Bringing together cognitive and genetic approaches to the understanding of stress vulnerability and psychological well-being

Abstract

In this chapter, we aim to provide an overview of both cognitive and genetic approaches to mental health in order to encourage greater collaboration between those who typically take a cognitive approach to experimental psychopathology and those working in molecular genetics, who typically take a more biological approach. Because of the extensive nature of both fields, our review is necessarily selective. Nevertheless, we hope that this chapter will encourage greater interdisciplinary collaboration between geneticists and cognitive clinical scientists in a quest to deepen our understanding of psychopathology and psychological well-being. We believe that there are many opportunities for researchers to combine forces to help us move closer to understanding why some individuals appear to be particularly vulnerable to emotional disorders while others seem to be more resilient to the onset of disorder.