Behavioral and Social Science Research

As the largest generation in U.S. history — the population born in the two decades immediately following World War II — enters the age of risk for cognitive impairment, growing numbers of people will experience dementia (including Alzheimer's disease and related dementias). By one estimate, nearly 14 million people in the United States will be living with dementia by 2060. Like other hardships, the experience of living with dementia can bring unexpected moments of intimacy, growth, and compassion, but these diseases also affect people's capacity to work and carry out other activities and alter their relationships with loved ones, friends, and coworkers. Those who live with and care for individuals experiencing these diseases face challenges that include physical and emotional stress, difficult changes and losses in their relationships with life partners, loss of income, and interrupted connections to other activities and friends. From a societal perspective, these diseases place substantial demands on communities and on the institutions and government entities that support people living with dementia and their families, including the health care system, the providers of direct care, and others.Nevertheless, research in the social and behavioral sciences points to possibilities for preventing or slowing the development of dementia and for substantially reducing its social and economic impacts. At the request of the National Institute on Aging of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Reducing the Impact of Dementia in America assesses the contributions of research in the social and behavioral sciences and identifies a research agenda for the coming decade. This report offers a blueprint for the next decade of behavioral and social science research to reduce the negative impact of dementia for America's diverse population. Reducing the Impact of Dementia in America calls for research that addresses the causes and solutions for disparities in both developing dementia and receiving adequate treatment and support. It calls for research that sets goals meaningful not just for scientists but for people living with dementia and those who support them as well.By 2030, an estimated 8.5 million Americans will have Alzheimer's disease and many more will have other forms of dementia. Through identifying priorities social and behavioral science research and recommending ways in which they can be pursued in a coordinated fashion, Reducing the Impact of Dementia in America will help produce research that improves the lives of all those affected by dementia.

Key topics discussed in this article were previously presented at the Center for AIDS Research Social and Behavioral Sciences Network's 12th National Scientific Meeting in August 2018. This article highlights the importance of behavioral and social sciences research (BSSR) in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic. NIH has made significant investments in HIV/AIDS-related BSSR. These investments support the development of effective, evidence-based sociobehavioral HIV prevention, treatment, and care strategies. The implementation and use of evidence-based sociobehavioral approaches in combination with biomedical strategies provide the availability of multiple tools to end the HIV epidemic in the United Sates and the pandemic globally. BSSR-related opportunities to mitigate the persistent challenges HIV/AIDS presents include, but are not limited to, further incorporating BSSR into HIV vaccine and cure research; improving interventions that address stigma and the social determinants of health that perpetuate HIV transmission within key populations; and conducting implementation science research that shapes national and international policies impacting HIV prevention, treatment, and care.

This report details a bench to bedside translation of behavioral and social science research into a clinical program as a result of a collaboration between two United States Defense Health Agency Centers of Excellence for warfighter traumatic brain injury (TBI) and brain health. Identifying a gap in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures, our team instigated a 7-year multisite effort to validate and develop generic and caregiver specific HRQOL domains for family members of warfighters and civilians with a TBI using state-of-the-science measurement development standards; the Traumatic Brain Injury Caregiver Quality of Life (TBI-CareQOL) measurement system. The TBI-CareQOL was integrated into the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center-Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence 15-Year Longitudinal TBI Study designed to address four elements in a Congressional mandate (NDAA FY2007 Sec721 Public Law 109-364). Based on findings from the 15-Year Longitudinal TBI study and larger body of related literature demonstrating the bidirectional associations between warfighter neurobehavioral outcomes and family distress, relevant TBI-CareQOL measures were integrated into the Family Wellness Program (FWP) for intimate partner (IP) beneficiaries of warfighters with TBI in treatment for chronic neurobehavioral symptoms across the Defense Intrepid Network for Traumatic Brain Injury and Brain Health (DIN). The FWP screens IPs for clinically elevated HRQOL symptoms with clinical follow up offered in alignment with operations at each DIN treatment center and military base. In July 2024, the FWP was launched at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and is currently expanding across the DIN.

