Dear ISSBD Members, Colleagues and Friends,
It is more than a year since we first were confronted with
COVID19 and the pandemic. No one needs to be told that it has
certainly been a challenging and unprecedented time. We have
all experienced hardships, some much worse than others. I want
to communicate to everyone my strongest possible support and
deepest sympathies to all for what you and your loved ones have
experienced.
There is some good news – or potential good news. We seem
to be on track to recovery with vaccines becoming more and
more available. I am very hopeful that we will be able to hold our
biennial, in this case quadrennial, meeting in Rhodes in 2022.
More on that as details become available.
Although we have all experienced this last year in deeply
personal ways, for me, the experience of the last year has
reinstilled in me a deep understanding of the importance of human
development and its role in society. I invite you to think
reflectively about what we have learned, both the good and the bad
People are social beings. Whether you believe it is a learned
or innate behavior, it is fairly clear that we have suffered from
the imposed isolation brought on us by the pandemic. As a person
who studies social relations and its implications for health
and well-being, I’ve been thrilled by the now widespread aware
ness of the importance of social relations. Stories of families find
ing ways to be together, of neighbors helping each other out in
socially distanced ways, of others caring about and assisting
strangers are truly heartwarming. However, we have also seen
a significant increase in domestic violence, alcohol and drug
misuse/abuse, anxiety and depression. We do not yet know but
have some idea of the effect this pandemic will have on an entire
cohort of children who have been kept out of school for almost a
year.
At the same time, it has led me to appreciate what we, as
behavioral scientists, have to offer the world. There is much to
be done and I believe that each of us, not only as members of this
Society but also as members of our personal, ethnic, racial,
geographic and national groups/societies, have important
contributions to make. We need to use our scientific knowledge to
address the problems we are facing. In my Bulletin contribution
I noted the creation of a committee designed to identify ways in
which we could use our science to optimize societal circumstances.
After the year we’ve had, I think we need such a committee and
optimization more than ever. We can do so at the
local, national and international level. Please feel free to connect
with me if you are interested in pursuing such goals within the
Society.
I look forward to seeing you in Rhodes where we can share
our thoughts, successes and goals as we move forward to use
behavioral science to address the many pressing problems we
face in the world today.
Warm regards,
Toni C. Antonucci