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December 12, 2008
Retreat Refreshes Behavioral, Social Sciences
Dr. Christine Bachrach
Dr. Christine Bachrach, acting director of the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, wanted just one thing out of the first-ever day-long retreat for NIH’s widely dispersed community of behavioral and social scientists, held Nov. 12 at Natcher Bldg.
December 12, 2008
CBT4CBT
New Hope for Treatment of Addiction
Dr. Kathleen Carroll
Drug addiction is notoriously tough to treat, but now research is showing a fresh way to tackle the problem. It’s called computer-based training for cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT4CBT)
OBSSR’s Mabry Wins with Systems Analysis Team
OBSSR’s Mabry Wins with Systems Analysis Team
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January 22, 2009, 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Sex, Drugs, and Viral Load: Integrating HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment
January 28-29, 2009 Dissemination and Implementation Conference
Reminder — PLEASE DISTRIBUTE
July 12-24, 2009
OBSSR/NIH Summer Training Institute on Randomized Clinical Trials Involving Behavioral Interventions
APPLICATIONS DUE Midnight on Sunday, January 4, 2009
Click Here
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Home > About OBSSR > History > BSSR Definition
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BSSR Definition |
A Definition of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
for the National Institutes of Health
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
National Institutes of Health
Revised June 2001
When the United States Congress created the Office of Behavioral
and Social Sciences Research at the National Institutes of Health,
it mandated that the Office develop a standard definition of the
field to assess and monitor funding in this area. This definition of
health-related behavioral and social sciences research was
developed in 1996 in consultation with behavioral and social scientists
and science organizations, and benefited from the leadership
of OBSSR's founding director,
Dr. Norman B. Anderson.
This definition, slightly revised in June 2000, divides
behavioral and social sciences research
into two sections: Core Areas of Research, and Adjunct Areas
of Research. The core areas of research are further divided into
basic or fundamental research and clinical research
(this distinction serves more of an organizational function rather than
representing firm boundaries within the field.) Adjunct
areas of behavioral and social sciences research include many
types of neurological research and some research on pharmacological
interventions--areas that have implications for, and are
often influences by, behavioral research.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) mission is to fund and
conduct research that will result in an improvement in health. For
the past five years, the Office of Behavioral and Social
Sciences Research (OBSSR), which is located in the Office of the Director,
has served to stimulate the growth of the behavioral and
social sciences at the NIH. Although behavioral research has a long funding
history at the NIH, we have become increasingly aware of
its vital importance to our overall mission. Behavioral
and social factors are important contributors to health
and illness and frequently interact with biological factors to influence health outcomes.
They also represent critical avenues for treatment and prevention.
When Congress created the OBSSR, it mandated that a standard definition of
behavioral and social sciences research be established. This definition was to
be used to assess and monitor funding for behavioral and social sciences
research at all of the NIH institutes, centers, and divisions. Heretofore,
there had been no single definition of the field that could be used to assess and
monitor NIH support of the behavioral and social sciences across all NIH
Institutes and Centers.
Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Defined at NIH
Behavioral and social sciences research is a large, multifaceted field,
encompassing a wide array of disciplines. The field employs a variety of
methodological approaches including: surveys and questionnaires, interviews,
randomized clinical trials, direct observation, physiological manipulations and
recording, descriptive methods, laboratory and field experiments, standardized
tests, economic analyses, statistical modeling, ethnography, and evaluation.
Yet, behavioral and social sciences research is not restricted to a set of
disciplines or methodological approaches. Instead, the field is defined by
substantive areas of research that transcend disciplinary and methodological
boundaries. In addition, several key cross-cutting themes characterize social
and behavioral sciences research. These include: an emphasis on theory-driven
research; the search for general principles of behavioral and social
functioning; the importance ascribed to a developmental, lifespan perspective;
an emphasis on individual variation, and variation across sociodemographic
categories such as gender, age, and sociocultural status; and a focus on both
the social and biological context of behavior.
Behavioral and social science research funded at the NIH can best be
understood by dividing it into two sections: Core Areas of Research, and Adjunct
Areas of Research. The core areas of research are further divided into basic or
fundamental research and clinical research. (The basic and clinical research
distinction serves more of an organizational function for purposes of this definition,
rather than representing firm boundaries within the field.) Indeed,
many studies have both basic and clinical components. Moreover, basic and
clinical research is often complementary. Basic research frequently provides
the foundation for subsequent clinical research, and clinical research often influences
the direction of basic research. Adjunct areas of behavioral and
social sciences research include many types of neurobiological research and some
research on pharmacological interventions--areas that have implications for, and
are often influenced by, behavioral research.
(1) Definition of "behavioral" and "social"
For purposes of this definition, the term "behavioral"
refers to overt actions; to underlying psychological processes such as
cognition, emotion, temperament, and motivation; and to biobehavioral
interactions. The term "social" encompasses sociocultural,
socioeconomic, and sociodemographic status; to biosocial interactions; and to
the various levels of social context from small groups to complex cultural
systems and societal influences.
(2) Core Areas of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
The core areas of behavioral and social sciences research are those
that have a major and explicit focus on the understanding of
behavioral or social processes, or on the use of these processes to predict or
influence health outcomes or health risk factors. These core areas of research
are divided into basic (or fundamental) research and clinical research.
Role of Basic or Fundamental Research
Basic research in the behavioral and social sciences is designed
to further our understanding of behavioral and social functioning.
