The Handbook of Pediatric and Adolescent Health Psychology

Abstract

The Handbook of Pediatric and Adolescent Health Psychology, edited by Anthony J. Goreczny and Michael Hersen, Needham Heights, MA, Allyn and Bacon Publishers, 1999, 476 pp, $69.95. During the past decade, there has been an increased focus on health issues in pediatric subspecialties. There is an abundance of studies in areas such as adolescent medicine and infant development. This book, The Handbook of Pediatric and Adolescent Health Psychology, was intended as a collection of new topical information for child health psychology interns and residents. In their preface, the editors state that the book should (1) serve as a resource manual for health professionals, (2) stimulate research ideas, and (3) encourage discourse between health professionals from different nations. It seems that the book meets the second of these goals very well, partially meets the first, and falls far short of the third. The chapters provide literature reviews with good breadth, highlighting key studies across many areas. As a resource manual, the chapters are a bit basic and simplistic in focus, reading more like an introductory textbook than like a resource manual for those already in the field. In terms of coverage of cross-cultural variables and perspectives and research from other countries, the chapters were lacking. The book is divided into five major sections. The first section, “General Issues,” provides a framework for understanding pediatric and adolescent health psychology. It outlines the current state of health care in the United States, funding of health care programs for youth and adolescents, violence among teenagers, and health policy implementation. Other topics in this section include “Prevention of Infant Deaths in the United States,” especially among teenage mothers, and “Childhood Disability in Jamaica.” Although the first chapter gives the reader a good sense of health care policy in the United States, the second and third chapters focus on community-based interventions for vulnerable populations. The generalizability of these interventions is unclear. The second section presents an important garden variety of diseases and disorders of childhood and adolescence: diabetes, eating disorders, headaches, burns, cystic fibrosis, asthma, and epilepsy. All of the chapters in this section discuss the impact of these common diseases on a child's or youth's psychosocial functioning and self-image. Indeed, students and trainees in hospital settings are likely to confront many of these diseases, and the information in these chapters provide a good summary of literature. However, some very important categories are overlooked, such as traumatic brain injuries, childhood cancer, and arthritis. For a more comprehensive discussion of childhood diseases, practitioners must still rely on the several sturdy handbooks on pediatric psychology that already exist. Section 3 addresses addictive patterns in adolescence, including drug and alcohol abuse and smoking. These chapters discuss the epidemiology, origin, course, assessment, and treatment of the problems. The chapters are particularly useful because they discuss the etiology of addiction in terms of liabilities (e.g., familial, genetic, social). A more detailed discussion of various treatment options, including specific techniques, would be helpful for health care providers. Section 4, titled “Health Promotion,” covers a vast range of topics in health psychology. The first four chapters cover well-known topics in health psychology–cardiovascular health, nutrition, exercise, and dental hygiene. The authors provide descriptive statistics and summarize and present the data clearly. However, the general information in these chapters seems best suited for undergraduate readers. The exception to this is the last chapter, titled “Preparation to Undergo Medical Procedures.” Risk and resiliency factors are reviewed, and the authors discuss several hospital preparation programs and review studies that evaluate their effectiveness. The section on “Risk and Resiliency Factors” should be particularly valuable for child health practitioners, providing some guidance on which cases are most in need of preventative interventions. The second section focuses on intense, painful medical procedures. This section should be of interest to child health professionals because it references several tools for assessing child distress and several treatment packages. Section 5 highlights vital issues in the lives of children and adolescents. There is a wide variety of issues included in this section–reactions to stress and trauma (coping styles, posttraumatic stress disorder), mental retardation, sui-cidality, and legal and ethical issues. The chapters all provide good, thorough overviews of their respective fields. In summary, this book is valuable in that it provides a current summary of research relevant for those of us who work in pediatric settings. It is relevant in that it provides another perspective on children's health, highlighting behavioral assessment and social influences. However, the information in this book may be too general for most practitioners. It lacks detailed information on diseases, neurology, and cognitive and developmental issues. It is encouraging to think that psychologists from different disciplines are trying to find an interdisciplinary voice to discuss child and adolescent psychological issues. This book does not provide the integrating framework to do this, but it does contribute to one major segment of the framework. WENDY PACKMAN, J.D., PH.D. Division of Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics CHAYA RIVKA MAYERSON, PSY.D. Division of Adolescent Medicine University of California, San Francisco San Francisco, California