Personal Relationships

What role do relationships play in the individual's health and the functioning of families and communities? Recent research indicates that relationships are important not only to individuals' well-being, but also to families, whilst their importance in the functioning of communities is only beginning to be recognized and investigated in a systematic way. Each chapter is focused on a cutting-edge application of the personal relationships perspective relevant to clinical and community psychology. The book addresses such issues as the effect of close personal relationships on health outcomes, the impact of genetic testing, family relationships and major mental disorders, and social support dynamics in adjustment to disasters. Theoretical viewpoints and research findings, as well as intervention strategies, are presented on a variety of levels from individual to family to community. Personal Relationships: Implications for Clinical and Community Psychology is essential reading for researchers and scholars within the relationships field, students of clinical and community psychology, social work and psychological nursing.