Owing to its recent developments in the United States and Japan, health psychology now encompasses everyday behavior and life styles of people related to health enhancement and disease prevention, the role of which exceeds those played by clinical and other traditional areas of psychology. Since late 1940s, psychosocial approaches to somatic health and diseases are becoming greater focusses of attention among increasing numbers of psychologists, which are accompanied by a development of psychosocial models of somatic diseases replacing traditional biomedical models. Under these circumstances, the Japanese Association of Health Psychology was established in January, 1988, to organize to foster comprehensive studies and practical applications of health psychology as a profession, as well as basic training and education of health psychologists. Today, in health psychology, major somatic diseases (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, etc.) are considered as consequences of disturbed well-being within bio-psycho-socio-cultural systems of people, which are mediated primarily by psychosocial factors, such as disease-prone (Type A) behavior patterns, life styles and personality, inappropriate ways of coping with everyday stresses, as well as health care/social support net work systems and community behavioral interventions.
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