A Look at the Future
The closing chapter considers the present state of evolutionary psychopathology and discusses three areas of future development: proximate mechanisms, from molecular genetics and epigenetics to neurobiological and computational models; epidemiology, with an emphasis on “deep epidemiology” and the interplay between inherited risk factors and current environmental conditions; and developmental psychopathology. An evolutionary perspective on mental disorders can inform emerging approaches such as computational psychiatry, and help refine the predictions of developmental and epidemiological research. Conversely, these approaches provide crucial insights into the proximate mechanisms that underlie both normal and pathological functioning. The author concludes that the field of evolutionary psychopathology must embrace theoretical integration if it is to produce a set of organizing principles flexible enough to accommodate a multiplicity of specific models and hypotheses, but also capable of explaining broad epidemiological and comorbidity patterns and supporting a biologically informed classification of disorders.