Not just your regular textbook, this unique book uses popular culture as a teaching tool by taking the work of Stephen King, to illustrate concepts that are essential to health psychology. The book uses his story telling and character development to illustrate the science of how psychology “gets under the skin” to impact physical health.
Not just your regular textbook, this unique book uses popular culture as a teaching tool by taking the work of Stephen King, America’s top horror writer, to illustrate concepts that are essential to health psychology. The book uses his story telling and character development to illustrate the science of how psychology “gets under the skin” to impact physical health. It examines the history of health psychology and the biopsychosocial perspective, the biology of stress and emotion, the science of behavior change, structural (social) influences on health, personality and sleep science, the role of psychology in disease, and the evidence of the mind-body connection.
The book provides definitions of many health psychology concepts and uses the works of Stephen King to couch them in an easy-to-understand context. The intrinsic enjoyment of relating to a popular fiction writer is used to present the most recent research in the field, including work in the neuroscience of health psychology and the science of intervention. From explorations of the placebo and nocebo effects in Holly and Thinner, to the social ecological impacts on health in The Running Man and the power of adverse childhood experiences in The Body, this book provides a wide-reaching overview of health psychology that can provide context for psychology students, as well as student engagement opportunities.
Accompanied by supplementary teaching materials, this is engaging reading designed to motivate undergraduate health psychology students and educators. It is also intended for King’s Constant Readers – those who can’t get enough of the world of Stephen King.
Preface Acknowledgements List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
Chapter 1:
Getting Under Your Skin: A Shining Introduction
Chapter 2: Beginnings: The
History of Health Psychology and Stephen King
Chapter 3: Measuring Your Fear:
Research Methods in Health Psychology
Chapter 4: Believing the Unbelievable:
Placebos and Voodoo Curses
Chapter 5: Character Development: The Health
Psychology of Bill Hodges
Chapter 6: Plot Development: The Bigger Picture of
Health Influence
Chapter 7: ACEs and The Body: Early Life Experiences and
Health
Chapter 8: Take a Ride with Captain Trips: Psychoneuroimmunology
Chapter 9: The Nightmare of Insomnia: The Importance of Sleep
Chapter 10: The
Horror of Behavior Change
Chapter 11: Done Is Done: Where We Are and Where We
Go
Crista Crittenden, PhD, MPH, LSW, is currently a special faculty in Psychology with a joint position at both Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. She teaches a wide range of courses, from introductory cognitive psychology lectures to upper-level clinical and health psychology seminars. She is also a licensed social worker who provides supervised pro bono therapy, focusing on cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodynamic psychotherapy. She received her undergraduate degree in Brain and Cognitive Science at the University of Rochester, her masters in public health at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in Dentistry, her PhD in Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University, and her masters in social work from the University of Pittsburgh.