In the field of biomedical HIV prevention, researchers have meaningfully incorporated behavioral and social sciences research (BSSR) into numerous clinical trials, though the timing and degree of integration have been highly variable. The literature offers few frameworks that systematically characterize these collaborations. To fill this gap, we developed a typology of BSSR approaches within biomedical HIV prevention research. Focusing on trials that had safety and/or efficacy endpoints, we identified five approaches for combining BSSR and clinical research: formative, embedded, parallel, explanatory, and implications. We describe each approach and provide illustrative examples. By offering a shared vocabulary for distinguishing the timing and design of collaborative BSSR and clinical research, this typology can facilitate greater transparency in collaborators’ expectations and responsibilities, and help collaborators address challenges likely to be associated with such interdisciplinary research.

Senior leaders often broadly appreciate the relevance of behavioral and social science research but are not able to readily compare the value of screening tests, interventions, or other factors with the benefits of operational programs or of tools to address different sets of outcomes. This report assesses a series of studies and translates their results into potential cost avoidance estimates and other benefits that senior leaders value.

Natural language is a primary medium for expressing thoughts and emotions, making text analysis a vital tool in psychological research. It enables insights into personality traits, mental health, and sentiment in interpersonal communication. Traditional approaches - such as human coding, dictionary-based methods, or training models from scratch - often suffer from limitations, including inefficiency, incomplete coverage, or high data requirements. This tutorial introduces the pretrain-finetune paradigm, a transformative approach in text analysis and natural language processing (NLP) that leverages large pretrained language models. Unlike conventional methods, this paradigm enables efficient fine-tuning even with limited labeled data, making it particularly valuable for social science research where annotated samples are scarce. Our tutorial offers a comprehensive introduction to the pretrain-finetune framework, beginning with core concepts of pretraining and fine-tuning, followed by hands-on exercises with real-world applications, the introduction of finetuneR, an R package developed to make these methods accessible to R users, and concluding with a discussion of common misconceptions in existing resources and best practices. We demonstrate its effectiveness across diverse tasks, including multi-class classification and regression, showing its advantages over traditional methods, feature extraction-based approaches, and GPT-based strategies. By emphasizing its efficiency, accessibility, and superior performance, this tutorial aims to encourage broader adoption of the pretrain-finetune paradigm in psychological and behavioral research.

Every influenza season, uptake of the flu vaccine falls short of the Healthy People 2020 goal of at least 70% of adults being vaccinated. Mixed methods research finds multiple factors associated with this phenomenon including misconceptions about the vaccine, skepticism about an annual vaccine, concerns about efficacy and safety, lack of knowledge, perceived risk, among others. The national goal to develop, test and produce an effective universal influenza vaccine requires a significant scientific and financial investment in research. However, there is no true investment in the social and behavioral science research necessary to ensure that once a universal vaccine is available, the public will take that new vaccine. This article highlights some qualitative and quantitative research results to provide some understanding of the challenges to increasing vaccine uptake. We also identify research questions necessary to ensure adoption of new universal vaccines.

The dissemination of intervention and treatment outcomes as effect sizes bounded by conf idence intervals in order to think meta-analytically was promoted in a recent article in Educational Researcher. I raise concerns with unfettered reporting of effect sizes, point out the con in confidence interval, and caution against thinking meta-analytically. Instead, cataloging effect sizes is recommended for sample size estimation and power analysis to improve social and behavioral science research.

Increasing blood donor recruitment and retention is of key importance to transfusion services. Research within the social and behavioral science traditions has adopted separate but complementary approaches to addressing these issues. This article aims to review both of these types of literature, examine theoretical developments, identify commonalities, and offer a means to integrate these within a single intervention approach. The social and behavioral science literature on blood donor recruitment and retention focusing on theory, interventions, and integration is reviewed. The role of emotional regulation (anticipated anxiety and vasovagal reactions) is central to both the behavioral and the social science approaches to enhancing donor motivation, yet although intentions are the best predictor of donor behavior, interventions targeting enactment of intentions have not been used to increase donation. Implementation intentions (that is, if-then plans formed in advance of acting) provide a useful technique to integrate findings from social and behavioral sciences to increase donor recruitment and retention. After reviewing the literature, implementation intention formation is proposed as a technique to integrate the key findings and theories from the behavioral and social science literature on blood donor recruitment and retention.

