Deborah Beidel, Cynthia Bulik, and Melinda Stanley take a scientist-practitioner-educator approach and help students see and understand the connection between the science and practice of abnormal psychology. This leading-edge author team, consisting of three active researchers, clinicians, and educators, take a scientist-practitioner approach emphasizing the rich blend of both the science and practice of abnormal psychology throughout the text. The developmental trajectory of each condition is discussed where appropriate and scientific findings with respect to race and gender are incorporated into discussions about each condition. Biological findings are integrated with findings from social and behavioral sciences, highlighting the complexity of abnormal behavior and how it is often influenced by a wide range of variables. The authors encourage students to look at psychological disorders along a continuum and analyze disorders in terms of whether the individual’s behavior creates distress or impairs daily functioning. Importantly, an effort is made to “bring to life” the nature of these conditions by providing vivid clinical descriptions. In addition to short descriptions used liberally throughout each chapter, a fully integrated case study is presented at the end of each chapter, again illustrating the interplay of biological, psychosocial and emotional factors.