We are delighted to announce the renaming of the Program on Problem Behavior and Positive Youth Development at the Institute of Behavioral Science at CU Boulder to (more simply) the Prevention Science Program. Established as the Problem Behavior Program by Dick Jessor and colleagues in 1966, the program was later renamed by Delbert Elliott and colleagues to the Program on Problem Behavior and Positive Youth Development in 2012. In the ensuing 8 years, program members recognized that these names no longer fully represent the breadth of our work and do not resonate with contemporary language used in the field, nor with our envisioned future directions. As a collective, we decided that a Prevention Science Framework can be used effectively to organize all of the work being done in the program.
We recognize the importance of acknowledging our legacy, and do not make the change lightly. The Prevention Science Program builds upon a strong foundation of the original framework of Problem Behavior Theory…but it has grown much broader in theory, research and translational activities across the lifespan. Currently, we do work in basic science, in the development and testing of interventions, and (through collaboration with communities) the translation of those interventions to have a real impact on children, adolescents, adults and their families. As such, Prevention Science provides a better framework for organizing all of the current and future activities of our program.
We are very excited about this fresh direction, and hope you will enjoy learning more about the Prevention Science Program at IBS in the coming years!
(The above brief was provided by the Prevention Science Coordinating Committee.)