Health and Illness in Close Relationships

The first book to give an integrated theoretical framework for understanding the complexities of health and illness in close relationships.

Ashley P. Duggan (Author)

9781108412643, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 29 October 2020

380 pages
23 x 15.3 x 2.5 cm, 0.6 kg

'The book is thorough in its definitions, descriptions, and explanations of all relevant factors … She presents an excellent overview of the topics from a multitude of relevant, academic areas of expertise; along with strong arguments as to how and why these areas need to be explored in conjunction with one another.' Maureen P. Keeley, Health Communication

Health and Illness in Close Relationships provides an integrated theoretical framework for understanding the complexities of health trajectories and relationship processes. It is the first volume to review and synthesize current empirical evidence and associated theoretical constructs from the literature on health and illness in close relationships across the social and behavioral sciences. In doing so, it provides a unique cross-disciplinary understanding of how health and illness redefine relationships. The volume also maps out an explanatory framework of how the pathways and processes of close relationships pose considerations for resilience and flourishing or, on the contrary, for relational and health decline. It will appeal to researchers and students across psychology, communication, and relationship studies, as well as to health professionals who are interested in understanding how health conditions can shape or be shaped by patients' close relationships.

Introduction
Part I. The Unique Context of Health and Illness in Close Relationships: 1. Defining health and illness
2. Close relationship processes
3. Attributes of the health and illness context for relationship processes
Part II. Health/Illness, the Body, and Relational Processes: 4. Relationships as buffering or exacerbating health/illness outcomes
5. Reconsidering embodiment and language for illness
6. Relationship theories applied to illness transitions
Part III. Integrated Theory of Health / Illness Trajectories and Relational Processes: 7. Theorizing close relationships and health/illness trajectories: co-created, co-generative, and systematic processes
8. Integrated co-generative, systematic processes and considerations for interdisciplinary understanding.

Subject Areas: Clinical psychology [MMJ], Medical sociology [MBS], Health psychology [MBNH9], Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Psychology [JM]