ABSTRACT
The field of health psychology is a new one, and it is rapidly growing. Health psychology is the aggregate of the specific educational, scientific, and professional contributions of the discipline of psychology to the maintenance of health, the prevention of illness and dysfunction, and the rehabilitation of those already disabled (Matarazzo, 1980). It can be distinguished from related terms, behavioral medicine and behavioral health, by its exclusively psychological emphasis and by its focus on all aspects of health, including prevention, illness, and rehabilitation. The increasing interest in health psychology is striking, easily documented by such factors as the numbers of health-related submissions to journals and to the American Psychological Association annual convention proceedings over the last few years. So much interest has been evidenced in health psychology that a new APA division, Division 38, was recently formed which now numbers over 2000 members. Two new journals, the Journal of Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology have recently come into existence, and more are in the development phase. An American Psychological Association survey
