The Journal of Experimental Psychopathology is the first peer-reviewed and open access journal dedicated to describing and elucidating the psychological mechanisms that contribute to the development, maintenance and treatment of all forms of psychopathology.
Studies of interest: The journal primarily emphasises studies that use experimental designs and methods and assess cognitive, behavioural, physiological, neural, or self-report measures in humans. Traditional experimental psychopathology studies involve the examination of theoretically-informed mechanisms of psychopathology in laboratory-based research. Illustratively, fear conditioning, extinction and return of fear studies, as well as the role of various cognitive biases in the causation and maintenance of emotional disorders, are among some of the most well-known fields of experimental psychopathology research. The journal encourages manuscripts that report studies of a wide range of experimental psychopathology approaches.
The journal is also interested in manuscripts that address novel directions in experimental psychopathology research. These new directions may include the intersection of experimental psychopathology research and novel approaches to conceptualising psychopathology (e.g., dimensional and hierarchical models), the experimental study of mechanisms via which risk factors lead to different forms of psychopathology, and examining psychological mechanisms as potential targets in novel interventions.
Studies that involve correlational and longitudinal designs, naturalistic settings or animal samples, will only be considered providing it is clear that their aim is to understand the psychological mechanisms that underlie psychopathology in humans. Manuscripts that focus on assessment, psychometric analyses and the description of psychopathology symptoms are not appropriate for this journal. Similarly, studies that primarily focus on independent variables other than psychological variables are not appropriate for this journal (e.g., the effects of diet changes or nutritional supplements on psychopathology).
Populations of interest: Studies of all forms of psychopathology are considered, including those that focus on anxiety-based problems, depression symptoms, schizophrenia and psychotic symptoms, substance use pathology, eating problems, sexual dysfunction and gender identity issues, personality disorders, and childhood psychological problems.
In addition to psychopathology, the journal will consider manuscripts that focus on psychological variables underlying health behaviours and problems associated with psychopathology (e.g., behavioural sleep problems, chronic pain).
In the tradition of experimental psychopathology research, the journal will consider manuscripts reporting studies of underlying psychological mechanisms and processes of psychopathology in healthy, non-clinical populations of adults and youth. Studies that aim to elucidate the psychological and cognitive variables that differentiate clinical/sub-clinical from healthy samples are also considered, as well as those that examine the efficacy of novel interventions in these samples.
Manuscripts of interest: Although empirical studies of underlying mechanisms and processes are the main focus, the journal will consider literature reviews, systematic reviews, theoretical papers and meta-analyses of psychological mechanisms that contribute to psychopathology.