Leonard A. Jason

Leonard A. Jason (born 1949) is a professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, where he also directs the Center for Community Research. His chief professional interests include the study of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), violence prevention, smoking cessation, and Oxford House recovery homes for substance abuse. Jason's interest in chronic fatigue syndrome began when he was diagnosed with the condition in 1990 after having mononucleosis.

Early life and education

Leonard A. Jason is the son of Jay Jason, a well known comedian who entertained in the Catskills Mountains. Jason received a B.A. in psychology from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts in 1971 and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York in 1975.

Career

Jason is a former president of the Division of Community Psychology of the American Psychological Association (APA) and a past editor of The Community Psychologist. Jason has edited or written 27 books, and he has published over 700 articles and 90 book chapters on CFS, ME, recovery homes, the prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse, media interventions and program evaluation. He has served on 91 Thesis Committees (of which he chaired 62), and 95 Dissertation Committees (of which he chaired 50). He has served on the editorial boards of ten psychological journals. Jason has served on review committees of the National Institutes of Health, and he has received over $36,000,000 in federal research grants. He was also a board member and vice-president for a scientific professional organization called the International Association of CFS/ME.

He was a member the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee. In 1999, Jason published an epidemiological study of chronic fatigue syndrome among United States adults. Jason helped organize two major American Psychological Association sponsored conferences on research methods for community psychology and co-edited a book on this topic.

Jason has served on the editorial boards of journals including:

• Prevention in Human Services, 1986-1995; renamed Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, 1996–present.
• Journal of Community Psychology, 1983-1986, 2007–present.
• The Journal of Primary Prevention, 1983-1986. Appointed Associate Editor, 1986-2007.
• Special Services in the Schools; renamed Journal of Applied School Psychology 1984-2008.
• Journal of Health Psychology, 2008–present.
• Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior, 2013–present.

Honors and awards

Jason received in 1997 the Distinguished Contributions to Theory and Research Award and in 2007, he received the Special Contribution to Public Policy Award from the Society for Community Research and Action. He was presented the 1997 CFIDS Support Network ACTION Champion Award by the Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome Association of America. In 2013, he was presented with the DePaul University’s College of Science and Health’s Excellence in Research Award. In 2015, he was presented the American Psychological Association’s award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research. He received the Dutch ME Foundation International ME Award in 2003.

Bibliography

Selected publications

• Jason, A.; Olson, D.; Ferrari, R.; Majer, M.; Alvarez, J.; Stout, J. (Jul 2007). "An examination of main and interactive effects of substance abuse recovery housing on multiple indicators of adjustment". Addiction. 102 (7): 1114–1121. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2007.01846.x. ISSN 0965-2140. PMC 2976482. PMID 17567399.
• Jason, A.; Benton, C.; Valentine, L.; Johnson, A.; Torres-Harding, S. (Apr 2008). "The Economic impact of ME/CFS: Individual and societal costs" (Free full text). Dynamic Medicine. 7: 6. doi:10.1186/1476-5918-7-6. PMC 2324078. PMID 18397528.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
• Jason, L. A.; Najar, N.; Porter, N.; Reh, C. (2009). "Evaluating the Centers for Disease Control's Empirical Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Case Definition". Journal of Disability Policy Studies. 20 (2): 93. doi:10.1177/1044207308325995.
• Jason, L.A., Stevens, E., Ram, D. Miller, S.A., Beasley, C.R., & Gleason, K., (2016). Theories in the field of community psychology. Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, 7(2), 1-27. [1]
• Jason, L.A., Sunnquist, M., Brown, A., Evans, M., & Newton, J.L. (2016). Are Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome different illnesses? A preliminary analysis. Journal of Health Psychology, 21, 3–15. doi: 10.1177/1359105313520335. PMCID: PMC4125561

Selected books

• Jason, LA; Fennell, P; Taylor, RR, eds. (2003-06-26). Handbook of chronic fatigue syndrome. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-0-471-41512-1. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
• Jason, LA; Ferrari, JR; Davis, MI; et al., eds. (2006). Creating communities for addiction recovery: The Oxford House model. Taylor & Francis, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7890-2930-0. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
• Jason, L.A.; et al. (2008). Rescued lives: The Oxford House approach to substance abuse. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7890-3631-5. Retrieved 2010-07-29. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first= (help)
• Jason, L.A. (1997). Community building: Values for a sustainable future. Westport, CT: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-95872-5. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
• Jason, L.A. (2013). Principles of Social Change. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
• Jason, L.A. & Glenwick, D.S. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of Methodological Approaches to Community-Based Research: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.