Complementary Strengths of Health Psychology and Positive Psychology

This chapter describes areas of potential synergy between health psychology and positive psychology and the collective contributions these disciplines can provide for promoting health and well-being. It describes these two subfields of psychology and summarizes the relationship of common positive psychology constructs and health outcomes. It discusses two critical areas to the optimal growth of the field of positive health psychology: interventions that specifically target positive constructs and better measurement of positive outcomes. The chapter reviews the positive psychology interventions that have some evidence for efficacy in people coping with significant chronic conditions or illnesses. In addition, the chapter focuses on interventions that may be more appropriate for application within clinical health psychology settings. The science of health psychology and positive psychology holds significant promise for improving the lives of those affected by chronic illnesses and emerging research highlights the benefit of these subfields for enhancing adaptive health outcomes.