Lee Robins

Lee Nelken Robins (born August 29, 1922 in New Orleans , Louisiana , † September 25, 2009 in St. Louis , Missouri ) was an American sociologist and leading researcher in the field of psychiatric epidemiology . She was with Washington University in St. Louis for more than 50 years, from 1954 to 2007.

Early years

Robins was born in New Orleans , Louisiana , USA . In 1942 she received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Radcliffe College in 1943 , and a doctorate in sociology from Harvard University in 1951 . After completing her PhD, Robins worked as a research assistant in the psychiatric department at Massachusetts General Hospital .

Academic career and research

In 1954, Robins joined the faculty of the Washington School of Medicine as a research assistant. She continued her work there for the next 50 years, becoming Assistant Professor in 1959, Associate Professor in 1962, and Full Professor of Sociology in Psychiatry in 1966 . She was the founder of the master’s course at the University of Psychiatric Epidemiology and was its director.

During her time at Washington University, Robins was a leading researcher in the field of psychiatric epidemiology, the study of the underlying causes of abnormal behavior. She was also "a leader in the development of diagnostic criteria for psychiatric diagnosis". As noted by the Los Angeles Times , Robins "pioneered the field of psychiatric epidemiology" and "played a key role in determining the prevalence of mental health problems in the United States and the world" ( "Played a key role in determining the prevalence of mental problems in the United States and the world.").

Her research in the 1960s found that abnormal and antisocial behavior in childhood was by far the most important predictor of later psychological problems in adulthood. For adult problems such as alcoholism, divorce, and jail time, the data from their research showed that previous antisocial behavior in childhood was a far more accurate predictor than other factors such as social class, family background, or childhood anxiety. Her first major study on the subject was published in 1966 under the title Deviant Children Grown Up: A Sociological and Psychiatric Study of Sociopathic Personality . Her research in this field sparked new thinking in the field of mental health on topics such as teenage suicides and substance abuse.

Robins also conducted studies of psychiatric epidemiology in Vietnam veterans, disaster survivors, and other groups. In the 1970s, the American federal government sponsored research on Vietnam veterans who were addicted to heroin or opium. Their findings showed that many of the drug addict veterans recovered spontaneously once they returned to the United States - a find that challenged the notion that such addictions are irreversible.

According to Kathleen Buchholz, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University, Robins' special talent ("particular genius") was "developing carefully. Questions in investigations to collect information on the cause and occurrence of mental illnesses" ("developing carefully honed questions for surveys that gathered information about the origins and incidence of mental illness. ")

Robins was the diagnostic questionnaire author and a key contributor to the Epidemiological Catchment Area Project , which sought to determine the prevalence of mental illness in the general population by interviewing more than 20,000 Americans. Robins later developed a multicultural version of their diagnostic questionnaire for international use by the World Health Organization .

Robins has published more than 250 articles on topics including suicide, adult and Vietnam War veteran drug abuse, alcoholism, and antisocial disorders and behavior in children.

Robins retired in 2001, but continued her career at Washington University until 2007 as an emerita and researcher.

Honors, prizes and editorial work

Robins has received numerous honors and awards throughout her career. She was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Society for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and Other Drugs in 1999 . She received the Paul-high price of American Psychopathological Association , the Nathan B. Eddy Award of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence and the price for her life's work of the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs of the American Public Health Association . She was also an honorary member of the Royal Society of Psychiatrists and the American Society of Psychiatrists .

Robins has also served on the editorial boards of numerous professional journals, including Criminal Criminal Behavior and Mental Health , Epidemiologia e Psichiatria Sociale , International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research , Development and Psychopathology , Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , Psychological Medicine, and Social and Community Psychiatry .

Private life

Robins was married to Eli Robins. Both had four sons. Her husband died in 1994. In 1998, she married Hugh Chaplin Jr. , a professor emeritus in the Department of Medicine and Pathology at Washington University School of Medicine.

She died in September 2009 at her home in St. Louis.

Publications (selection, in English)

• The epidemiology of aggression, in: E. Hollander and DJ Stein (Eds.): Impulsivity and Aggression , John Wiley and Sons, 1995.
• Childhood conduct problems, adult psychopathology, and crime, in: S. Hodgins (Ed.): Mental Disorder and Crime , Sage, 1993.
• with J. Tipp and T. Przybeck: Antisocial Personality. In: LN Robins & D. Regier (Eds.): Psychiatric Disorders in America , The Free Press, 1991.
• with Carlson V, Bucholz K and Sussman L .: Intentional and Unintentional Injury in Black Americans , Report to Panel on Health Status and Demography of Black Americans, NRC Committee on the Status of Black Americans, 1988.
• Family factors in the development of violent behavior, in: D. Clark (Ed.): Children and Violence, February 18-21, 1994: Congressional Program , The Aspen Institute, 1994.
• with KS Ratcliff: Risk factors in the continuation of childhood antisocial behaviors into adulthood, in: International Journal of Mental Health , Vol. 9, 1979.
• with PA West & B. Herjanic: Arrests and delinquency in two generations: a study of black urban families and their children, in: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , Vol. 16, 1975.
• The role of prevention experiments in discovering the causes of children's antisocial behavior, in: J. McCord, RE Tremblay (Ed.): Preventing Antisocial Behavior , Guilford Press, 1992.
• with B. Henry, T. Moffitt, F. Earls & P. ​​Silva: Early family predictors of child and adolescent antisocial behavior: Who are the mothers of delinquents ?, in: Criminal Behavior and Mental Health , Vol. 3, 1993.
• Sociocultural trends affecting the prevalence of adolescent problems, in: M. Rutter (Ed.): Psychosocial Disturbances in Young People: Challenges for Prevention, Cambridge University Press , 1995, pp. 369-384.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Jim Dryden: Leading psychiatry researcher Lee Robins dies , Washington University in St. Louis. September 28, 2009. 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Lee Carnations Robins . Washington University School of Medicine. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
3. ^ ^{A b} Missouri Women in the Health Sciences - Biographies: Lee N. Robins . Bernard Becker Medical Library. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
4. ^ ^{A b c d e} Lee Robins, longtime Washington U. professor, has died , St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 29, 2009. 
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Thomas H. Maugh II: Lee N. Robins dies at 87; pioneer in field of psychiatric epidemiology: Robins demonstrated that abnormal behavior in childhood is the major predictor of psychiatric problems in later life , Los Angeles Times. October 6, 2009. 
6. ↑ LEE N. ROBINS Curriculum Vitae (PDF; 11 kB) Lee N. Robins. Archived from the original on September 10, 2006. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 9, 2011.