Call For Abstracts

• To Submit an Abstract - Click Here
• Official Abstract Submission Process
• Presentation Formats
• Program Tracks
• Description of Tracks
• Submission Steps and Important Guidelines

OFFICIAL ABSTRACT SUBMISSION PROCESS FOR THE 11th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE

All participants are invited to submit an abstract for symposia and/or oral and/or poster presentations. It is not necessary to be a member of a member national society of the International Society of Behavioral Medicine to submit an abstract. Abstracts will be reviewed by members of the Scientific Program Committee. All accepted abstracts will be published in a program and abstract book. Please note: all presenters must pay to register for the Congress no later than March 15, 2010.

Submission Site Availability

The online submission site will open at 8:00 AM ET, 3 August 2009. To be considered for presentation, all abstracts must be submitted electronically via the online submission site by 11:59 PM ET on Friday, 15 January 2010.

Special Abstract Instructions

Paper and poster abstracts submitted for presentation must be based on empirical research and report actual (not promised) results along with relevant statistics and significance values. In contrast, abstracts for informational sessions, seminars, workshops, and symposia might include empirical and/or non-empirical contributions

Prior Publication Policy

Papers that have been published or presented elsewhere prior to the time of presentation at the 11th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine may not be submitted for consideration by ICBM.

PRESENTATION FORMATS AT THE 11TH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE

The 11th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine features a variety of formats including Poster, Panel Discussion, Papers, Workshops and Symposia. Descriptions of each format immediately below.

• Posters allow presenters to discuss their research with interested colleagues for 90 minutes in an informal setting.
• Rapid Communications Posters offer the opportunity for presentation of late-breaking findings in the field of behavioral medicine.
• Panel Discussions are hour-long sessions designed to allow for discussion amongst presenters as well as provide a forum for interaction with session attendees.
• Papers clustered around common themes will be presented for 15 minutes each (12 minutes for presentation and 3 for discussion).
• Symposia are 90 minutes in length and should involve one chair and a maximum of four speakers, one of whom may be a discussant (optional). Symposia must be international and interdisciplinary in scope, i.e., they must include a diversity of disciplines and a minimum of two countries must be represented among the participants. If a symposium is not accepted, individual presentations in that symposium will be evaluated for acceptability as oral or poster presentations.
• Workshops are 2.5 hours (150 minutes) in length, and provide an opportunity for a group of participants to achieve a specific goal or address a particular problem. It may aim to train or educate participants in essential research or clinically-relevant skills, or to address a specific problem, or to develop a consensus on a particular issue. Workshop proposals should include an interactive component and should be aimed at ONE of the following levels:
  • INTRODUCTORY LEVEL: Accessible by all ICBM delegates.
  • ADVANCED LEVEL: This will assume a level of knowledge in the field which should be stated.

Special Instructions for Workshop Presenters

• The main presenter of the workshop will have his or her conference membership fee reimbursed provided 10 or more participants register for your workshop.
• If 6 to 9 participants register, one presenter will receive half of this fee waived.
• When fewer than 6 participants register, the workshop will be offered only if the workshop presenter agrees to conduct the workshop without compensation – otherwise the workshop will be cancelled.

PROGRAM TRACKS

Corresponding authors are asked to select one track from the list below that best describes their abstract submission.

Abstracts will be blinded and reviewed by track experts. Special consideration will be given to submissions that reflect the theme for the 11th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine: Translational Behavioral Research: A Global Challenge. Abstracts describing translational research type I (basic to clinical), or type II (effectiveness, implementation, dissemination) and studies that result in policy changes are examples reflecting the theme.

