field studies of the course of substance use disorders in
young adults. I am particularly interested in the inter-
play of the person and the environment and how risk
for and protection from various“bad”outcomes unfold
over time in the developing human. Much of my time is
spent supervising graduate student research, analyzing
data, writing, and peer review (both scholarly articles
and grant reviews). I’d say my main expertise is in clini-
cal research methods, alcoholism, anxiety, and comor-
bidity research. I am also involved in a fair amount of
administrative activities in the Psychology Department
here and nationally. I’ve been very involved in profes-
sional societies such the American Psychological Associ-
ation, where I serve on the governing body (the Council
of Representatives) and accrediting body (the Commis-
sion on Accreditation); the Association for Psychological
Science, where I’ve chaired the committee that orga-
nizes their annual scientific meeting; and specialized
research societies like the Research Society on Alcohol-
ism. These outside service activities complement the
more academic responsibilities I hold at my university.
What are the future trends you see for clinical
psychology?
It is always hazardous to guess the future, but it is clear
that the role of the clinical psychologist as an indepen-
dent health care provider is diminishing as a function of
an oversupply of psychologists, competition from other
mental health providers, and managed care. However,
with challenges also come opportunities, and the
changing mental health scene could provide opportu-
nities for clinical psychologists to have great influence in
devising new treatment protocols, supervising treat-
ment staff, and developing behavioral health policies.
On the research front, clinical psychologists are uniquely
trained to bridge multiple disciplines and can serve as
leaders or important collaborators on a variety of
research initiatives in basic research in psychopathology
and health and in evaluating treatment outcomes.
What are the most promising areas for psychopathol-
ogy research?
Psychopathology is poised to have a number of impor-
tant new discoveries because of basic advances in allied
disciplines. For example, recent developments in neuro-
imaging (e.g., PET, fMRI) provide the tools to better
understand brain mechanisms underlying certain forms
of abnormal thought and behavior. The molecular
genetic revolution will permit us to discover genes that
contribute to various behavior disorders and, by helping
us understand how they work in the context of the
environment, should tell us much about the underlying
molecular biology as well as key environmental pro-
cesses. At present, many psychologists are defensive
about genetic research, fearing that it will trivialize or
marginalize basic research on behavior. I hold the
opposite view: Advances in genetics will permit us to
refine our notions about the role of non-genetic influ-
ences on behavior as well as the close interplay between
genes and environment. Also, advances in statistical
methodology and increased use of prospective data
(collected on individuals over long observation periods)
and ecological data (collected in the course of normal,
day-to-day activities) will help us to better understand
psychopathology in environmental and developmental
contexts.Kenneth J. Sher© Psychology Dept., Univ. of Missouri at ColumbiaDIAGNOSIS AND CLASSIFICATION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS 133