Yale Conference on Behavioral Medicine: A proposed definition and statement of goals

The Yale Conference on Behavioral Medicine brought a diverse group of behavioral and biomedical scientists together for the purpose of arriving at an interdisciplinary yet consensual definition, statement of goals, and set of recommendations regarding the emerging field of behavioral medicine. It was proposed that behavioral medicine be defined as the field concerned with the development of behavioral science knowledge and techniques relevant to the understanding of physical health and illness and the application of this knowledge and techniques to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. Psychosis, neurosis, and substance abuse are included only insofar as they contribute to physical disorders as an end point. The rationale behind this definition and proposals for future developments in the field are discussed.Conference held at Yale University on February 4–6, 1977. Supported by the Department of Psychology, Yale University, the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health. The opinions expressed at the conference do not necessarily reflect those of Yale University or the National Institutes of Health.