Review of Medical psychology: Contributions to behavioral medicine.

Reviews the book, Medical psychology: Contributions to behavioral medicine edited by Charles K. Prokop and Laurence A. Bradley (1981). This book is another generally commendable entry on a growing list of books that overview the field of Medical Psychology, Health Psychology, or Behavioral Medicine. The book is divided into four sections: An Introduction, Assessment of Medical Disorders, Treatment and Prevention of Medical Disorders, and Special Topics in Medical Psychology and Behavioral Medicine. The second and third sections account for the bulk of the volume and comprise critical reviews of psychological approaches to assessment and treatment of specific health problems. Both assessment and treatment are mentioned by the editors as areas in which medical psychology has made unique contributions to behavioral medicine. Other issues described as important contributions--issues such as prevention and evaluation--are covered only briefly. This book is a highly useful source book. It is especially valuable to the applied researcher or practitioner who works with several departments in a medical school or other health setting. For such individuals, this volume can provide research and treatment programs in the specialty areas represented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of behavioral medicine.

Reviews the book, Handbook of behavioral medicine by W. Doyle Gentry (1984). This volume, which was years in the writing, is less a handbook than it is a compendium of well-written chapters by outstanding researchers discussing selected important areas in the field of behavioral medicine. These areas include psychosocial factors related to etiology of disease; cardiovascular, immunological, and gastrointestinal disease mechanisms; coping; patient decision-making; compliance; and behavioral and community interventions. This volume is not as inclusive as one would expect from a handbook, neither in thoroughness of literature reviews nor in topic areas covered. However, the chapter topics are well chosen and the book provides a detailed assessment of current work in these important areas. The reviewer found this volume to be impressive because of the high quality of writing and the careful discussion of issues and research in each of these important topic areas. Those wanting to keep informed about conceptual models and research findings in the health psychology and behavioral medicine areas will find this book to be invaluable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychological and behavioral aspects of physical disability—A manual for health practitioners.

Reviews the book, Psychological and behavioral aspects of physical disability—A manual for health practitioners by James E. Lindemann (1981). According to the authors indication in the preface, this book is a guide for professionals who work with people with serious physically disabling conditions. It aims to provide information and "how-to" suggestions for evaluation and treatment of physical disabilities. The book focuses on helping people make decisions, acquire skills, and seek experiences that permit them most fully to enjoy the competency and satisfaction of human existence. It is based on the emerging development in behavioral medicine and health psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral medicine: The contribution of the experimental analysis of behavior to medical care.

There has been a great increase in research and clinical activity using psychological methods and procedures for understanding and modifying patterns of behavior that affect physical health. The term "behavioral medicine" has come into use to describe some of these activities. The present article reviews the contribution of the experimental behavioral sciences in the understanding and treatment of medical disorders and disease and examines some of the implications of the new field for psychology. Current definitions, which emphasize either a biopsychosocial or a behavioral framework, are discussed. Major themes in clinical behavioral medicine are identified, including the modification of overt behavior or physiological responses that constitute problems in their own right, the modification of behavior of health care providers, the improvement of adherence to prescribed treatment, and the modification of behavior or responses that constitute risk factors for disease. (95 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Epilepsy: A handbook for the mental health professional.

Reviews the book, Epilepsy: A handbook for the mental health professional edited by Harry Sands (1982). The editor has gathered 10 contributors, each with a wealth of experience in the area of psychological issues in epilepsy. The book is designed to provide necessary information about epilepsy to "the core mental health discipline: psychology, psychiatry, social work, and psychiatric nursing, and to other collaborating disciplines such as rehabilitation and counseling." It certainly achieves this goal and has the potential of becoming a major reference source as well as textbook in the field. The book could be used as a handbook and reference book for specific problems with epileptics. However, its real strength is its potential use as a unified and comprehensive textbook on a broad range of rehabilitation psychology issues with the epileptic. As a text, it would be appropriate for a senior undergraduate-level or graduate-level course within the broad area of medical psychology. Many of the psychological principles and intervention strategies are applicable to other disabilities. Thus, if educators wish, they can use these chapters as a core model to be augmented by other references to other disabilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioural science and behavioural medicine revisited.

Presents a retrospective view of the relations between behavioral science and behavioral medicine that shows that the concept of "behavioral medicine" has wider and deeper roots than are usually recognized by those who date its inception from the 1970's. Its premises and procedures are also best seen as being broader than those involved in, for example, behavior modification and biofeedback. It is suggested that even the use of the term "health psychology" may divert appreciation from the contribution of the behavioral sciences in general to the problems of health and illness. Three main forces at work in the behavioral sciences are discussed: psychiatry's expanding role in medical education, social change and innovation, and the involvement of social scientists in health care. J. D. Matarazzo's (see record 1980-31050-001) definition of health psychology as the aggregate of the specific educational, scientific, and professional contribution of the discipline of psychology to the promotion and maintenance of health, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the identification of etiologic and diagnostic correlates of health, illness, and related dysfunction, is proposed as a more encompassing definition. (French abstract) (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comprehensive program for mental health and behavioral medicine in a large children's hospital.

