Interdisciplinary approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders Our understanding of the mechanisms guiding adaptive behavior and normal psychological functioning and of how these processes become disrupted in various forms of mental disorders has increased but translating the results of basic psychological research into clinical practice is still in the early stages. One problem for this translation is that the classification of mental disorders is still almost exclusively descriptive. The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative aims to redress this by promoting the development of an interdisciplinary science of psychopathology that consists of dimensional constructs integrating models and findings from psychology, biology, and behavioral neuroscience. This compilation focuses on research in experimental psychopathology that investigates such constructs. It includes theoretical and empirical work on different psychological constructs (such as fear learning and mental imagery) that are relevant for a better understanding of the mechanisms of mental disorders across a large spectrum of categorical diagnoses. The Zeitschrift für Psychologie, originally founded in 1890, is the oldest psychology journal in Europe and the second oldest in the world. One of the founding editors was Hermann Ebbinghaus. Since 2007, it is published in English and devoted to topical issues that provide state-of-the-art overviews of current research in psychology. The Zeitschrift für Psychologie publishes high-quality research from all branches of empirical psychology that is clearly of international interest and relevance, and does so in four topical issues per year. Each topical issue is carefully compiled by guest editors and generally features one broad Review Article accompanied by Original Articles from leading researchers as well as additional shorter contributions such as Research Spotlights (presenting details of individual studies or summaries of particularly interesting work in progress), Horizons (summarizing important recent or future meetings or outlining future directions of work), and Opinion pieces that provide a platform for both established and alternative views on aspects of the issue’s topic. The guest editors and the editorial team are assisted by an experienced international editorial board and external reviewers to ensure that the journal’s strict peer-review process is in keeping with its long and honorable tradition of publishing only the best of psychological science. The subjects being covered are determined by the editorial team after consultation within the scientific community, thus ensuring topicality. The Zeitschrift für Psychologie thus brings convenient, cutting-edge compilations of the best of modern psychological science, each covering an area of current interest.
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