Lee Nelken Robins (August 29, 1922 – September 25, 2009) was an American professor of
social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...
in
psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry.
Initial p ...
and a leader in
psychiatric epidemiology Psychiatric epidemiology is a field which studies the causes (etiology) of mental disorders in society, as well as conceptualization and prevalence of mental illness. It is a subfield of the more general epidemiology. It has roots in sociological st ...
research. She was affiliated with the
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University i ...
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...
, and in 1951 she received a doctoral degree in
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...
from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. After completing her doctoral program, Robins worked as a research assistant in the Department of Psychiatry at
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United State ...
.
Academic career and research
In 1954, Robins became a member of the faculty at
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine has 1,260 students, 604 of which are pursuing a medical degree with ...
as a research assistant. She continued to work at Washington University for the next 50 years, being promoted to assistant professor in 1959, associate professor in 1962 and full professor (in sociology in psychiatry) in 1966. She founded and served as the director of the school's Master's Program in Psychiatric Epidemiology.
During her career at Washington University, Robins was recognized as a leader in research into
psychiatric epidemiology Psychiatric epidemiology is a field which studies the causes (etiology) of mental disorders in society, as well as conceptualization and prevalence of mental illness. It is a subfield of the more general epidemiology. It has roots in sociological st ...
, the study of the root causes of mental disorders in a population-wide sense. She was also "a leader in the development of diagnostic criteria for psychiatric diagnosis." The ''Los Angeles Times'' reported that Robins "pioneered the field of psychiatric epidemiology" and "played a key role in determining the prevalence of mental problems in the United States and the world."
Robins' research in the 1960s showed that abnormal behavior in childhood was an important predictor of psychiatric problems in adulthood. As an indicator of adult problems including alcoholism, divorce and incarceration, childhood antisocial behavior was found in the data to be a more accurate indicator than factors such as social class, family background, and childhood fears. Her research in the field led to new thinking in the mental health field on issues including teen suicide and drug abuse.
Her major study on the subject was published in 1966 under the title, "Deviant Children Grown Up: A Sociological and Psychiatric Study of Sociopathic Personality." This work would shape the later diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Robins would sit on the American Psychiatric Association's DSM committee which decided upon it.
Robins also conducted studies on psychiatric epidemiology among Vietnam veterans, disaster survivors and other groups. In the 1970s, the federal government funded her research into Vietnam veterans who were addicted to heroin or opium. Her research showed that many drug-addicted veterans recovered spontaneously when they returned to the United States—a finding that challenged the idea that such addiction was irreversible.
Kathleen Bucholz, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University, stated that Robins' "particular genius" was in "developing carefully honed questions for surveys that gathered information about the origins and incidence of mental illness." She wrote the diagnostic interview schedule and was one of the principal investigators for the Epidemiologic Catchment Area study that involved interviews of more than 20,000 Americans to determine the prevalence of psychiatric illness in the general population. Robins later prepared a multicultural version of her diagnostic interview schedule for international use by the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...
.
Robins published more than 250 papers on topics including suicide, substance abuse among adolescents and Vietnam War veterans, alcoholism, and antisocial disorders and behavior in children.
In 2001, Robins retired as an active professor, but continued as a professor emerita and researcher at Washington University until 2007.
Honors and awards
Robins received numerous honors and awards in her career, including being named as a fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...
and the Society for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and Other Drugs. She was also a recipient of the Paul Hoch Award from the
American Psychopathological Association
The American Psychopathological Association (APPA) is an organization "devoted to the scientific investigation of disordered human behavior, and its biological and psychosocial substrates." The association’s primary purpose is running an annu ...
, the Nathan B. Eddy Award from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs section of the American Public Health Association. She was also named an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Psychiatrists and of the American Society of Psychiatrists.
Robins also served on the editorial boards of numerous journals, including '' Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health'', '' Epidemiologia e Psichiatria Sociale'', ''
International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research
The ''International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed open access medical journal covering research methods in psychiatry. It was established in 1991 and is published by John Wiley & Sons. Since 2012, it has ...
'', ''
Development and Psychopathology
''Development and Psychopathology'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal that covers research which addresses the interrelationship of typical and atypical psychological development in children and adults. It was established in 1989 and is published ...
'', ''
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
scope
The ''Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering both child and adolescent psychology and psychiatry providing an interdisciplinary perspective to the multidisciplinary field of child and a ...
'', ''
Psychological Medicine
''Psychological Medicine'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal in the field of psychiatry and related aspects of psychology and basic sciences. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2020 impact factor of 7.723.
History ...
Robins was married to Eli Robins, an influential biological psychiatrist (e.g.
Feighner Criteria The Feighner Criteria are a set of influential psychiatric diagnostic criteria developed at Washington University in St. Louis between the late 1950s to the early 1970s.
The criteria are named after a psychiatric paper published in 1972 of which J ...
and DSM-III), and they had four sons. Her husband died in 1994. In 1998, she married Hugh Chaplin, Jr., an emeritus professor in the Washington University School of Medicine Departments of Medicine and Pathology.
In September 2009, she died of cancer at her home in St. Louis.
Selected list of publications
*"The epidemiology of aggression," in E. Hollander and D.J. Stein, Impulsivity and Aggression, John Wiley and Sons, 1995.
*"Childhood conduct problems, adult psychopathology, and crime," in S. Hodgins, Mental Disorder and Crime, Sage, 1993.
*"Antisocial Personality" (with J. Tipp and T. Przybeck), in L.N. Robins & D. Regier, Psychiatric Disorders in America, The Free Press, 1991.
*"Intentional and Unintentional Injury in Black Americans", (with Carlson V, Bucholz K, Sussman L.), 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, Children and Violence, February 18–21, 1994: Congressional Program, The Aspen Institute, 1994.
*"Risk factors in the continuation of childhood antisocial behaviors into adulthood," (with K.S. Ratcliff), International Journal of Mental Health, Vol. 9, 1979.
*"Arrests and delinquency in two generations: a study of black urban families and their children," (with P.A. West & B. Herjanic), 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, Preventing Antisocial Behavior, Guilford Press, 1992.
*"Early family predictors of child and adolescent antisocial behavior: Who are the mothers of delinquents?" (with B. Henry, T. Moffitt, F. Earls & P. Silva), Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, Vol. 3, 1993.
*"Sociocultural trends affecting the prevalence of adolescent problems", in M. Rutter, Psychosocial Disturbances in Young People: Challenges for Prevention, Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 369–384.