EDITOR'S NOTE

Let's Think About Why and How and WhereWe Go From Here

Over the past 2 years, members of the NIMH Editors' Consortium on Development and Psychopathology have engaged in l

consultation with leading scholars concerning the status of research on childhood mental health and illness. As a result of thisongoing dialogue, we have concluded that there now exists a critical opportunity to increase the practical yield and tangibleimpact of research on the causes and consequences of child psychopathology. We believe that traditional, variable-oriented,sample-based research strategies and data-analytic techniques alone cannot reveal the complex causal processes that likely give riseto normal and abnormal behavior among different children and adolescents. To a large extent, the predominant methods of oursocial and psychological sciences have valued quantitative approaches over all others, to the exclusion of methods that mightclarify the ecological context and mechanisms of behavioral and social phenomena.

The relativeneglect of rigorous qualitative and ethnographic approaches by both scientific journals and investigators in the fieldof developmental psychopathology has contributed to fragmentation of our research knowledge, lack of synthetic understanding,and limited theoretical progress. As a whole, journals and academic institutions have valued hypothesis-testing, quantitativepublications over more theoretical and!or integrativework, such as critical reviews and conceptual contributions. However, the morecreativeand rigorous theoretical or hypothesis-generating papers often lead to new scientific understanding and critical advances.

JAACAP is open to a greater investment in the development and use of diverse and multiple methods of research and analysis.To bridge the gap between descriptive knowledge and causal understanding of normal and abnormal development and behaviorin their ecological context, as Editor I encourage submissions that use varied research strategies. Rigorous and novel integrative,critical reviewsand theoretical papers will be welcomed.

M.K.O.

NIMH Editors' Consortium on Development and Psychopathology

American Journal of Community PsychologyAmerican Journal onMentalRetardationAmerican Journal ofPsychiatryAppliedDevelopmental ScienceArchives of General PsychiatryArchives ofPediatrics andAdolescent MedicineBiological PsychiatryChildAbuse and Neglect, TheInternationalJournalChildDevelopmentClinical Psychology: Science and PracticeDevelopmental NeuroscienceDevelopmental PsychologyEuropean ChildandAdolescent PsychiatryFamily ProcessInfant Behavior and Development

InternationalJournal ofBehavioral DevelopmentJournal ofAbnormalChildPsychologyJournal oftheAmerican Academy of ChildandAdolescent PsychiatryJournal ofChildandAdolescent PsychopharmacologyJournal ofChildNeurologyJournal ofChildPsychology, Psychiatry, andAlliedDisciplinesJournal of Community PsychologyJournal of Consulting and Clinical PsychologyJournal of Culture, Medicine, and PsychiatryJournal ofDevelopmental and Behavioral PediatricsJournal ofFamily PsychologyJournal ofMaritaland Family TherapyJournal ofResearch onAdolescencePsychiatry: TheStudyofInterpersonal ProcessesScience

Note: All the journals listed above were involved as NIMH Editors' Consortium members in the conceptualization, drafting,and/or final endorsement of a policy statement on which this editor's note is based. However, the listing here does not indicatethat all journals' editorial policies will change. Change in editorial policies will be reflected by publication in specific journals.

1072 J. AM. ACAD. CHILD ADOLESC. PSYCHIATRY, 38:9, SEPTEMBER 1999