Life Events and Illness - Couverture rigide

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0898627230 ISBN 13 : 9780898627237

Editeur : Guilford Publications, 1989

Synopsis

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 propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

George W. Brown, Academic Dept. of Psychiatry, St. Thomas' Hospital, London .

À propos de la quatrième de couverture

"This important book is a clear 'must' for anyone with an interest in the role of life experiences in the onset of illness. Its stated aim is to provide a detailed account of the Bedford approach to the measurement of life events, using a probing personal interview to obtain details on timing and characteristics of events in their social context. The book dues this very well, but it does much more. George Brown's opening chapter provides an extremely clear and interesting account of his conceptualization of life events and their mode of impact; the following chapter written with Tim Homs, adds further clarification and meaning through reference to their studies of depression. These two chapters of equal interest to clinicians and researchers, admirably set the scene for all that follows...

"Unlike so many edited volumes, this one is well integrated with a real attempt to discuss differences in approach and in findings. The editors' own style has the hallmark of George Brown's writings - likely and provocative (sometimes combative), but with an enduring respect for empirical evidence and a constant attempt to bring together theory, research findings, and everyday like as it is experienced... The book does not provide (or seek) closure, but it shows the immense advances in concept and findings that have taken place over the last two decades and, most of all, it leaves one thinking about the challenges for the future with a new set of ideas" - Michael Rutter M.D.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Guilford Publications
• Date d'édition: 1989
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0898627230
• ISBN 13: 9780898627237
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 496
• Éditeur: Brown George, Harris Tirril O.
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible