Although it has been assumed since early recorded history that psycho logical factors influence health and illness, it has only been within the past few years that a group of investigators and clinicians with a shared interest in the application of psychological principles and techniques to health and illness has existed. Over this same period of time, a number of multi-author books on the topic of health psychology and an associ ated field, behavioral medicine, have been published. Although these books are major resources for the investigator and the clinician in the field, it is often...