INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE

Letter of Intent Deadline: November 15, 2018

Facilitated by advances in salivary bioscience, great strides over the past several decades have been made in understanding how psychological and social factors “get under the skin.” Research utilizing salivary markers of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity, sympathetic nervous system activation, as well as other neuroendocrine and immune processes has greatly contributed to research in behavioral medicine. This has included more precise identification of the biological pathways by which such factors influence health and disease. Behavioral medicine research increasingly integrates advanced clinical and laboratory assessments of relevant immune system and neuroendocrine markers in saliva to identify mechanisms, stress processes, and evaluate the impact of clinical intervention on physiological systems. This special call aims to highlight novel contributions of salivary bioscience to behavioral medicine with emphasis on research relevant to chronic management, the influence of psychological and social factors on disease processes and understanding stress processes. This can include observational, experimental, and intervention research. In fact, papers that document how changes in salivary levels of health-relevant biomarkers in response to behavioral interventions contribute to intervention efficacy are encouraged. Research that bridges the intersections of behavioral medicine and other areas of research (e.g., neuroscience, medical practice, nursing, public health, health psychology) are likely to make a strong contribution.

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