Life Events and Illness: A Reference Book for the Caring Professionals (The caring professions) - Hardcover

The role of factors outside the province of physical and biological sciences in the onset of illness has long been a source of speculation. While early efforts in psychosomatic medicine focused on the relationship between mental states and illness, the effects of personal status and social circumstances on physical health are only now receiving the attention they merit. By integrating current theory, methodology and research, this volume advances the study of life events and disease to a new stage. With their collaborators, these editors bring together a range of theory and empirical study organized around the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS). Their examination of the origins of life events and difficulties and the notion of "conveyor belts" to continuing adversity capture the immutable uncertainties of life and help to link concerns with life events and disease to larger issues of human development.