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...