DAVID J. A. DOZOIS and KEITH S. DOBSON (Eds.) The Prevention of Anxiety and Depression: Theory, Research and Practice Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2004, 344 pages (ISBN 1-59147-079-X, $49.95 Hardcover) Psychological and pharmacological treatments of anxiety and depression have evolved considerably in the past decade. The increase in the range of psychoactive medications on the market and the development of increasingly sophisticated psychological models of mood and anxiety disorders have led to considerable refinement of treatment protocols. Despite these advances, the overall prevalence rates of mood and anxiety disorders have not decreased, many sufferers are refractory to the most effective treatments on offer, and many people suffer recurrences of these disorders following successful treatment. Furthermore, there is considerable evidence that least some disorders have their origins in normal experiences reported by the majority of individuals (e.g., obsessions are highly similar in content and nature to intrusive thoughts experienced by most people). Finally, as the editors of this book note, empirical research on vulnerability factors in anxiety and mood disorders has evolved to the point that study of prevention is now viable. The study of the prevention of mood and anxiety disorders, then, is timely and important. Dozois and Dobson have compiled an impressive volume whose chapters identify and then address the highly complex issues relevant to prevention of anxiety and depression, ending with an excellent summary and synthesis of the body of work covered in the text. The book features contributions by leading researchers in the area, the level of scholarship is ccmsistently high, and the writing is clear and accessible. In the first chapter, Dozois and Dobson outline the theoretical complexities of studying prevention. What theoretical model of prevention to follow - the classic primary-secondary-tertiary intervention model, or more recent models that distinguish between prevention targeting the general public, those identified as potentially at risk, and those identified as actually exhibiting early signs and symptoms of the disorder? The strength of the former model is that it includes relapse prevention, which is essential when discussing anxiety and mood disorders that are recurrent. The strength of the latter models is in their distinction between prevention targeted those exhibiting risk factors and those who exhibit symptoms of the disorder itself. The editors adopt the classic model but encourage their contributors to distinguish between prevention models organized around risk factors from those based on early signs or symptoms of the disorder, where possible. Chapter 2 provides an excellent overview of the descriptive features of anxiety and mood disorders, their impact, and their prevalence and course. The authors then present a cogent analysis of these data, specifying their implications for prevention. The importance of prevention becomes startlingly clear when the authors note that a) most anxiety and mood disorders originate in childhood; b) childhood onset is associated with greater severity and functional impairment; c) disorders in children are undertreated; d) anxiety disorders appear to precede depression, but anxiety disorders are generally undertreated; and, e) subclinical symptomatology reliably predicts the development of clinically significant impairment but is grossly underdetected. The authors also identify important lapses in our understanding of the development of anxiety and mood disorders. For example, why is the prevalence of mood disorders so much higher in women? Why are anxiety and depression so highly related? This chapter serves to establish the critical role that prevention has to play in reducing the prevalence of anxiety and mood disorders; prevention is clearly the wave of the future. Chapters 3 and 4 review the challenges involved in studying prevention. …