This Second Edition of the critically acclaimed, best-selling textbook retains all of the features of the first but with greater coverage and pedagogic focus than before.

All chapters from the original edition have been substantially rewritten with the aim of greater clarity and provide updates of the latest research. Five new chapters have been added to reflect the expansion of health psychology and its increasing relevance to the world of health care.

The Second Edition includes:

" Brand new chapters covering social inequalities, social justice and health; research methods in health psychology; preventing and controlling pain; cancer and chronic illness; health and work.

" Extended pedagogical features - each chapter begins with an explanatory outline and ends with a detailed summary of key ideas and suggestions for further research. The text is interspersed with boxed definitions, extensive tables and figures, and up-to-date examples of studies to guide students through their understanding of the subject.

" A companion website to aid lecturers, students and researchers in further contemplation of the issues arising in the textbook.

The text is clearly divided into four sections: part one locates the psychological understanding of health in its social, cultural, political and academic contexts; part two discusses the effects of personal behaviours on health experience; part three explores illness and provides an insightful analysis of health care and communication; and part four covers aspects of health promotion and disease prevention with detailed discussions incorporating immunization and health at work.