Table of Contents

Part 1: Introduction. An Introduction to Health Psychology. Psychophysiology, Health and Illness. Stress and Coping. Part 2: Patient Behaviour and the Management of Illness. The Medical Consultation. The Experience of Treatment. Pain: Psychological Aspects. Part 3: Health Issues. Social Drugs: Effects upon Health. The Primary Prevention of AIDS. Decision Making for Contraception and Abortion. Essential Hypertension. Coronary Heart Disease. Diabetes. Nutrition, Exercise and Health. Cancer. Part 4: Wider Social Issues. Child Health, Illness and Family Influences. Social Circumstances, Inequalities and Health.

About the Author

Marian Pitts is Professor of Psychology at Staffordshire University. Previously she worked in Africa and has taught at the universities of East London, Tennessee and Zimbabwe. She is author of The Psychology of Preventive Health (1996). Keith Phillips is Professor of Psychology and Head of the School of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Westminster. Both have published widely in the area of health psychology.