapter 7~; from treatment research (Chapter 8~; and from a review of the field of mental health promotion (Chapter 9~.
From page 17...
... (1989) Research on Children and Adolescents with Mental, Behavioral, and Developmental Disorders.
From page 18...
... Conference on The Present Status and Future Needs of Research on Prevention of Mental Disorders: Washington, DC. Torrey, E


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.