Similarly, the “environment” is a very broad concept that not only includes dimensions of parenting, household milieu, and neighborhood that are common foci in prevention studies, but it also includes qualities of the physical environment such as allergens, pollutants, toxins, and temperature/climate. Drawing upon the foundation of plant and non-human animal research described earlier, these physical dimensions of the environment have known effects on the health and outcomes of living organisms. Further, such exposures can be readily modified via human intervention. A recent NIH initiative on environmental influences on child health outcomes (https://www.nih.gov/echo) focuses in part on these physical aspects of the environment, with plans to apply the results of this work to inform clinical trials. In order for the potential translation from naturalistic experimental designs to prevention research to be realized, it is important that future studies are designed with an eye toward aligning the conceptualization and measurement of the environment across the disciplines.