As is the case for basic research in the biomedical sciences,
basic behavioral and social sciences research does not address
disease outcomes per se, but is designed to provide essential
knowledge necessary for better prediction, prevention, and control of illnesses.
Basic behavioral and social research is divided into three categories: (A)
research on behavioral and social processes; (B) biopsychosocial research; and
(C) research on the development of behavioral or social procedures for
measurement, analysis, and classification.
A. Research on behavioral and social processes
Research on behavioral and social processes involves the study of human
or animal functioning at the level of the individual, small group,
institution, organization, or community. At the individual level,
this research may involve the study of behavioral factors such
as cognition, memory, language, perception, personality, emotion, motivation,
and others. At higher levels of aggregation, it includes the study of social
variables such as the structure and dynamics of small groups (e.g. couples,
families, work groups, etc.); institutions and organizations (e.g. schools,
religious organizations, etc.); communities (defined by geography or common
interest); and larger demographic, political, economic, and cultural systems.
Research on behavioral and social processes also includes the study of the
interactions within and between these two levels of aggregation, such as the
influence of sociocultural factors on cognitive processes or emotional
responses. Finally, this research also includes the study of environmental
factors such as climate, noise, environmental hazards, and residential
environments and their effects on behavioral and social functioning.
Examples of research topics and their implications that are or could be funded by NIH Institutes and Centers include:
- Sensation and perception
(Implications: neurological and mental disorders and disorders associated with abnormalities in
vision, hearing, taste and smell)
- Emotion and motivation
(Implications: depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, conduct disorders, normal psychological development,
eating disorders, obesity, addictions, sleep disturbances, behavioral and cognitive treatments)
- Vulnerability and resilience
(Implications: psychopathology, violence, effects of child abuse and neglect)
- Attention, learning and memory Implications: mental disorders involving abnormalities in cognitive processes
(e.g., schizophrenia, major depression), attention deficit disorders, learning disabilities, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias,
cognitive rehabilitation, education)
- Language development
(Implications: communication disorders, autism, learning disabilities)
- Social influences and social cognition
(Implications: all-cause mortality, psychopathology, behavioral and cognitive treatments)
- Family processes and social networks
(Implications: domestic
violence, divorce, child abuse, psychopathology, all-cause mortality, child development, aging)
- Sociocultural and environmental processes (Implications: better
understanding of social, cultural, and environmental antecedents to
mental and physical illnesses)
B. Biopsychosocial research
Biopsychosocial research (also known as biobehavioral or biosocial
research) involves the study of the interactions of biological factors
with behavioral or social variables and how they affect each other
(i.e., the study of bi-directional multilevel relationships).
Examples of research topics and their implications that are or could be funded by the institutes include:
- Behavior genetics
(Implications: addictions, psychopathology, heart disease, gene expression, cancer risk, diabetes, oral health)
- Behavioral and cognitive neurosciences
(Implications: effects of brain injury, neurodegenerative diseases, learning disabilities,
dementia, addictions, sleep disorders, schizophrenia, neurological development, and plasticity)
- Psychoneuroimmunology
(Implications: stress effects on health, AIDS, dental problems, infections)
- Psychopharmacology
(Implications: addictions, psychopathology, brain disorders, drug treatments)
- Behavioral cardiology
(Implications: cardiovascular diseases, stroke, hypertension)
C. Treatment outcomes research involves the design and evaluation of behavioral and social interventions to treat mental and physical illnesses, or interventions designed to ameliorate the effects of illness on behavioral or social functioning. This area also includes research on behavioral and social rehabilitation procedures.
Examples of research topics in this area include:
- Cognitive or behavioral interventions for anxiety disorders and depression
- Strategies to reduce arthritis pain
- Interventions for restoring behavioral and brain functioning following head injury
- Lifestyle (dietary change, exercise, stress reduction) approaches to reversing coronary atherosclerosis
- Procedures to enhance adherence to medical interventions
D. Research on health promotion and disease prevention involves the design, implementation, and evaluation of behavioral and social interventions to prevent the occurrence, recurrence, or progression of illness, symptoms, risk factors, or health problems. Health promotion also consists of evaluating procedures that facilitate optimal health functioning.
Examples of research topics in this area include:
- The design and evaluation of programs to discourage adolescent smoking
- Approaches to increase physical activity in the elderly
- Interventions to alter dietary intake to promote health
- Family interventions to prevent injuries in children
- Teaching parenting skills to prevent sudden infant death syndrome
- Mass media interventions to promote health knowledge
- Promoting the use of condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases
E. Research on institutional and organizational influences on health includes studies of the organization of and access to health care, its effectiveness in real world settings (e.g. health services research), its cost efficiency, and its social and cultural acceptability. It also involves research on macro-economic phenomena (e.g. business cycles), community and neighborhood organization and the structure and functioning of families, and how these variables influence the consumption and choice of health care, and decision-making concerning health procedures. Finally, this category includes research on how successful approaches to the organization and delivery of health services can be translated into public policy.
Examples of research topics in this area include:
- The impact of providing inpatient smokers with information and brief counseling from nursing staff
- The accessibility of rural dental health care facilities for migrant workers
- The cost-effectiveness of occupational safety interventions
- The use of schools as sites for the delivery of mental health services
- The effects of capitation on health care utilization
- The effects of ethnicity and gender on referral for mental health services
- The association of health provider behavior to patient adherence to medical treatments
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