Abstract
Health psychology is a new and developing topic within psychology with a growing and broadening focus and application. This chapter will look at health psychology and its intersection with sexuality and gender, offering current, contemporary, and critical theoretical aspects of the topic; explain and outline the main objectives of this field; and provide an overview of the theoretical approaches. Gender will be looked at both from a mainstream health psychology approach and from a critical, social constructionist view, showing how considerations of normative and non-normative gender identity have shaped our understanding of the importance of its intersection with health practice and promotion.
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Further reading
Clarke, V., Ellis, S. J., Peel, E., & Riggs, D. W. (2010). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer psychology: An introduction.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Clarke, V. & Peel, E. (Eds.). (2007). atOut in psychology: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer perspectives.New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
King, M., Semlyen, J., Tai, S. S., Killaspy, H., Osborn, D., Popelyuk D., & I. Nazareth. (2008). A systematic review of mental disorder, suicide, and deliberate self harm in lesbian, gay and bisexual people. BMC Psychiatry, 8(70), 1–17.
Lyons, A. C. & Chamberlain, K. (2006). Health psychology: A critical introduction.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Marks, D. F., Murray, M., Evans, B., & Estacio, E. V. (2011). Health psychology: Theory, research and practice.London: Sage.
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© 2015 Joanna Semlyen
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Semlyen, J. (2015). Health Psychology. In: Richards, C., Barker, M.J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the Psychology of Sexuality and Gender. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137345899_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137345899_18
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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