Self-Understanding and Emergence of Health Psychology

by Prof. Dr. Ralf Schwarzer

Definition of Terms

Health psychology has established itself as an integrative discipline within psychology over the past few decades, both internationally and in Germany. Its focus is particularly on behavior, cognition, emotion, and motivation in relation to health, illnesses, health risks and resources, preventive measures, and health promotion. In terms of application, there are overlaps with theories and derived interventions from educational psychology, clinical psychology, and behavioral medicine. A distinction from these other applied disciplines of psychology lies in the fact that health psychology primarily relies on psychological foundations, especially those from social psychology.

To clarify its boundaries and highlight the specifics of health psychology, the following briefly outlines its relationships with behavioral medicine and public health.

Behavioral medicine is characterized by its interdisciplinary approach, covering a broad field that includes the study of disease causes, prevention, and treatment, with treatment concepts often based on clinical behavioral therapy. Public health is generally defined as an interdisciplinary science and practice aimed at preventing diseases, prolonging life, and promoting mental and physical well-being through population-level measures.

This involves expertise from various fields such as epidemiology, sociology, social medicine, economics, health services research, health system research, political science, psychology, education, data science, anthropology, demography, and more.

In contrast to behavioral medicine and public health, health psychology positions itself as an independent field within psychology that specifically addresses the conditions leading to health disorders, risk factors as well as health promotion and resource development. Health psychology draws on insights from other psychological disciplines, primarily foundational disciplines, with a particular focus on protective factors for health.

Emergence of the Discipline

Health psychology has undergone its international development phase since the 1970s and has since become an established field. A significant milestone in Germany was the introduction of health psychology as an elective subject at Freie Universität Berlin in 1988, laying the groundwork for curricular development in Germany.

Establishment of Professional Societies and Journals

Within the American Psychological Association (APA), a Division of Health Psychology was founded in 1978, which today counts several thousand members. At many U.S. universities, health psychology has become a standard discipline integrated into departments of psychology and sometimes combined with other sub-disciplines (e.g., "Social and Health Psychology").

The International Association for Applied Psychology (IAAP) established its Health Psychology division in 1986.

Also in 1986, the European Health Psychology Society (EHPS) was founded.

The German Psychological Society (DGPs) established a division for health psychology in 1992. Its first conference took place in Berlin in 1993.

Since 1993, the "Journal of Health Psychology" has been published by Hogrefe Publishing; it was renamed "European Journal of Health Psychology" in 2017 and has used English as its publication language since then. Other English-language journals include “Health Psychology” (1982 onwards), “Psychology and Health” (1987 onwards), “The Health Psychologist” Newsletter (1994 onwards), “Journal of Health Psychology” (1996 onwards), “Journal of Occupational Health Psychology” (1996 onwards), “British Journal of Health Psychology” (1996 onwards), and “Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being” (2008 onwards).

Literature

Schwarzer, R. (1997). Gesundheitspsychologie: Ein Lehrbuch (2nd revised edition). Hogrefe.

Schwarzer, R. (2004). Psychologie des Gesundheitsverhaltens. Einführung in die Gesundheitspsychologie (3rd revised edition). Hogrefe.

Schwarzer, R. (2017, August 22-25). Geschichte der Gesundheitspsychologie [Keynote presentation]. 13th Congress of the Division of Health Psychology, Siegen, Germany.

Last updated October 2024.