• Psychiatric epidemiology in the United States currently is being influenced by developments in genetics, psychopharmacology, neurobiology, and particularly psychopathology after the heavy influences of the social sciences during the post-World War II period. The integration of recent scientific developments in psychiatry, with the methodological precision that characterized the earlier studies of the 50s and 60s promises to provide new knowledge on the epidemiology of mental disorders in the community, which will have important implications both for professional practices in medicine and public health and for public policy in the planning of mental health services, training, and research.