Skip to main content

New Directions in Illness Behaviour Research

  • Chapter
Illness Behavior
  • 325 Accesses

Abstract

Mechanic has defined illness behaviour as “The manner in which persons monitor their bodies, define and interpret their symptoms, take remedial actions, and utilize the health care system.” This definition encompasses an immense range of behaviours as well as cognitive and affective processes. The disciplines relevant to the study of illness behaviour, defined in this fashion, include psychology, sociology, economics, education, anthropology, and medicine. It would be presumptuous to attempt to specify what new directions in each of these areas will or should be. Rather, the purpose is to review the major trends in the assumptions, questions, and methodologies of illness behaviour research and the fundamental ways in which future research probably will differ from past work.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Becker, M. H. (1974). The health belief model and personal health behaviour. Thorofare, NJ: Slack.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, M. H. & Maiman, L. A. (1983). Models of health-related behaviour. In D. Mechanic (Ed.), Handbook of health, health care, and the health professions. (pp. 539–568). New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cockerham, W. C., Sharp, K., & Wilcox, J. (1983). Aging and perceived health. Journal of Gerontology, 38, 349–355.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ferraro, K. (1980). Self-ratings of health among the old and the old-old. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 21, 377–383.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fillenbaum, G. (1979). Social context and self-assessments of health among the elderly. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 20, 45–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, D. M. & Guten, S. (1979). Health-protective behaviour: An exploratory study. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 20, 17–29.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Janz, N. K. & Becker, M. H. (1984). The health belief model: A decade later. Health Education Quarterly, 11, 1–47.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kasl, S. V. & Cobb, S. (1966). Health behaviour, illness behaviour and sick role behaviour: I. Health and illness behaviour. Archives of Environmental Health, 12, 246–266.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kirscht, J. P., Haefner, D. P., Kegeles, S. S., & Rosenstock, I.M. (1966). A national study of health beliefs. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 7, 248–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleinman, A. (1980). Patients and healers in the context of culture. An exploration of the borderland between anthropology, medicine, and psychiatry. Berkely: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larwood, L. (1978). Swine flu: A field study of self-serving biases. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 8, 283–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R. S. & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal H. (1983). Behavioral medicine: Psychology in health care. In D. Mechanic (Ed.), Handbook of health, health care, and the health professions. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal, H., Hochbaum, G. M., & Rosenstock, I. M. (1960). Epidemic impact of the general population. In The impact of Asian influenza on community life: A study of five cities. United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Pub. No. 706, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal, H., Safer, M. A., & Panagis, D. M. (1983). The impact of communications on the self-regulation of health beliefs, decisions, and behavior. Health Education Quarterly, 10, 3–28.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Levkoff, S. E., Cleary, P. D., & Wetle, T. (1985). Differences in the appraisal of health between the aged and middle-aged. Unpublished manuscript, Harvard University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linn, B. S., & Linn, M. W. (1980). Objective and self-assessed of health in old and very old. Social Science Medicine, 14, 311–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maddox, G. L., & Douglass, E. B. (1973). Self-assessment of health: A longitudinal study of elderly subjects. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 14, 87–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maiman, L. A. & Becker, M. H. (1974). The health belief model: Origins and correlates in psychological theory. Health Education Monograph, 2, 236– 253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popovic, M., Sarngadharan, M. B., Read, E., & Gallo, R. C. (1984). Detection, isolation, and continuous production of cytopathic retroviruses, (HTLV-III) from patients with AIDS and pre-AIDS. Science, 224, 497–500.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Regier, D. A., Goldbert, I. D., & Taube, C. A. (1978). The de facto US mental health services system. A public health perspective. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 685–693.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, L. S. (1977). Car crashes: Perceived vulnerability and willingness to pay for crash protection. Journal of Community Health, 3, 136–141.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenstock, I. M. (1960). What research in motivation suggests for public health. American Journal of Public Health, 50, 295–302.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenstock, I. M. (1974). Historical origins of the Health Belief Model. Health Education Monograph, 2, 409–419.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenstock, I. M., & Kirscht, J. (1979). Why people use health services. In G. Stone, F. Cohen, & N. Adler (Eds.), Health Psychology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanas, E. (1962). The health of older people. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slovic, P., Fischoff, R., & Lichtenstien, S. (in press). Behavioural decision theory perspectives on protective behaviour. In N. Weinstein (Ed.), Taking care: Why people take precautions

    Google Scholar 

  • Slovic, P., Fischoff, R., & Lichtenstien, S. (in press). Behavioural decision theory perspectives on protective behaviour. In N. Weinstein (Ed.), Taking care: Why people take precautions. Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1981). The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice. Science, 21, 453–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weinstein, N. D. (1982). Unrealistic optimism about susceptibility to health problems. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 5, 441–460.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weinstein, N. D., & Lachendro, E. (1982). Egocentrism as a source of unrealtistic optimism. Personal Social Psychology Bulletin, 8, 195–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, J. (1964). Old people and their unreported needs. Lancet, 1, 1117–1120.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1986 Plenum Press, New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Cleary, P. (1986). New Directions in Illness Behaviour Research. In: McHugh, S., Vallis, T.M. (eds) Illness Behavior. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5257-0_26

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5257-0_26

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-5259-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-5257-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics