Summary

The SAGE Handbook of Health Psychology represents a landmark work in the field, gathering together in a single volume contributions from an internationally renowned group of scholars. It provides a definitive, one-stop, authoritative guide to the major themes and debates in health psychology, both past and present, and should in time become a classic reference work for a wide, international readership.

Its coverage is comprehensive, both traditional and innovative, and reflects the latest in global health psychology research from a wide perspective. This includes the latest work in epidemiology of health and illness, health-related cognitions, chronic illness, interventions in changing health behaviour, research methods in health psychology and biological mechanisms of health and disease. As a result its potential as an authoritative entry point to those new to the discipline as well as those already working inside it is very high. Given its breadth of content and accessibility, the Handbook will be indispensable for advanced students as well as researchers.

Expertly organized by editors of international stature, and authored by a similar team of luminaries in the field, this single volume Handbook is an essential purchase for individuals and librarians worldwide.

Advisory Editors:

Professor Karen Matthews PhD

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Prof. Dr. Ralf Schwarzer

Freie Universität Berlin

Professor Shelley Taylor PhD

UCLA

Professor Jane Wardle

University College London

Professor Robert West

St. George′s Hospital Medical School

Choice Review

The editors' purpose is to provide a higher-level textbook for final-year undergraduates and master's degree students, as well as a state-of-the-art treatment of health psychology for researchers, teachers, and practitioners. With its refreshing reliance on contributors from outside the US, this handbook offers a more global perspective than most. It also provides more intensive discussion of issues and research than is found in current introductory textbooks. Most of the contributors fill in significant gaps in the research literature on health psychology, making this book especially valuable for those seeking thesis or dissertation topics. The chapter on epidemiology is most innovative in suggesting a socio-psycho-physiological conceptual model that is more interdisciplinary than the characteristic biopsychosocial model. Unlike introductory textbooks, this handbook covers the biological mechanisms of health and disease in a single chapter. Discussions of cognition, emotional traits, expectancies, self-regulation, and stress inform several chapters. When discussing applications, contributors consider topics such as medical communication, treatment adherence, and intervention assessment. The final three chapters cover research methods, assessment, and professional issues. Several contributors point out the dearth of theoretically sound explanations within the field and the methodological shortcomings of existing research. Readers will find this handbook both intellectually stimulating and useful. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above. M. K. Snooks University of Houston--Clear Lake