Medical illness and positive life change : can crisis lead to personal transformation? / edited by Crystal L. Park ... [and others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Park, Crystal L.

American Psychological Association.

Series:

Decade of behavior

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sick--Psychology.

Sick.

Life change events.

Clinical health psychology.

Self-actualization (Psychology).

Life Change Events.

Adaptation, Psychological.

Personality Development.

Medical Subjects:

Life Change Events.

Adaptation, Psychological.

Personality Development.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

APA PsycBOOKS.

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : American Psychological Association, 2009.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

"People often claim to experience improved relationships with family and friends, a clearer sense of their own strengths and resilience, changed priorities about what is important in life, and various other positive changes after struggling with stressful or traumatic events. What are we to make of these claims? Can we determine whether perceptions of change reflect real, verifiable change--that is, is it possible for someone to believe that he or she has grown while still exhibiting the same self-defeating thoughts and behaviors? Or is the perception of change itself an important meaning reconstruction process? What factors influence personal growth, and what effect does growth have on physical and mental health? This book examines these issues in depth and draws out their implications for research and clinical practice. Because medical illness has been one of the primary contexts in which researchers have studied the phenomenon of positive life change, this book focuses on how positive life change might be fostered in the context of medical illness"--Jacket. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Contents:

Overview of theoretical perspectives / Crystal L. Park

Challenges to assessing positive life change / Howard Tennen and Glenn Affleck

Example statistical strategy for assessing positive life change among individuals with breast cancer / Charles S. Carver, Suzanne C. Lechner, and Michael H. Antoni

Benefit finding among children and adolescents with diabetes / Vicki S. Helgeson, Lindsey Lopez, and Constance Mennella

Lifespan developmental perspectives on stress-related growth / Carolyn M. Aldwin, Michael R. Levenson, and Linda Kelly

Lessons learned about benefit finding among individuals with cancer or HIV/AIDS / Suzanne C. Lechner and Kathryn E. Weaver

Illness perceptions and benefit finding among individuals with breast cancer, acoustic neuroma, or heart disease / Keith J. Petrie and Arden Corter

Positive life change and the social context of illness: an expanded social-cognitive processing model / Stephen J. Lepore and William Kernan

Biological correlates: how psychological components of benefit finding may lead to physiological benefits / Julienne E. Bower, Elissa Epel, and Judith Tedlie Moskowitz

Is benefit finding good for individuals with chronic disease? / Sara B. Algoe and Annette L. Stanton

Enhancing positive adaptation: example intervention during treatment for breast cancer / Michael H. Antoni, Charles S. Carver, and Suzanne C. Lechner

The clinician as expert companion / Richard G. Tedeschi and Lawrence G. Calhoun.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Electronic reproduction. Washington, D.C. : American Psychological Association, 2009. Available via World Wide Web. Access limited by licensing agreement. s2009 dcunns

ISBN:

9781433803963

1433803968

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.