Tracks

• Adherence
• Aging
• Infectious Diseases/SARS/HIV/AIDS
• Alcohol/Smoking/Substance Abuse
• Genetics/Environmental Interactions
• Cancer
• Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Disorders
• Childhood & Adolescence
• Cross Track and Other
• Diabetes/Metabolism/Nutrition/Obesity/Eating Disorders
• Gender and Health
• Health Behaviors
• Health Education and Promotion
• Health Systems, Policy and Economics
• Illness/ Illness Affect/ Illness Behavior
• Measurement and Methods
• Pain, Musculoskeletal, and Neuromuscular Disorders
• Physical Activity
• Functional Somatic and Somatoform Disorders
• Psychophysiological Disorders & Sleep
• Screening & Early Detection
• Socioeconomic Factors, Culture, & Global Health
• Stress/Psychophysiology/PNI/PNE
• Translation of Research to Policy & Practice
• Violence/Victimization/PTSD
• Work Related Health

DESCRIPTION OF TRACKS

Adherence

This track will consider a wide range of abstracts on all aspects of adherence to healthcare advice; from measurement and methodology through explanatory studies examining reasons for non-adherence to interventions. Abstracts with a theoretical basis will be of particular interest.

Aging

This track will consider studies focusing on how major developments during the middle and later years of adulthood (e.g., changes in family and peer relationships, retirement, bereavement, social isolation, relocation, cognitive and physical changes, etc.) affect quality of life, mental and physical health, and disease outcomes. Studies may include, but are not limited to, (a) psychosocial correlates of health or adjustment to disease in later life, (b) chronic disease management (e.g., medication and/or medical treatment adherence and management, quality of life interventions) in various disease populations including CVD, Cancer and HIV/AIDS in older adults, (c) psychosocial factors affecting physiological markers or health and disease (e.g., immune and endocrine markers), and d) interventions to promote healthy aging.

Infectious Diseases/SARS/HIV/AIDS

This track will focus on current research exploring the role of psychosocial factors in infectious diseases. Abstracts will be considered that examine: 1) evidence substantiating the deleterious and beneficial effects of psychosocial variables (e.g., stress, social support) on immune change and disease progression, 2) possible mechanisms (e.g., autonomic activity, HPA-axis, immune dysregulation, inflammatory processes, gene expression) which may mediate psychosocial effects on disease activity, and 3) the efficacy of psychosocial interventions on disease markers.

Alcohol/Smoking/Substance Abuse

This track will focus on a mix of substance specific and cross substance sessions. Topic areas include: etiology of use, substance- behavior relationships, prevention of uptake, cessation and relapse prevention, impacts of policies, preventing harms to others, harm minimization, marketing, economic factors, and cross-cultural differences.

Genetics/Environmental Interactions

This track will focus on how genes affect a diverse array of health behaviors including exercise, smoking, diet, and drinking habits. Thus, the efficacy of behavioral change and interventions may vary from person to person also because of genetic differences. Genetic variation may modify the ease with which people can adapt their behavior as well as the health outcomes that occur in response to those behavioral changes. Genetic testing itself may have untoward or unexpected consequences of a behavioral or social nature. Understanding these complexities involve analyses of the study of dynamic effects over time and person, such as gene-environment interaction, gene-environment correlation and age-gene effects.

Cancer

Participants are invited to submit abstracts that focus on behavioral responses at all stages of the disease that have an impact on physical and psychological outcomes. Abstracts are particularly welcome that focus on behavioral factors that may reduce morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. This can include descriptive, longitudinal and intervention research relating psychosocial and behavioral factors to cancer risk reduction, adjustment to cancer diagnosis and medical treatment, and physical health outcomes in persons with different cancers. Also of interest are papers testing theoretical psychosocial, behavioral and physiological (e.g., psychoneuorimmunologic) mechanisms underlying relations between psychological predictors and interventions on the one hand, and quality of life and cancer disease outcomes on the other.

Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Disorders

Participants are invited to submit abstracts that focus on behavioral and psychosocial aspects of cardiovascular disease including hypertension, coronary heart diseases, congestive heart failure, and sudden cardiac death. This can include descriptive, longitudinal, and intervention studies relating psychosocial and behavioral factors to prediction of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, in both healthy persons and patients with established coronary disease, and intervention strategies and their effects for reducing cardiovascular risks and improving quality of life in cardiac patients. Also of interest are papers testing theoretical psychosocial, behavioral and physiological mechanisms underlying relations between psychosocial predictors and clinical outcomes.

Childhood and Adolescence

This track focuses on research addressing social and behavioral aspects of health and illness in children, adolescents, and their families. We welcome abstracts that explore the relationship between psychological and physical well-being of children, adolescents, and their families, such as: psychosocial and developmental factors contributing to the etiology, course, treatment, and outcome of pediatric conditions; assessment and treatment of behavioral and emotional concomitants of disease, illness, and developmental disorders; the role of psychology in health care settings; behavioral aspects of pediatric medicine; the promotion of health and health-related behaviors; and the prevention of illness and injury among children and youth.

Cross Track and Other

The Cross Track is designed for submissions that are cross-cutting in terms of their topic or methodology, and do not fall clearly into one of the other track themes. Behavioral medicine attracts exciting cross-disciplinary research, and the Cross Track welcomes innovative work that combines research methods and approaches from different disciplines.

Diabetes/Metabolism/Nutrition/Obesity/Eating Disorders

This track seeks abstracts that have a primary focus on bio-behavioral aspects of diabetes, metabolism, obesity, nutrition and eating disorders. Specifically, this includes abstracts addressing lifestyle or behavioral change processes in these key areas. Submissions focusing on combinations of key areas, e.g. behavioral aspects of the metabolic syndrome or behavioral aspects of nutrition and obesity would be of particular interest. Finally, both intervention and epidemiological studies, with either qualitative or quantitative approaches, are welcome.

Gender and Health

Submissions are welcomed on the biological, social, psychological and behavioral aspects of gender and health throughout the lifespan, including but not limited to the influence of social, work and family roles; reproductive decisions; physical and mental illness; stress; health behaviours; and aging.

Health Behaviors

Presentations in this track will focus on research aimed at testing health behavior theory and evaluating interventions for changing health promotion and disease prevention behaviors. Relevant health behaviors include (but are not limited to) dietary behaviors, sun protection, physical activity, sleep, sexual behavior, oral health, stress management, relaxation techniques, meditation, massage therapy, and use of complementary and alternative medicine. Other relevant issues include assessments of multiple behavior interventions and innovations in communication methods for health promotion information.

Health Education and Promotion

This track will focus on transdisciplinary investigations in disease and injury risk reduction, and optimization of quality of life. We are particularly interested in investigations that bring together input from two or more disparate behavioral and biomedical disciplines to address important issues in tobacco, alcohol, and drug, obesity, HIV, or injury and violence. While other contributions will be considered, priority will be given to investigations, epidemiological or experimental, that focus on transdisciplinary collaborations at the conceptual and methodological levels.

Health Systems, Policy, and Economics

This track will focus on role of public policy in behavioral medicine. Submissions might include the effects of structural policies, such as tobacco tax or environmental regulation. In addition, papers on outcomes research, cost-effectiveness, practice guidelines, and quality assurance in health care are also encouraged.

Illness/Illness Affect/ Illness Behavior

This track is interested in receiving submissions in the areas of personality and health, adjustment to and recovery from chronic disease, stress, coping, and health, illness perceptions and patient decision-making, as well as presentations relating to the impact of psychological states and affect on morbidity and mortality (e.g., the role of depression on post-MI morbidity and mortality).

Measurement and Methods

The Measurement and Methods track is generally interested in applications of advanced quantitative methods and/or measurements to behavioral medicine research problems that illustrate how the methods or measurements can help advance our field. Specifically we will consider abstracts that report on the development or extension of new measurement procedures or new quantitative methods. We will also consider abstracts that illustrate how a specific measurement procedure or method may be applied in behavioral medicine research to address an important problem than an older method could not address.

Pain, Musculoskeletal and Neuromuscular Disorders

Pain, musculoskeletal and neuromuscular disorders have a strong impact on quality of life. This track concerns behavioral and psychological factors in pain, musculoskeletal and neurological disorders. Clinical and basic research on assessment, causal mechanisms, course and prognosis, and treatment submissions are most welcome in this track.

Physical Activity

Research on all aspects of physical activity, exercise, and sport will be considered in this track, including research focusing on specific portions of the life span (e.g., youth, working adults, older adults), special populations (e.g., women, disadvantaged populations, patient or clinical populations), and research targeting a single level of analysis or spanning multiple levels of analysis or intervention (e.g., the individual, community-based settings, environmental or policy-level research). Both prevention and treatment-related research are encouraged, as are assessment work and research exploring the relationships or interface between physical activity and other health behaviors.

Functional, Somatic, and Somatoform Disorders

This track will include presentations on somatoform conditions, medically unexplained symptoms and functional somatic syndromes. Medically unexplained symptoms are broadly defined as physical symptoms, which cannot be explained by observable biomedical pathology. Therefore this track does not only include somatoform syndromes, but also syndromes such as chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivities.

Psychophysiological Disorders and Sleep

This track will focus on cutting-edge research that examines sleep in the broad context of health. Possible topics include, but are not limited to, psychophysiological correlates of disturbed sleep (e.g., stress, loneliness, race and socioeconomic status, personality), neuroendocrine correlates of sleep (e.g., cortisol, heart rate variability, immune function, insulin resistance), sleep in medical and psychiatric illness (e.g., heart disease, cancer, fibromyalgia, depression, PTSD), correlates and consequences of shiftwork (e.g., cognitive performance, health care costs), health effects of sleep disorders including sleep apnea and insomnia, and the application of state-of the-art methods to sleep research (e.g., applications of generalizability theory to measures of sleep, brain imaging during sleep). Naturalistic, mechanistic, and treatment outcome studies of subjective and laboratory-assessed sleep are equally sought.

Screening and Early Detection

Screening and early detection of disease are increasingly being used with the aim of preventing such common diseases as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. The successes of such activities depend upon a variety of considerations drawing upon many disciplines including epidemiology, psychology and health economics. This track will cover a wide range of abstracts on all aspects of the screening and early detection. Examples include abstracts on policies for screening and early detection programmes; factors influencing uptake; evaluations of programmes including their impact on behaviour and health outcomes.

Socioeconomic Factors, Culture and Global Health

This track will review abstracts that address the relationship among socioeconomic factors and cultural beliefs and practices and health and behavior. These factors may occur at the individual, community or population level. Socioeconomic factors include poverty, education, social inequities, and lack of resources. Cultural beliefs and practices may relate to gender roles, cultural affiliation, and lay understandings of health and illness.

Stress/Psychophysiology/PNI/PNE

This track will cover a range of topics that concern relations among behavior, stress and neuropsychological, cardiovascular, metabolic and immunological processes in health and disease, including psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), psychophysiology (e.g., cardiovascular reactivity), and psychoneuroendocrinology (PNE). Studies that focus on one or more of these areas in the context of health and illness/disease are welcome.

Translation of Research into Practice and Policy

Submissions to this track should describe quantitative and/or qualitative studies that focus on the mechanisms underlying the successful dissemination of research findings into 'real-world' practice. Although not a comprehensive list, data from demonstration, feasibility, effectiveness, and participatory studies would be highly suited for this track. Also appropriate for this track are abstracts that examine the reach and effectiveness of health behavior interventions, as well as setting level variables that may inhibit or facilitate delivery.