Although legalized segregation and discrimination have been eliminated in the United States, bias against people of color exists in many sectors of our society. Discrimination based on race/ethnicity is detrimental to the individuals who experience discrimination as well as to society at large. It has also been suggested that there are serious mental and physical health consequences for people who routinely live with discrimination.1–3 However, the scientific evidence underlying these beliefs needs to be carefully examined to determine the weight of the evidence and where gaps exist. Toward this end, in April 2002 the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research of the National Institutes of Health convened a meeting of approximately 100 leading scientists to present scientific evidence of the effects of racial/ethnic bias on health and to identify areas for future research to further explicate the relationship. We intentionally chose the term “racial/ethnic bias” instead of “racism” to reflect our desire to address a wide range of types of discrimination that may affect health, including bias against populations that do not define themselves based on race. The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research and its 3 cochairs (James Jackson, David Williams, and Nancy Krieger) designed the conference to consider the historical and contextual factors relating to racial/ethnic bias in the United States today, and the evidence relating various forms of bias and the well-documented disparities in health that are found among the various racial/ethnic groups in US society. One panel examined pathways through which racial/ethnic prejudice acts on the individual, creating a psychophysiological response that can ultimately result in a negative health outcome. Another panel examined how racism and ethnic prejudice operate within the structures of our society to produce inequalities in employment, housing, and the environment that may translate into differential health outcomes among diverse racial/ethnic populations. Special emphasis was given to racial/ethnic bias in the medical care system, an area in which it has been repeatedly demonstrated that certain racial/ethnic minority patients receive diagnoses and treatment recommendations differing from those for similar White patients.4 This issue of the Journal presents the conference papers.

This article reports a study assessing the contribution of current social work journal publications to a cumulative body of research that is capable of informing interventions. Thirteen journals published from 1993 to mid-1997 were reviewed. Analysis was guided by the view that the focus and design of studies should correspond to and supply the knowledge needed to perform different practice tasks. Accordingly, journal research articles were classified by their potential contribution to practice decisions requiring descriptive, explanatory, or control knowledge. Research aiming at control knowledge, informing the selection and implementation of interventions, was further evaluated by whether the interventions and outcomes studied were sufficiently specified to permit reliable research replication and application in practice. Very few of the published articles were found to report research on interventions, and even fewer used designs that enable replication. Factors affecting the rate and quality of research and interventions are also discussed. Key words: functions of knowledge; intervention research; knowledge for practice; research design; research purpose Social work has long been concerned with strengthening the extent to which its research is capable of informing and guiding practice (see Greenwood, 1957; Kadushin, 1959; Kane, 1982). Over the years increasing attention has been directed toward this purpose. This attention resulted in the founding in the 1970s of the first two journals dedicated to publishing research (Social Work Research & Abstracts and the Journal of Social Service Research) and the founding about 20 years later of a journal dedicated to research on practice (Research on Social Work Practice). These advances notwithstanding, concern persists that social work researchers are not meeting the needs of practitioners. Such concern was reflected in the convening of a symposium in 1996 on psychosocial intervention research, cosponsored by the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research at the National Institutes of Health, as well as in the publication of a special issue on intervention research in the journal Social Work Research (September 1997). Emanating from similar concerns, this article reviews current publications in social work and assesses their potential in contributing to a body of knowledge of effective interventions. This review is based on the premise that social work practice must adhere to and be guided by effectiveness criteria. That is, interventions should be selected and used on the basis of their empirically demonstrated effectiveness. Because journal publications are a major vehicle for accumulating and disseminating professional knowledge, they constitute a primary source of guidance for practice. Accordingly, we examined the current research published in social work journals in relation to its potential for contributing to effective practice. PURPOSE OF PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE The premise that intervention should be based on relevant and valid knowledge is at the core of professional practice. Rosen (1978, 1996) has conceptualized the knowledge needs of practice as related to the purposes for which knowledge is used and its function in practice. Three types of knowledge were distinguished: descriptive, explanatory, and control. Descriptive knowledge guides practitioners in classifying phenomena they encounter into meaningful conceptual categories. Often it is used by practitioners in deciding whether and to what extent a particular manifestation or event should be of concern-that is, considered a problem. Descriptive knowledge includes information on the characteristics, indicators, or incidences of phenomena of professional concern (for example, poverty, child abuse, maladaptive behavior, mental disorders, and community violence). Descriptive knowledge, in articulation with its values, also helps to formulate social work's objectives (Rosen, 1978), informs policy decisions about which services are needed by which client groups, and aids practitioners in assessing and classifying clients and problems into professionally meaningful categories. …

