Translating emotion theory and research into preventive interventions.

Scientific advances in the field of emotions suggest a framework for conceptualizing the emotion-related aspects of prevention programs that aim to enhance children’s socioemotional competence and prevent the emergence of behavior problems and psychopathology. A conception of emotions as inherently adaptive and motivational and the related empirical evidence from several disciplines and specialities suggest 7 principles for developing preventive interventions: the utilization of positive and negative emotions, emotion modulation as a mediator of emotion utilization, emotion patterns in states and traits, different processes of emotion activation, emotion communication in early life, and the development of connections for the modular and relatively independent emotions and cognitive systems. Each principle’s practical implications and application in current prevention programs are discussed. Almost from its beginning, psychology has consisted of both a science and a profession, and an uneasy relation between the two. William James (1890/1950), who defined the field more than a century ago, had a lab and saw patients, but the relations between his science and practice have remained largely unknown (Taylor, 1999). This uneasy relation between the major aspects of psychol-ogy continued through the 20th century, leaving a wide gulf between the science and practice of psychology (Weisz, Donen-berg, Han, & Weiss, 1995). Experts have noted the dearth of mental health projects that integrate theory, findings from basic research, intervention, and careful evaluation of treatments o