Health Psychology ─ An Interdisciplinary Approach

This textbook takes a truly interdisciplinary approach to studying health psychology. It examines five systems that affect individual health outcomes: individual, family/community, social/physical environment, healthcare systems, and health policy. While grounded in psychology, it incorporates perspectives from anthropology, biology, economics, environmental studies, medicine, public health, and sociology. The social ecological perspective on health psychology creates a depth of understanding of the diverse facets of health. This text also examines health from a global perspective by exploring the impact of infectious and chronic illnesses locally, regionally and globally.

This new edition includes updated statistics and references throughout, a new chapter on psychoneuroimmunology, and significant changes and updates to the chapters on health care systems and risky health behaviors. It will be of particular interest to undergraduate students.

Deborah Fish Ragin is Professor of Psychology at Montclair State University. She served as an Assistant Professor on the faculties of Hunter College, City University of New York, and as Assistant Research Professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (now the Icahn School of Medicine) before joining Montclair State. She also served as an American Psychological Association Representative to the United Nations, focusing on the psychosocial impact of HIV/AIDS.