The role of factors outside the province of the physical and biological sciences in the onset of illness has long been a source of speculation. While early efforts in psychosomatic medicine focused on the relationship between mental states and illness, the effects of personal status and social circumstances on physical health are only now receiving the attention they merit. By integrating current theory, methodology, and research, this ground-breaking volume advances the study of life events and disease to a new stage. George Brown and Tirril Harris are ideal editors for such an undertaking. George Brown has long been known for his path-breaking work on intensive clinical assessment and designing measures that capture the real complexity of social situations, assigned meanings, and personal response to crisis. He brought to light the importance of ``expressed emotion,' the differential role of life events in schizophrenia and depression, and most recently, produced a seminal work on the social etiology of depression with Tirril Harris. As David Mechanic notes in his Foreword, the defining characteristics of these efforts, which are also reflected in this volume are a ``sensitivity to clinical material and capitalizing on serendipity; self-consciousness about methods and methodological advances; and focus on theory with careful efforts to specify intervening processes and the links between macro events and personal meanings.' Along with their collaborators, these eminent editors bring together an impressive range of theoretical thought and empirical study organized around the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS). Their examination of the origins of life events and difficulties and the notion of ``conveyor belts' to continuing adversity capture the immutable uncertainties of life and help to link concerns with life events and disease to larger issues of human development. The authors' innovative approach to establishing the relationship between ``attitudes' and psychiatric and physical disorders fully utilizes the wealth of data elicited by the LEDS, and demonstrates how the comprehensiveness of this data matches the sophistication and complexity of the theoretical ideas it serves. Addressing fundamental questions on the whether the specific nature of life events and vulnerability factors differ in different disorders, the authors conclude by providing a perspective on psychodynamic etiology which emphasizes the specificity of crucial links. It integrates social, psychological, and biological factors around the notion that specific types of cognitive-affective experience are linked to specific types of illness. While significantly advancing our understanding of how individuals define and deal with adversity, LIFE EVENTS AND ILLNESS also fosters a greater appreciation of the methodological tools available for examining these processes. For all clinicians, researchers, and students in the behavioral sciences, this timely work not only provides a comprehensive review of the literature and a critical examination of current research models but also points the way for future investigations.

A pioneer in the field of behavioral medicine, the late Thomas H. Holmes developed a set of scales that measured the impact of life changes and events on a person's health, particularly stress-related disorders. This volume collects for the first time the key research studies that emanated from the Holmes laboratory at the University of Washington from 1957 through 1981. Designed to serve as a reference book and a resource for students and scholars interested in life change research, Life Change, Life Events, and Illness provides ready access to the historical record of the Holmes psychosocial laboratory. For archival purposes, editorial revisions have been undertaken only to correct errata, update references, and establish stylistic conformity. The first chapter, written specifically for this volume, places the work of the Holmes laboratory in historical context, probes the beginning of Holme's research hypothesis in studies of the physiology of emotions, and outlines the direction of his research program. The first group of readings review the development, testing, and validation of three innovative research instruments: The Social Readjustment Rating Scale, the Seriousness of Illness Rating Scale, and the Schedule of Recent Experience. Subsequent chapters reconstruct the initial applications of methodologies developed by Holmes and his colleagues, culminating in the formulation of a paradigm for the relationship of life change and illness susceptibility. The final papers illustrate the realms into which life change research expanded in the last decade of Holme's tenure at the laboratory.

Social Support, Life Events, and Depression describes a research program that looked into the social process of mental health. This research program provided an arena for opportunities to explore many topics concerning the relationships among social support, life events, and mental health (primarily depressive symptoms). The volume is organized into six parts. Part I sets the background and scope of the study. Part II focuses on the dependent variable (depression), one of the two independent variables (life events], and the key control variable [psychological resources). Part III describes the measurement of social support. Part IV examines the basic models involving social support, life events, psychological resources, and depression. Part V proceeds to examine the reduced basic model in terms of a number of factors, such as age, sex, marital status, social class, and history of prior illness. Part VI discusses several specific issues regarding the dynamics of social support. This book is intended primarily for researchers, scientists, professionals, and instructors who are interested in examining both conceptual and methodological issues regarding social factors in mental health. Thus, those working in the area of public health, social and behavioral sciences, and medical professions may find this book useful. Because of the way the chapters are organized, it is possible for researchers and practitioners alike to select and read chapters pertinent to their specific interests.

The aim of this encyclopedia is to provide a comprehensive reference work on scientific and other scholarly research on the quality of life, including health-related quality of life research or also called patient-reported outcomes research. Since the 1960s two overlapping but fairly distinct research communities and traditions have developed concerning ideas about the quality of life, individually and collectively, one with a fairly narrow focus on health-related issues and one with a quite broad focus. In many ways, the central issues of these fields have roots extending to the observations and speculations of ancient philosophers, creating a continuous exploration by diverse explorers in diverse historic and cultural circumstances over several centuries of the qualities of human existence. What we have not had so far is a single, multidimensional reference work connecting the most salient and important contributions to the relevant fields. Entries are organized alphabetically and cover basic concepts, relatively well established facts, lawlike and causal relations, theories, methods, standardized tests, biographic entries on significant figures, organizational profiles, indicators and indexes of qualities of individuals and of communities of diverse sizes, including rural areas, towns, cities, counties, provinces, states, regions, countries and groups of countries.

Psychologists have long been interested in the problems of children, but in the last 20 years this interest has increased dramatically. The in tensified focus on clinical child psychology reflects an increased belief that many adult problems have their origin in childhood and that early treatment is often more effective than treatment at later ages, but it also seems to reflect an increased feeling that children are inherently important in their own right. As a result of this shift in emphasis, the number of publications on this topic has multiplied to the extent that even full-time specialists have not been able to keep abreast of all new developments. Researchers in the more basic fields of child psychol ogy have a variety of annual publications and journals to integrate research in their areas, but there is a marked need for such an integra tive publication in the applied segment of child and developmental psychology. Advances in Clinical Child Psychology is a serial publication designed to bring together original summaries of the most important developments each year in the field. Each chapter is written by a key figure in an innovative area of research or practice or by an individual who is particularly well qualified to comment on a topic of major contemporary importance. Each author has followed the stan dard format in which his or her area of research was reviewed and the clinical implications of the studies were made explicit.

This reference work breaks new ground as an electronic resource. Utterly comprehensive, it serves as a repository of knowledge in the field as well as a frequently updated conduit of new material long before it finds its way into standard textbooks.