Prevention to Foster Psychological Health

Mental health care is mostly focused on treatment, even though the American Psychological Association and the National Institutes of Health have called for more investment in prevention. Our third line of research focuses on preventing mental illness and promoting psychological health.

We advance a psychological prevention framework which builds internal capacities that buffer the effects of chronic stress.

The capacities we target:

• Emotional intelligence: identifying and processing emotion

• Perceived social support: feeling supported by others

• Adaptive coping: perceived ability to manage ongoing stress

• Flexibility: emotional, cognitive, and social

In this view, prevention is an active, developmental process that strengthens flexibility before psychopathology emerges. Our goal is to “immunize” people against the psychological effects of stress that can’t be avoided, lowering rates of depression, anxiety, and related disorders.