The Journal of research in psychopathology publishes articles on basic research and theory in the broad field of psychopathology and other abnormal behaviors, their determinants, antecedents, outcomes and correlates.

The following topics fall within the journal's major areas of focus:

• psychopathology — its etiology, development, symptomatology, and course
• normal processes in abnormal individuals
• experimental studies, with human or animal subjects, relating to psychopathology of mental disorders
• sociocultural effects on pathological processes, including the influence of gender and ethnicity.
• novel methods developed to measure psychopathological mechanisms involved in mental disorders