Date: May 24, 1999
Contact: Pam Willenz (202) 336-5707 [email protected]

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION'S (APA) 107TH ANNUAL CONVENTION TO BE HELD IN BOSTON AUGUST 20-24, 1999

Reverend Jessie Jackson To Give Keynote Address

Precursors to Teenage Aggression and Violence, Consequences of Internet Usage, and Cancer Treatment and Prevention to be Major Themes

WASHINGTON - The role psychologists can play in the prevention of teenage violence, helping people cope with and prevent serious diseases and addressing the problems associated with Internet use and the nearing Y2K problem will be prominent themes of the 107th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association (APA).

More than 1,100 symposium, paper and poster sessions will be devoted to a wide range of psychological issues from the role of teasing, bullying and depression in the later development of teenage aggression and violence to the influence of cyber-affairs on marriage and the consequences of high school and college students overusing the Internet.

Other presentations will include: the neuropsychological repercussions of playing soccer, exposure to light and its effect on mood, the role of mental illness in workplace violence, anger and its effect on aggressive driving behavior, well-being of military personnel who are deployed on peacekeeping missions, mental health and a person's desire for assisted suicide, long-term outcomes of mental health treatment and what makes siblings better friends in adulthood.

Reverend Jessie L. Jackson, president of the National Rainbow Coalition, will speak about the hope he has for "bringing people together on common ground across lines of race, class, gender and belief" in his keynote address.

APA President Richard Suinn, Ph.D., has chosen cancer and ethnic minority issues as two major themes for the meeting. Experts in these areas will speak about the importance of promoting well-being in cancer patients, having appropriate interventions for cancer patients and motivating cancer prevention behaviors. The need for mentoring ethnic minority psychologists and serving a culturally diverse population will also be addressed.

Other notable speakers will include past president Martin Seligman, Ph.D., who will speak on his vision of psychology in the 21st century - a retooled social and behavioral science which studies the positive aspects of life, such as work, love and play and how to build strength and character in people.

Logistics

The press facilities for the convention will be in the Yarmouth/Vineyard Room of The Marriott at Copley Place. The pressroom will open for early on-site media registration on Thursday, August 19 from noon to 4:00 PM and during each day of the convention from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM (except Tuesday, August 24, when it will close at noon). Convention papers will be available, as will be working space, telephones, fax machines, phone lines for data transmission and APA staff resources. The press area will also be the site of any news briefings held during the convention.

The deadline for requesting housing at the special convention rates is July 14, 1999. Please use the APA Convention Housing Reservation Form in the enclosed booklet to secure convention accommodations. Please send the complimentary Convention Registration Form (registration fee waived for media with credentials) in the booklet to APA 1999 Convention, P.O. Box 630303, Baltimore, MD 21263-0303 or fax it to: (202-336-5708). You will automatically receive a copy of the program and your convention badge. Please also fill out and return the enclosed "Media Registry" card to ensure that you receive future convention-related mailings.

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 159,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 50 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 58 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare.

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