ON THE SEMANTICS AND OPERATIONS OF PRIMARY PREVENTION AND WELLNESS ENHANCEMENT (OR WILL THE REAL PRIMARY PREVENTION PLEASE STAND UP)

Compared two recent, major reviews of primary prevention program evalu ation research (i.e., Durlak and Wells' meta-analysis of 177 such stud ies and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report's summary of research s tudies of preventive intervention programs) with respect to specific s tudies included and input sources used. Whereas the IOM Report defined the goal of primary prevention as reducing the occurrence of new case s of mental disorder Durlak and Wells' broader definition included bot h that goal and the promotion of psychological wellness. Overlap in jo urnal sources used by the two reviews was modest and overlap in the ac tual primary prevention program evaluation studies included was minima l (congruent to 7%). These findings bespeak somewhat different views o f primary prevention and suggest a need for the complementary developm ent of both the above approaches as alternatives, individually and col lectively to mental health's past established restorative ways.