Call for Papers: Three Continuing Special Series

The Annals of Behavioral Medicine is launching three continuing special series on 1) Primary Outcomes of Behavioral Medicine Trials, 2) Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Minority Health in Behavioral Medicine, and 3) Innovations in Behavioral Medicine: Advances in Theories and Techniques of Behavior Change. Accepted manuscripts for the special series will be fast-tracked for publication, published in the next available issue, and labelled as an Editor’s Choice for that issue.

Primary Outcomes of Behavioral Medicine Trials

The Annals of Behavioral Medicine is launching a continuing special series on Primary Outcomes of Behavioral Medicine Trials to provide the research, practice, and policy communities with important primary outcomes papers from theory-based and/or evidence-based studies. Papers must use rigorous and innovative methods, with clearly defined health outcomes. The primary outcome trials can be in the areas of health behavior change (e.g., exercise, diet, sleep), medication adherence, or can be a psychosocial or behavioral intervention aimed at increasing psychosocial adjustment and/or changing a health behavior or biomarker for a physical illness or condition. Studies where the primary/only outcomes are markers of mental health are not appropriate for this call or the journal generally. Papers should have clear outcomes that are clinically relevant health outcomes, biomarkers, risk factors, or health behaviors. The intervention must include a psychosocial or behavioral component and not exclusively a pharmaceutical intervention. We especially invite studies that provide primary outcomes and explore the mediating mechanisms or moderating conditions for that outcome.

Studies may compare two theoretical models in a primary outcome clinical trial or present supporting data for a new methodology to test primary trial outcomes.  If the manuscript focuses primarily on mediators, moderators, and/or interim outcomes, the primary outcomes of the trial must be addressed or discussed in the manuscript (with any publication citations or references redacted to preserve a masked review).

We welcome manuscripts that present:

• Individual, family, and community-based interventions to improve physical health or a medical illness
• Demographic, socioeconomic, geographic, or other disparities in the efficacy of the interventions
• ORBIT studies - all phases
• Meta-analyses of primary outcomes research
• Papers that test an existing or tailored intervention with an underserved population

The studies should have generalizable findings for the population facing the specific risk factor, illness, or medical condition that have the potential to inform and encourage further work on psychosocial or behavioral intervention development, or the development of efficacy and effectiveness trials of health-related behavioral interventions.

Studies with limited generalizability may not be able to serve this purpose. For example, problems uncovered in a small, qualitative study of behavioral intervention recipients or providers at a single clinic, hospital, or school might not convince many behavioral scientists that a new or refined intervention is needed to address this challenge.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Minority Health in Behavioral Medicine

The Annals of Behavioral Medicine is launching an ongoing special series on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Minority Health in Behavioral Medicine to provide the research, practice, and policy communities with important data and findings on the health and healthcare experiences of individuals with diverse sexual orientations (i.e., those who are not exclusively heterosexual) and/or gender identity (i.e., those for whom their gender identity or expression differs from their sex/gender assigned at birth). Sexual and gender minority populations include, but are not limited to, individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, transgender, pansexual, Two-Spirit, queer, and/or intersex. Studies of individuals who do not self-identify with one of the terms listed, but whose sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or reproductive development is characterized by non-binary constructs of sexual orientation, gender, and/or sex, would also be appropriate.

For this series, we are interested in manuscripts that advance rigorous research on the physical health, or the association between physical and mental health, of sexual and/or gender minority populations. We welcome paper that address:

• Psychosocial and behavioral factors that contribute to physical health and disease of sexually-diverse and gender-diverse individuals, and the mediators and moderators of these relationships 
• Health care experiences of sexually-diverse and gender-diverse individuals
• Development or assessment of interventions or programs designed to promote sexual or gender minority health equity, and the mediators and moderators of these relationships 
• Theoretical and methodological considerations for behavioral medicine scientists conducting research with sexual and gender minority individuals

Innovations in Behavioral Medicine: Advances in Theories and Techniques of Behavior Change

The Annals of Behavioral Medicine is launching a continuing series on Innovations in Behavioral Medicine: Advances in Theories and Techniques of Behavior Change. Focusing on health-relevant behavioral outcomes (e.g., exercise, diet, sleep, sun safety, vaccination), we seek studies that utilize/test existing or novel theories of health behavior change initiation or maintenance, or that seek to characterize the use of behavior change techniques in theory-based behavioral medicine interventions. We are particularly interested in the intersection of theories and techniques; that is, work that furthers our understanding of which behavior change techniques are the most appropriate or effective tools for targeting which theory-based constructs. We welcome papers that:

• Use experimental medicine methodology to compare the efficacy of interventions using different theoretical models of behavior
• Use experimental medicine methodology to compare the efficacy of interventions using different behavior change techniques to target the same theoretical construct or behavioral outcome
• Conduct meta-analyses assessing the success of interventions using a range of theoretical models or behavior change techniques
• Implement theory-based interventions in a dismantling framework to understand whether there are “active ingredients” of particular theories

Cross-sectional studies that simply compare variance in concurrent behavior accounted for by different theoretical constructs are not appropriate for the special section or the journal more broadly. We seek at minimum longitudinal designs, and preferably experimental designs, that test interesting questions and generate novel insights regarding the efficacy of behavior change theories or techniques for the promotion of health behavior. Incremental contributions or replications of a successful use of theory or technique for a new behavior, while important for the broader literature, are not the focus of this call.

Manuscript Submission for the Continuing Series

Authors who are interested in submitting an article for one of the continuing special series should indicate in the cover letter that it is intended for the ongoing special series and include the name of the special series. In addition to the elements required to be in the cover letter for any manuscript (see Instructions to Authors), the cover letter should elucidate how the proposed manuscript addresses the goals of the special series. Please note that manuscripts describing a clinical trial should be prepared according to the Instructions for Authors, including study registration at ClinicalTrials.gov or at another recognized registry, and adherence to CONSORT reporting guidelines. Manuscripts should be submitted through the journal's Editorial Manager manuscript submission portal. Manuscripts first will be evaluated for suitability for the journal and then for the Special Series.

Submissions are welcome on a continuing basis.