Spring 2026
Inside this Issue
Editor's Note
Spring is upon us, along with another opportunity to connect, learn, and build together at the upcoming SBM Annual Meeting April 22-25 in Chicago.
How Nature Is Good for You and How You Can Be Good for Nature Too
There is a robust and growing body of evidence demonstrating the health benefits of living in close proximity to and engaging with nature. People who spend more time in nature report improved mood; greater happiness; decreases in depression, anxiety, and stress; greater self-rated health; and have lower blood pressure and heart rate.
When Problems Are Hard to Measure, Prevention Falls Behind: Why Suicide Data Matter
In 2024, suicide replaced COVID-19 as the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Prevention requires an understanding of how suicide is defined and how it is measured. This article explains how challenges in measurement of death by suicide impact our ability to understand its scope and therefore prevent it.
Health in Context: Leveraging Public Health Datasets to Link Behaviors with Socioeconomic, Environmental, and Political Factors
Individuals live, work, worship, play, and age within differing socioeconomic, environmental, and political contexts. These social determinants of health (SDOH) shape individuals’ exposures and health behaviors and collectively, influence population-level health outcomes.
Behavioral Medicine Has a Branding Problem
No one knows who we are or what we do. The authors propose some ideas to fix that.
Integrating Scientific Perspectives through Organizational Partnerships
The Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) brings together scientists and practitioners from diverse fields to address modern health challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration. In 2025, nearly all SBM members reported having at least one organizational affiliation in addition to SBM.
Follow the Cathexis: How Passion, Persistence, and Collaboration Built a Field
I recently sat down with Dr. Suzanne M. Miller, PhD, ABPP, founding Chair of the SBM Cancer SIG and a pioneer in behavioral oncology, and what she shared was both candid and motivating.
The Future of Academia for Early Career Public Health Researchers: Uncertain But Not Hopeless
For early career researchers with PhDs focused on public health, the academic future can feel uncertain. The traditional path of doctoral training, postdoctoral fellowship, and transition to a tenure-track faculty role is no longer as linear or predictable as it once seemed.
New Articles from Annals of Behavioral Medicine and Translational Behavioral Medicine
Honors, Awards, and Inclusions
President's Message: Why SBM Matters to Me
SBM has been my primary professional home for more than 30 years. I attended my first annual meeting when I was in graduate school and I felt like a kid in a candy store. I was so excited by the high-quality research being produced across many disciplines, diseases, contexts, and populations. I was thrilled to be able to listen to talks by some of the researchers I most admired. Whenever I got the courage to talk with them, I was always surprised and grateful for how gracious and supportive they were. That said, I spent my earliest years with SBM as more of a consumer of research than an active participant. Knowing what I know now, I wish I had been more engaged earlier on.
