ABSTRACT
Health psychology developed in the 1970s as the subfield of psychology that focuses on the intersection of psychosocial factors and people’s physical health. Health psychology can be viewed as having four domains or foci of theory, research, and practice. The first examines stress and coping; that is, the processes by which stress is generated, experienced, and dealt with; and its effects on people’s health. The second focus is health behaviors; that is, the factors that determine whether or not one engages in actions that are healthy or unhealthy as well as methods to increase healthy behaviors. The third domain examines patient-provider interactions, including the conditions under which people seek healthcare, their interactions with healthcare providers, and their behavior related to healthcare recommendations. The fourth area is adjustment to illness, which applies the above three domains to specific illnesses or clinical problems.
