Call for Papers for Special Section

Guest Editors: Angus W. MacDonald, III and Robert F. Krueger

• February 28, 2012: deadline to send an abstract of a proposed submission
• July 31, 2012: deadline for full submissions

Ideally, the system for conceptualizing mental disorders should be grounded in solid brain science, psychology and psychopathology. The technologies exist for pursuing this goal, yet the process is fraught.

This special section will address the challenge of aligning our diagnostic framework with our understanding of etiology and pathophysiology.

For example, NIMH's new Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework is designed to link research on mental disorders more closely to laboratory behavior, cognitive neuroscience and molecular genetics. Two other diagnostic systems, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), the two most established schemes for describing mental disorders, are also undergoing revision.

Although based in largely the same available data, these initiatives have arrived at very different ways of conceptualizing psychopathology by emphasizing different priorities. This special section will address the challenges faced by these new frameworks as they synthesize disparate findings.

In the first case, the RDoC disposes of the limitations of a categorical system, and the many habits of thought that accompany it. One legacy of this categorizing habit is an adherence to a pathogen model of mental illness, which largely ignores individual differences in the non-pathological spectrum. Instead, the RDoC framework suggests a science of mental disorders that follows the contours of the brain. It therefore aims to focus research along the brain's evolved behavioral programs.

However, the sciences of these behavioral programs are a thorny hedge and have not grown in a manner that is easily systematized by scholarly committees. Similar, although distinct, challenges are faced by the authors of DSM and ICD, where there is the additional expectation of continuity with previous priorities.

• Will the processes in place for RDoC development, or DSM and ICD revisions allow them to fulfill their purpose?
• What aspects of RDoC or the new categorical schemes are incompatible with current research paradigms?
• What measurement problems arise when melding individual differences in psychopathology with tasks designed to isolate specific constructs?
• What are the unforeseen obstacles that, if addressed, would allow faster progress toward the goal of improving treatments for mental illness?

Submissions are expected to provide constructive approaches to these or other challenges that come with the goal of aligning our diagnostic framework with our understanding of etiology and pathophysiology.

This special section is not designed to address limitations of current nosological systems. Because the section is focused on basic psychopathology and conceptualization, it will not address issues of relevance only to treatment of mental disorders. The section is also not interested in addressing problems that are specific to a single disorder; the challenges of characterizing a particular disorder may however be used as exemplars of broader conceptual issues.

Please send an abstract (200 words or fewer) of a proposed submission by February 28, 2012 to the Journal of Abnormal Psychology Editor's Office.

Full submissions will be due July 31, 2012.

Do not send a completed manuscript without approval of the abstract.

All complete submissions will go through a normal peer-review process. These must comply with APA policies, including certification of compliance with APA ethical principles for research, the prohibition of multiple submission and duplicate publication, and authors' obligation to retain raw data.

• RDoC: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/research-funding/rdoc/index.shtml
• DSM-V: http://www.dsm5.org/pages/default.aspx
• ICD-11: http://sites.google.com/site/icd11revision/home/icat
• Insel, T., Cuthbert, B., Garvey, M., Heinssen, R., Kozak, M., Pine, D. S., . . . Wang, P. (2010). Research Domain Criteria (RDoC): Developing a valid diagnostic framework for research on mental disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 748–751.
• Sanislow, C. A., Pine, D. S., Quinn, K. J., Kozak, M. J., Garvey, M. A., Heinssen, R. K., et al. (2010). Developing constructs for psychopathology research: Research domain criteria. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119, 631–639.