Clinical Health Psychology Research Articles

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:The Pathology and Psychology of Cognition. Edited by Andrew Burton.Advances in Cognitive‐Behavioural Research and Therapy, vol. 1. Edited by Philip C. Kendall. London: Academic Press.The Cognitive Structures and Processes of Human Motivation and Personality. By Vernon Hamilton. Chichester: Wiley.Psychology: A Science in Conflict. By Howard H. Kendler.Human Inquiry: A Sourcebook of New Paradigm Research. Edited by Peter Reason & John Rowan. Chichester: Wiley.Handbook of Clinical Health Psychology. Edited by T. Millon, C. Green & R. Meagher.Behavioral Pediatrics: Research and Practice. Edited by Dennis C. Russo & James W. Varni.Pre‐school to School: A Behavioural Study. By N. Richman, J. Stevenson & P. J. Graham.Abnormal Offenders, Delinquency, and the Criminal Justice System. Edited by John Gunn & David P. Farrington.Criminal Behaviour: An Introduction to Criminology and the Penal System. By Herschel PrinsAphasia Therapy. Edited by Chris Code & D. J. Müller.Handbook of Psychiatry, vol. 3: Psychoses of Uncertain Aetiology. Edited by Lorna Wing & J. K. Wing.Single‐Case Research Designs: Methods for Clinical and Applied Settings. By A. E. Kazdin.The Practitioner's Guide to Psychoactive Drugs, 2nd ed. Edited by E. L. Bassuk, S. C. Schoonover & A. J. Gelenberg.Phobias. By Ross Mitchell.Developments in Social Skills Training. Edited by Sue Spence & Geoff Shepherd.

The subtractive expectancy placebo procedure: A measure of non-specific factors in behavioural interventions

Placebo procedures currently used in clinical psychology and health psychology are criticized on methodological and ethical grounds. The approach of adding expectation of therapeutic efficacy to an actually inert intervention (Additive Expectancy) is of dubious validity unless the inertness of the ‘treatment’ can be established, which is difficult if not impossible to do with behavioural methods. Withholding treatment from clients is a serious ethical problem. The Subtractive Expectancy Procedure, described in this paper, administers a known active treatment but leads the client to expect no therapeutic effect. This avoids both of the serious difficulties mentioned above, although problems of credibility and deception need to be dealt with in both procedures.

Clinical Health Psychology: Drawing Circles and Expanding Boundaries

Clinical Health Psychology: Drawing Circles and Expanding Boundaries