Reconceptualizing Prevention: Commentary on “conducting Psychopathology Prevention Research in the RDoC Era”.

In the article “Conducting Psychopathology Prevention Research in the RDoC Era,” Zalta and Shankman (2016) dispel the myth that it would be difficult to conduct prevention research within the bounds of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative. Illustrating a strategy to align prevention science and RDoC, and introducing the notion of a “prevention-mechanism” trial, the authors provide guidance to the field that could stimulate novel intervention development research to prevent psychopathology. We build off of their ideas, further clarifying the intent and principles underlying the RDoC initiative. Risk factors for psychopathology can be nonspecific. Because of this, taking an approach to understanding illness trajectory that is free of the constraints of a categorical diagnostic system and that focuses on underlying processes may help strengthen our ability to preempt the development of psychopathology before it starts.