Health Promotion for Mental Health and Substance Use – HPMS
NOTE: Starts with the October 2026 Council round submission dates (Cycle I due dates). This study section was evaluated as part of CSR’s ENQUIRE process to align study sections with advances in science. Learn more about ENQUIRE.
Health Promotion for Mental Health and Substance Use (HPMS) study section reviews behavioral interventions involving the uptake/adoption of health behaviors to improve mental health and psychological well-being and reduce substance use. All studies are in human populations. Population based studies, studies proposing the use of pharmacotherapies, applications with a physiological or biological basis, basic science and purely mechanistic studies, and animal model studies are reviewed in other study sections. Community-level interventions, local area/place-based interventions, and system- or organization-level interventions are reviewed in other study sections.
Review Dates
Topics
- Behavioral interventions to improve mental and psychological well-being (e.g., anxiety, depression, stress);
- Behavioral interventions to encourage healthy behaviors and reduce harms associated with substance use including but not limited to use of alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, stimulants, psychostimulants, methamphetamine, cannabis, and opioid-related addictive substances.
Shared Interests and Overlaps
There is shared interest in studies of health promotion and behavior change with Health Promotion in Communities (HPC). Applications targeting the uptake/adoption of health behaviors to improve mental health and psychological well-being and reduce substance use are reviewed in HPMS. Applications that propose an intervention to mitigate risk or promote the health of a general community or to address health implemented in community organizations or other non-clinical settings (e.g., schools, worksites, service delivery organizations) are reviewed in HPC.
There is shared interest in psychological approaches to promote health and reduce disease risk with Biobehavioral Medicine and Health Outcomes (BMHO). Prevention applications targeting the uptake/adoption of health behaviors to improve mental health and reduce substance use are reviewed in HPMS. Applications that emphasize the psychosocial sequalae of diseases and psychological approaches to manage and alleviate their symptoms are reviewed in BMHO.
There is shared interest in substance use, addiction, and addictive behaviors with Biological Processes and Social-Ecological Factors (BPSF).Applications focused on promoting healthy behavior and intervening at the individual level to prevent and treat mental health and addictive behaviors are reviewed in HPMS. Applications focused on understanding the individual-level mechanisms underlying substance use and abuse are reviewed in BPSF, including biological, environmental, psychological, and neurocognitive factors that influence or predict the onset or trajectory of addictive behaviors.
There is shared interest in individual interventions that address psychosocial skills or psychological wellbeing with Psychosocial Influences On Health Development (PIHD) and Social and Interpersonal Processes of Health Disparities (SIPH).Applications that propose an intervention designed to improve an interpersonal or social process (e.g., increase social integration/reduce isolation), or that target a developmental skill (e.g., self-efficacy, resilience, etc.) are reviewed in PIHD or SIPH. Applications that propose an intervention designed to improve mental health and prevent or reduce addictive behaviors are reviewed in HPMS.
