A Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine Methods Handbook With a Psychophysiological Focus

• Published in: Contemporary psychology Vol. 35; no. 11; pp. 1042 - 1044
• Main Author: Contrada, Richard J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.11.1990
• Subjects: Behavioral Medicine; Cardiovascular Disorders; Cardiovascular System; Health Care Psychology; Human; Methodology; Psychophysiology
• ISSN: 0010-7549
• DOI: 10.1037/030564

Reviews the book, Handbook of Research Methods in Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine edited by Neil Schneiderman, Stephen M. Weiss, and Peter G. Kaufmann (see record 1989-97852-000). The main focus is on a single, albeit major, brand of cardiovascular behavioral medicine: basic, human research on psychological variables that contribute to the etiology and pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease through direct, psychophysiological processes. Section I, covers cardiovascular measurement in the laboratory. Section II, covers biochemical and physiological measurement, including chapters on electrolytes, carbohydrate metabolism, receptors, neuropeptides, catecholamines, and other hormones that influence cardiovascular functioning. Section III, is concerned with ambulatory monitoring, that is, data collection in naturalistic settings. Section IV, covers laboratory tasks, procedures, and nonpsychometric subject variables. Section V, is concerned with psychological assessment. The final section, deals with research design and statistical matters. Despite a few minor oversights, the Handbook is a unique and valuable reference source. This volume promises to foster continued progress in a major subarea of cardiovascular behavioral medicine that has already produced significant advances in its relatively brief lifetime. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)