ABSTRACT
Illness representations are a central concern for health psychologists because patients’ lay models direct attitudes, health behaviours and recovery processes. The bulk of empirical groundwork to date has been laid in identifying components of these constructions — symptoms, causes, consequences, etc. — and their health impact. A more elusive and clinically essential challenge is to understand the construction process, that is, how illness representations are formed, modified and maintained. Leventhal (1983), Bishop (1991) and others have noted that the dynamic nature of representations must be examined within the larger contextual system of the patient.
