Mental and Physical Health: Predicting and Changing Behavior

This book presents a new approach to physical and mental health based on cognitive orientation (CO) theory-an approach that enables understanding, predicting and changing behaviors in different domains.The major tenet of the CO approach is that cognitive beliefs and theme-specific for the behavior or disorder-function as a motivational disposition for that behavior, thus enabling the prediction of its occurrence and a targeted intervention.This monograph presents the theory and methodology of CO with empirical examples in regard to health-affiliated behaviors (e.g., undergoing medical tests, taking medications), mental disorders (e.g. schizophrenia, depression, addiction, ADHD), physical disorders (e.g., cancer diseases, cardiological disorders, skin disorders), coping behaviors (e.g., resilience, post-traumatic growth), and interventions designed to reduce chances of disease recurrence and enhance quality of life.The objective of the book is to describe the contribution of the CO appr