Primary health care services are differentiated from secondary or tertiary levels of care. Problems of illness-related psychopathology, sometimes called psychosomatic or behavioral medicine, are differentiated from traditional forms of emotional disturbances such as neurosis, psychosis, and personality disorders. It is shown how primary mental health care and behavioral medicine combine to form a special branch of child psychology known as pediatric, medical, or health care psychology. A program for work of this type in a large children's hospital is outlined. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Behavioral psychology in rehabilitation medicine: Clinical applications.

Reviews the book, Behavioral psychology in rehabilitation medicine: Clinical applications by Laurence P. Ince (1980). This book summarizes, illustrates, and stimulates the application of behavioral psychology to the solution of motoric, cognitive, perceptual, communicative, pain-related, and self-management problems admirably. Overall, this is a book that deserves a prominent place in the preparatory and continuing education of rehabilitation personnel in all of the psychosocial, medical, and engineering disciplines. The volume illustrates the gap that exists between already available technologies and typical programs in rehabilitation centers, programs that, in Friedlander's words, "have barely emerged from the 19th century" (p. 62). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychology and Medicine: Psychobiological Dimensions of Health and Illness.

Reviews the book, Psychology and Medicine: Psychobiological Dimensions by Donald Bakal (1979). Bakal believes that psychology "is rapidly becoming an integral part of modern health care delivery systems" and directs his book toward developing this interest by showing the theoretical and practical relevance of psychological concepts to major health problems. In the first section, which has the inclusive title "Medicine: Mind and Body", he describes a "paradigm shift" in medicine, away from an emphasis on the physiological and biochemical systems as basic to understanding disease toward a "psychobiological" approach to illness which focuses on the inter-relationships between the social, psychological, and physiological determinants of health and disease. He amplifies this point by discussing such matters as personality-disease relationships, psychomatic medicine, a cross-cultural variation in models of health and illness and the implications of the split brain research for states of consciousness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sampling of empirically supported psychological treatments from health psychology: Smoking, chronic pain, cancer, and bulimia nervosa.

Interventions in health psychology and behavioral medicine represent an integral area of research for the development of psychological therapies to enhance health behaviors, manage symptoms and sequelae of disease, treat psychological symptoms and disorders, prolong survival in the face of a life-threatening illness, and improve quality of life. A sampling of interventions in health psychology and behavioral medicine is offered that meet the criteria for empirically supported treatments for smoking cessation, chronic pain, cancer, and bulimia nervosa. Evidence for empirically supported treatments is identified, along with promising interventions that do not yet meet the criteria as outlined by D. L. Chambless and S. D. Hollon (1998). Evidence for the effectiveness and clinical significance of these interventions is reviewed, and issues in this area of research are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Health care psychology: Prospects for the well-being of children.

Reviews historical as well as recent developments in the area of health care psychology for children. This area is contrasted with both behavioral medicine for adults and the traditional areas of child psychology. Certain unique characteristics of psychodiagnosis and psychotherapy in health care psychology are pointed out. Promising areas for future research are described, and implications for the wellbeing of children are drawn. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Health psychology in global perspective.

Reviews the book, Health psychology in global perspective by Frances E. Aboud (see record 1998-07478-000). Initially, the reviewer was unsure of what to expect from this book, and yet in completing it he feel humbled by the perspective it provided on international and cross-cultural health issues. The reading of this book has served to expand his definition of health psychology to include global and cross-cultural concerns. The organization of the book is logical and easy to follow. The first two chapters provide an introduction to the rest of the text. Each of the remaining seven chapters is dedicated to a specific health concern. Aboud's hope is that the reader will come to appreciate that solutions are not as simple as they might appear in the global health community and that enthusiasm must be tempered with "caution and realistic expectations." We must be careful not to stereotype other people and their problem, and recognize that health and well-being are expressed in different but entirely acceptable ways in different cultures. Courses in health psychology will benefit from the inclusion of this book. It incorporates case studies, case vignettes, and student activities along with the text in a manner that students will find challenging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overview of special issue.

