Psychopathology: Science and Practice

Ronald J. Comer has been a professor in Princeton University’s Department of Psychology for the past 47 years, also serving for many years as director of Clinical Psychology Studies and as chair of the university’s Institutional Review Board. In 2016 he transitioned to emeritus status at the university. He has received the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton, where his various courses in abnormal psychology were among the university’s most popular.

Professor Comer is also Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He has also been a practicing clinical psychologist and served as a consultant to Eden Autism Services and to hospitals and family practice residency programs throughout New Jersey.

In addition to writing the textbooks Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology (tenth edition), Abnormal Psychology (eleventh edition), Psychology Around Us (second edition), and Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology (third edition), Professor Comer has published a range of journal articles and produced numerous widely used educational video programs, including The Higher Education Video Library Series, The Video Anthology for Abnormal Psychology, Video Segments in Neuroscience, Introduction to Psychology Video Clipboard, and Developmental Psychology Video Clipboard.

Professor Comer was an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania and a graduate student at Clark University. He currently lives in Florida with his wife, Marlene. From there he keeps a close eye on his nearby grandchildren Delia and Emmett, somehow making the same mistakes with them that he made with their father Jon and their uncle Greg a generation ago. Then again, that turned out pretty well.

Jonathan S. Comer is a professor of psychology at Florida International University, where he also directs the Mental Health Interventions and Technology (MINT) Program. He is Past President of the Society of Clinical Psychology (Division 12 of the American Psychological Association) and a leader in the field of clinical child and adolescent psychology. The author of over 200 scientific papers and chapters, he has received career awards from the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies for his research on innovative treatment methods, childhood anxiety and disruptive behavior problems, and the impact of traumatic stress, disasters, terrorism, and public health crises on children. His current work also focuses on ties between psychopathology, neurocircuitry, and the intergenerational transmission of psychological problems.

In addition to Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology (tenth edition), Professor Comer has authored Abnormal Psychology (eleventh edition) and Childhood Disorders (second edition) and edited The Oxford Handbook of Research Strategies for Clinical Psychology, among other books. He serves as Editor of the journal Behavior Therapy and is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Society of Clinical Psychology, the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, and the Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice. He is also a practicing clinical psychologist.

Professor Comer was an undergraduate at the University of Rochester and a graduate student at Temple University. He currently lives in South Florida with his wife, Jami, and their children Delia and Emmett. He loves music — both playing and listening — and enjoys keeping an eye on the often-frustrating Philadelphia sports teams that his father taught him to love/hate.