Life Change, Personal Control and Disease

The article is concerned with a review of the role of psychological factors in health and disease, with special reference to the role of life stress, gender and marital status as important factors. Adverse states of hormone levels associated with risk of illness may be engendered by work environments where there is high stress and low levels of personal discretion. The process of worrying provides a method whereby the prolonged circulation of these hormone states occur. The possibility that combined stressors might act as mutual buffers because of the truncation of worry processes is considered. A risk model is proposed in which genetic factors combine with lifestyle and personality factors in influencing the risk of disease.