ABSTRACT
In the area of behavioral medicine and health psychology, research on illness perceptions represents one of the most recent developments, theoretically and empirically. Although early traces of the concept of illness perceptions of patients with somatic disorders date back to the work of Bard and Dyk (1956), the most elaborate theoretical and empirical contributions regarding illness perceptions have been published only quite recently (Petrie & Weinman, 1997; Skelton & Croyle, 1991). This chapter starts by outlining a definition of illness perceptions, and the theoretical model which incorporates illness perceptions in explaining variance in patients’ adjustment to illness. This is followed by a concise chronological overview of empirical approaches to the assessment of illness perceptions. Finally, we discuss and summarize how illness perceptions have been assessed. Some suggestions for future research are presented.