In the fall of 1983 Michael Lacroix (CP Associate Editor) asked me to "guest-edit" a special issue of Canadian Psychology devoted to the behavioural medicine and health psychology domains. I agreed, and the current issue is the result. The articles and book reviews in this issue exemplify the multiple relationships between psychology and medicine. While the diversity of subject matter in this issue may appear chaotic, the underlying concept is coherent. Human beings can suffer from a variety of problems bounded by their skins but dependent upon biochemistry and life history. Understanding the development of those problems, diagnosing them, and treating them can be enhanced by the interaction of psychological knowledge with medical knowledge; and the developing interface between psychology and medicine should make us increasingly cognizant of that reality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral health's challenge to academic, scientific, and professional psychology.

Yearly expenditures for health care in the US exceed $200 billion; interdisciplinary analysts believe that the financial human costs associated with such preventable dysfunctions as lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, drug and alcohol abuse, and vehicle accidents are a needless waste of human and fiscal resources. A consensus has emerged that the behavior of the individual is today's unexplored frontier in the study and understanding of health. Psychology is a discipline with 100 yrs of experience in the study of individual behavior, including behavior change. It is asserted that every specialty of academic, scientific, and professional psychology has within its ranks individual psychologists with the potential to help map some of the important landmarks in this beckoning and relatively unexplored frontier—the health behavior of individuals. Although this potential is considerable in behavioral medicine, it is equal if not greater in the field of behavioral health, which involves helping willing and currently healthy children and adults to remain healthy. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Health psychology at the crossroads.

Reviews the books, Handbook of psychology and health, volume I: Clinical psychology and behavioral medicine: Overlapping disciplines, edited by R. J. Gatchel, A. Baum, and J. E. Singer (see record 1985-97683-000); Handbook of psychology and health, volume II: Issues in child health and adolescent health, edited by A. Baum and J. E. Singer (1982); and Introduction to medical psychology by J. C. Norton (1982). The conflict between the traditional medical model and the biopsychosocial model threatens to prevent the establishment of health psychology's principles and identity. This conflict clearly characterizes the volumes presently under review. James C. Norton's Introduction to medical psychology aims to introduce mental health professionals to medicine, to teach behavioral treatments for disease, and to address issues of health promotion. The Handbook of psychology and health is a much more ambitious attempt to meet the same goals. The volumes are "intended for investigators, clinicians, teachers, and both graduate and undergraduate students." Given tradition, simplicity, inertia, and existing status structures, the traditional medical model has an almost overwhelming allure. Unfortunately, the traditional medical model also is inadequate, and its deficiencies cannot be remedied by forcing psychological and behavioral problems into its mechanistic clutches. By carefully reviewing and evaluating complex issues in health psychology while simultaneously endeavoring to prescribe clinical and medical treatments, the volumes under review delineate the dilemma facing health psychology; but they do little to resolve it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Theory and problems of adolescent development.

Reviews "Theory and problems of adolescent development," by David P. Ausubel (see record 1955-00581-000). Unlike most other books in this area, this book offers a systematic presentation of psychological knowledge woven around a dynamic point of view. It is a scholarly book written in language that makes for easy and interesting reading. The author opens his book with an organized set of arguments designed to convince his readers that there is justification for a book on the "Psychology of Adolescent Development." His major premise states that "adolescence is treated as a separate developmental period not because it covers a decade but because it spans an interval in which distinctive changes occur in a biosocial status of the human organism. The author has marshaled his psychological knowledge and psychiatric experience into a well-organized book. Dr. Ausubel quotes freely from other authors and from his own writings and research. There are extensive references contained in the bibliography at the end of each chapter. Although the author states that "this book is primarily intended as an advanced textbook in adolescent psychology for graduate students in psychology and education," it would appear that this book is written with sufficient clarity and nontechnical language to be used in any college course dealing with adolescent behavior. It would be especially desirable in clinically-oriented courses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Survey of current clinical and research trends in clinical psychology.

Surveyed directors of 115 clinical PhD and PsyD psychology programs with accreditation from the American Psychological Association to explore trends in the training of clinical psychologists. The most popular area of clinical research appeared to be behavioral medicine/health psychology. The most popular specialty clinics allowing training in a specific domain of clinical psychology were family therapy, behavioral medicine, neuropsychology/rehabilitation, and couples therapy. Ss in PhD programs were more likely than those in PsyD programs to subscribe to a cognitive-behavioral/social-learning orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The "grubo" psychology: Or, can a science over 95 be happy without reductionism?

Seeks to rebut the argument implicitly advanced by Razran that "brain behavior conditioning" is the only complete approach to behavior theory. It is felt that such a rebuttal is needed because the pendulum again has begun to swing toward physiologizing in psychology. It is argued that: (1) the problems of psychology and physiology are often not the same, having different historical origins, and consequently the types of explanation for behavior that are sought will often be different; and (2) there is no logical or empirical basis for asserting that behavioral explanations are less basic or complete than physiological explanations. Thus, it is proposed that a nonreductionist approach to psychology is at least as vital as a reductionist approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)