A combination of hypothesis testing and confidence interval construction is often used in social and behavioral science studies. Sometimes confidence intervals are computed or reported only if a null hypothesis is rejected, perhaps to see whether the range of values is of practical importance. Sometimes they are constructed or reported only if a null hypothesis is accepted, in order to assess the range of plausible nonnull values due to inadequate power to detect them. Even if always computed, they are interpreted differently, depending on whether the null value is or is not included. Furthermore, many studies in which the null hypothesis is not rejected are never published (the "file drawer" problem). This article discusses the coverage probability of nominal 1- confidence intervals when examining intervals that do or do not cover some specified null value, usually zero. A briefer treatment considers interval coverage when undesirable results are suppressed. The coverage probability of such conditional confidence intervals may be very far from the nominal value. The magnitude of the effect of selection on interval coverage probability and possible resultant biases in inference are illustrated, and discussed in relation to effect sizes of importance in social and behavioral science research and to estimation of effect sizes.

A combination of hypothesis testing and confidence interval construction is often used in social and behavioral science studies. Sometimes confidence intervals are computed or reported only if a null hypothesis is rejected, perhaps to see whether the range of values is of practical importance. Sometimes they are constructed or reported only if a null hypothesis is accepted, in order to assess the range of plausible nonnull values due to inadequate power to detect them. Even if always computed, they are interpreted differently, depending on whether the null value is or is not included. Furthermore, many studies in which the null hypothesis is not rejected are never published (the “file drawer” problem). This article discusses the coverage probability of nominal 1− α confidence intervals when examining intervals that do or do not cover some specified null value, usually zero. A briefer treatment considers interval coverage when undesirable results are suppressed. The coverage probability of such conditional confidence intervals may be very far from the nominal value. The magnitude of the effect of selection on interval coverage probability and possible resultant biases in inference are illustrated, and discussed in relation to effect sizes of importance in social and behavioral science research and to estimation of effect sizes.

Although barriers to conducting correctional research are familiar to those who do this work, there have been no known efforts to document the challenges reported by social and behavioral science researchers across the United States. Quantitative and qualitative analyses from 83 respondents revealed barriers mostly centered on concerns or constraints by a partnering correctional agency; however, few respondents reported issues with the agency’s willingness to collaborate. The extent of barriers was not associated with researchers’ career level, age, years of experience, or employment setting. Despite challenges, participants were primarily motivated to do this work by their interests in addressing social justice issues. Researchers’ strategies for conducting research in correctional settings and experiences publishing their work are also presented. Quantitative and qualitative results support the need to allocate better resources to correctional researchers and agencies if the goal is to improve our criminal justice system more effectively and efficiently.

Human health is influenced by multiple interacting biological, psychological, sociocultural, economic, and behavioral factors. Research in behavioral and social sciences informs physicians' approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and patient care. Competent physicians, therefore, require knowledge of society and human behavior to develop essential communication skills, professional conduct, self-awareness, ethical reasoning, and cultural understanding. Consequently, these Social and Behavioral sciences are integral to medical training. This cross-sectional study examines the current state of Social and Behavioral Sciences integration in Libyan medical education programs through a survey of 105 faculty members, curriculum developers, and administrators. Findings reveal strong recognition of SBS importance (84.6% rated it "very important"), yet inconsistencies in curriculum implementation, with 27.9% reporting no formal SBS inclusion. Teaching methods remain lecture-dominated (77.9%), and key challenges include insufficient faculty expertise (59.6%) and curriculum time constraints (40.4%). The study recommended the early curricular integration, faculty development, and enhanced experiential learning.