Psychobiological Processes in Health and Illness

Bridging disciplines which focus more on the mind or the body in health and illness is a major barrier in the health field. Hamilton-West (health psychology, U. of Kent, UK) introduces concepts of the biopsychobiological model that transcends disciplinary boundaries (e.g., stress). She treats the roles of positive emotions and genetics in understanding determinants of health and illness, pain, disease risk at the individual and group levels, the impact of psychobiological research on behavioral medicine approaches, methodological issues, and technology-driven future directions in the field. The book includes boxed material, e.g, on controversial issues such as whether coping influences cancer survival and the necessity of understanding disease mechanisms for treatment, chapter discussion questions and further reading, and a glossary. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)