Violence/Victimization/PTSD

Health effects of violence and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have increasingly become a major public health issue. The area comprises of intrapersonal violence in the private sphere (i.e. mainly men's violence against women), violence as an effect of neighborhood conditions and organized violence in armed conflicts. It comprises of studies of the impact of physical, sexual and psychological aggression, and of acute as well as late effects of such phenomena in terms of any type of injury or sequelae, physical as well as mental. Descriptive studies regarding the prevalence of the described phenomena in different environments/sections of a population and causal analyses based on such information, as well as intervention studies (rehabilitation as well as preventive measures) are of interest, as well as development of theory concerning the causes of violence and/or impairment due to violent experiences. Studies of victimization/PTSD due to large-scale accidents or natural disasters are also invited.

Work Related Health

The Workrelated Health Track covers a broad range of topics relevant to work and health from a viewpoint of behavioral medicine, including methods for measurement of psychosocial job stressors and other organizational factors, their social patterning and impact on physical and mental health, as well as productivity among workers, worksite health education and health promotion, assessment and intervention, rehabilitation at work, and more. Both theoretical and empirical research on these topics is welcomed.

SUBMISSION STEPS AND IMPORTANT GUIDELINES

Abstract Submission

Opens: 8:00 AM ET, 3 August 2009
Closes: 11:59 PM ET, 15 January 2010

Rapid Communication Posters

Opens: 8:00 AM ET, 15 March 2010
Closes: 11:59 PM ET, 1 May 2010

Abstracts for the 11^th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine need to be submitted according to the instructions that appear in this Call for Abstracts. ONLY those abstracts submitted via the official ICBM abstract submission site will be considered.

Once you arrive at www.icbm2010.org, navigate to the Call for Abstracts tab at the top of the page. You will find a direct link to the abstract submission site on this page. All abstracts submitted via the official site will be forwarded to ICBM's contracted vendor, ScholarOne. Upon receipt of your submission, ScholarOne will issue an e-mail confirmation to the submitting author. Authors can expect to receive the e-mail confirmation of their submission within 48 hours (or two business days) after submission.

All abstract submissions will be peer reviewed and may be submitted as an oral presentation or a poster presentation. All accepted abstracts will be published in the Meeting Supplement issue of the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, the official journal of ISBM. The supplement will serve as the official abstract publication for the 11th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine

Important Participation Guidelines - Please Review

• Paper/Poster Submissions Please Note: Abstracts may be submitted as "Poster Only", "Paper Only", or "Paper or Poster". You are encouraged to submit using the "Paper or Poster" option since all papers submitted under this option that are not selected for oral presentation will alternatively be considered for poster presentations.
• Abstracts submitted for presentation must be based on empirical research and report actual (not promised) results along with relevant statistics and significance values.
• Papers that have been published or presented elsewhere prior to the time of presentation at the 11th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine may not be submitted for consideration by ICBM.
• Authors are limited to participation as "Presenter" in a maximum of three (3) abstract submissions.
• Presenters of accepted abstracts must pre-register for the Congress by the early-bird deadline of June 15, 2010.
• Each presenting author is responsible for his/her registration fee(s) as well as travel and housing costs.
• Presenters who are unable to attend the ICBM should arrange for another individual to present the paper/poster in question. If changes to your presentation are necessary, please notify the ICBM Secretariat Amy Moritz at amoritz@sbm.org or (414) 918-3156.
• All abstract submissions must be in English. All presentations based on accepted abstract submissions must be made in English.
• NOTE: The maximum poster size allowable is 44.75 inches wide by 91 inches tall. Please note that the posters are in a vertical format, NOT horizontal/landscape like traditional US posters.

Abstract Acceptance Notification

All regular submission abstracts were notified of acceptance or regrets via e-mail by 10 March 2010. If you DID NOT receive an e-mail notification regarding your abstract submission by March 10, 2010, please send an e-mail to amoritz@sbm.org.

All rapid communications submission abstracts will be notified of acceptance or regrets via e-mail by 20 May 2010. If you DO NOT receive an e-mail notification regarding your abstract submission by May 20, 2010, please send an e-mail to amoritz@sbm.org.