Handbook of Physiological Research Methods in Health Psychology

The field of health psychology has exploded in the last decade due to progress identifying physiological mechanisms by which psychological, social, and behavioral factors can put people′s health and well-being at risk.

The Handbook of Physiological Research Methods in Health Psychology provides thorough, state-of-the-art, and user-friendly coverage of basic techniques for measurement of physiological variables in health psychology research. It is designed to serve as a primary reference source for researchers and students interested in expanding their research to consider a biopsychosocial approach. Chapters addressing key physiological measures have been written by international experts with an eye towards documenting essential information that must be considered in order to accurately and reliably measure biological samples. The book is not intended to be a lab manual of specific biomedical techniques, nor is it intended to provide extensive physiological or anatomical information. Rather, it takes the approach most useful for a non-specialist who seeks guidance on how and when to collect biological measures but who will have the actual samples assayed elsewhere.

The Handbook can be thought of as a primer or a gateway book for researchers new to the area of physiological measurement and for readers who would like to better understand the meaning of physiological measures they encounter in research reports.

Linda Luecken has considerable expertise in the field of Health Psychology and specifically on the use of physiological measures of stress and well-being.  She is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University.  She conducts research on the impact of early life experiences on the development of physiological stress responses and is an author on 20+ publications related to research in health psychology and the use of physiological measures including cortisol, catecholamines, and cardiovascular measures.  She won the 2001 New Investigator Award from the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research and is current director of the Health Psychology Alliance at Arizona State University.  She is active in Division 38 (Health Psychology) of the American Psychological Association and has received training at one of the top research universities in the field of Health Psychology, Duke University. Dr. Linda C. Gallo received her PhD in Clinical Psychology (Health Concentration) from the University of Utah in 1998. After completing an NIH postdoctoral fellowship in Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, she joined the faculty of San Diego State University and the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, where she is currently an Associate Professor and a Senior Core Investigator at the Center for Behavioral and Community Health Studies. Dr. Gallo’s research examines socioeconomic and ethnic disparities in cardiovascular and other chronic diseases, with a special focus on the roles that stress, emotional factors, and social relationships have in these disparities. Dr. Gallo has published more than 30 articles and chapters, appearing in such outlets as the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Health Psychology, Psychosomatic Medicine, Psychophysiology, and Psychological Bulletin. Her current research is funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.