ABSTRACT
In the post-World War II period in the United States, the burden of sickness and mortality shifted to chronic diseases. It became clear that behavior and other psychological factors were important in understanding, preventing, and treating people suffering from chronic illness. Stress became a common term as both a cause and symptom of illness in a fast-paced and highly competitive society. Psychologists were initially slow to respond to the opportunities to be involved in health care, but by the early 1970s, psychological constructs of personality, resilience, and coping were being used by them as they gradually reoriented to roles as health-care providers.
