Social class and the contextualization of illness experience

The object of this chapter is threefold. First, a theoretical rationale will be outlined which underpins the construction of a predictive model of socialclass differences in the experience and communication of distress. Distress here is meant in the widest sense, referring to the set of all possible physical, cognitive and affective experiences. Second, a series of studies will be presented which attempt to address this model. Finally, the implications of these findings will be addressed, particularly within the context of the medical sociology literature.