Y2K is upon us

By Richard M. Suinn, PhD
APA President

As the new millennium approaches, what is most striking are the massive societal changes that have occurred in our lifetimes. Would you have believed that men, women and children would voluntarily endure the sweat and strain of exercise just to be fit and healthy? Would you ever have imagined that the Marlboro, Camel, Chesterfield and Old Gold generation would someday demand smoke-free restaurants? And would you have guessed that eggs and steak would have lost popularity?

From the perspective of time, it is equally striking to see the movement in psychology. Just over 100 years ago, psychology did not exist as a discipline. Today, psychology is one of the most popular undergraduate fields of study, and APA is now the largest membership organization of professionals. Psychology has become a science in every sense of the term, with rigorous research journals, well-equipped laboratories, sophisticated methodologies, comprehensive theories and even specialties that overlap in knowledge with other basic sciences. Although managed care has challenged practitioners, over the decades psychologists have achieved public confidence in their expertise as service providers.

The millennium future: what might happen

Opportunities and challenges to our energies, creativity and expertise lie ahead in our future. We might anticipate expansion of the mind-body interaction concept. Already, data indicate that the mind-body conjunction exists whereby psychological processes influence biochemical and neural functioning. Reports confirm, for example, that there is a relationship between psychological stress and lipid levels--and even between stress and the immune system--and that psychoeducational interventions can reduce emotional distress while strengthening the immune systems of cancer patients. True collaboration between physicians and psychologists will evolve as health care is finally fully treated as a joint mind-body concern.

Improving our ability to understand and predict human behavior will demand attention to social and cultural contexts. Researchers must meet the challenge of developing pathway models that demonstrate the mediating effects of environmental, social, familial and cultural factors. We must build on the principles of systems analyses, path analyses, interactional analyses and functional analyses that emphasize the context that precedes and follows behaviors. In addition, attention must be given to possible differences associated with different ages.

Determining suitable interventions will require focusing on answering detailed questions such as: When is a community intervention more appropriate? Do specific populations--the elderly and the culturally diverse--respond more favorably under specific conditions? What combination of psychological, traditional-medicine or alternative-medicine produces the best results for what types of symptoms?

Diagnostic categories must become more accurate guideposts that point the way to decisions about which interventions to use. The understanding of positive human traits will be important. What constitutes resiliency, strength of spirit under adversity, psychological thriving, the achievement of meaning and balance in life?

Greater knowledge of the unique protective features within cultural communities will benefit all communities. Evidence is building to confirm greater coping among African-American families because of the availability of extended kinship support lacking with most white American families. Also compared with whites, Latinos show a lower mortality rate from cancer, cardiovascular disease and many other medical causes, despite having higher rates of poverty. Evidence also points to this difference being due to cultural factors that promote more favorable health behaviors among Latinos.

Our educational system will be challenged to cover the rapidly increasing amount of knowledge within psychology and important to psychology. Programs will have to confront decisions about how early, basic courses will need to be taught. Will core courses start in high school? Can undergraduate programs initiate curriculum tracks? Should graduate training become generic? Will postdoctoral residencies be in the near future? How can technology benefit lifelong education?

Here and now: Boston

APA's 1999 Annual Convention is upon us, providing comprehensive coverage of where we are today. Attendees can look forward to a wonderful experience, starting with very special Opening Ceremonies that will energize you as we celebrate the theme "Many Voices into One." In addition, a special focus will be the two presidential miniconventions: "Scaling the Summit--Ethnic Minority Issues" and "Scaling the Summit--Cancer." Each will bring a unique approach, in many cases combining formal presentations with audience input. I offer you a special invitation to join us in what will be an inspiring and exciting meeting!

Keep tuned...in a future column, I will ask for your list of the top breakthroughs psychology has achieved in the past millennium. Think about it!



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