The Social Psychology of Health: The Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology

The two major features of health psychology - psychosocial mediators of health status and health promotion programmes - are addressed in this volume. Focusing on social, cognitive and contextual factors which may reduce or prevent stress associated with illness, the first part discusses normative data collected for Cohen′s Perceived Stress Scale, cognitive factors of `perceived control′, practical implications for intervention and the effect of social support for cancer patients. The second part considers the work setting for health promotion, the successful Stanford Health Disease Prevention Program and the promotion of quality of life through effective public policy.