Reproductive Health Psychology (eBook)

Olga B.A. van den Akker is Professor of Health Psychology and head of Department at Middlesex University London. Since completing her BSc and PhD in Psychology, she carried out postdoctoral research at the Institute of Psychiatry and St. George's and St. Mary's hospitals London, and held senior academic posts at a number of other UK Universities. She currently carries out research into the health psychology of challenging reproductive behaviours.

"I thoroughly recommend this textbook to researchers in this field - as the author's hard work has made it a lot easier for the rest of us to grasp the evidence!" (Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 7 January 2013)

"It is difficult not to appreciate the extensive work that has gone into researching and compiling evidence for each chapter of this textbook to provide a concise, accessible and comprehensive overview. I thoroughly recommend this textbook to researchers in this field - as the author's hard work has made it a lot easier for the rest of us to grasp the evidence!" (Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 2012)

"...(this book) will be of considerable value to both undergraduate and post-graduate students who are studying reproductive health. However, its coverage and accessibility mean that it deserves to be widely read by anyone with an academic, professional or personal interest in human reproduction." (Bionews, November 2012)

"This wide-ranging and well-researched book goes well beyond the traditional confines of reproductive psychology. It expertly interweaves evidence on the biological, psychological, social and cultural factors that affect the reproductive development, behaviours, and decision-making of both women and men. As well as the expected chapters on sexual development, pregnancy and birth, and artificial reproduction, it addresses sex and gender development across the lifespan, from childhood to old age; parenthood; and reproductive issues for under-represented groups such as homosexual men and women, intersex individuals, and those who are childless by choice. The book will be a valuable reference for psychologists and sociologists, as well as midwives, gynaecologists and obstetricians, and indeed anyone with research or clinical interests that intersect with reproduction and with gender."
--Christina Lee, Professor of Health Psychology, University of Queensland

"This book provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to psychological aspects of reproductive health throughout the lifespan. Drawing on psychological theory and a wealth of empirical research, the importance of psychological factors in reproductive health is clearly demonstrated, conceptualised within a broadly bio-psycho-social model. The coverage of a broad range of topics, from foetal growth to menopause, including adolescence, menstruation, contraception, abortion, fertility, pregnancy and post-natal experience along the way, is a great strength. This book will become a key resource for health psychologists, nurses, and medical students who wish to understand psychological aspects of reproductive experience."
--Jane M Ussher, Professor of Women's Health Psychology, University of Western Sydney and Author of The Madness of Women: Myth and Experience