458 Health Psychology
The following 10 years witnessed a rapid growth of health
psychology both within and outside the EHPS. In the 1990s,
many European countries developed their own health
psychology groups and national societies, although there
are many asymmetries among European countries in prac-
tice orientation and research. The oldest national groups were
created in Ireland and England (Johnston, 1997). In 1986, in-
terest groups in health psychology were established at the
British Psychological Society and the Psychological Society
of Ireland (Weinman, 1998). Other countries that followed
this early expansion were the Netherlands, Germany, Poland,
Finland, and Norway. Currently, there are EHPS delegates in
27 European countries, including eastern Europe (McIntyre,
Maes, Weinman, Wrzesniewski, & Marks, 2000).
Comparable developments were taking place in Asia
under the leadership of Professor Hiroshi Motoaki of Tokyo’s
Waseda University. These included his seminal roles in the
establishment in 1988 of the Japanese Association of Health
Psychology and in 2000 of the Asian Congress of Health
Psychology. Matoaki was elected charter president of each of
these groups.
A major contribution of the EHPS to the scientific develop-
ment of health psychology in Europe has been the publication
of theJournal of Psychology and Health,the leading Euro-
pean journal in this field since 1986 when it was founded
under editor John Weinman. Other more recent journals have
also contributed to this field, including theJournal of Health
Psychology(founding editors: Andrew Steptoe & Jane War-
dle) andPsychology, Health & Medicine(founding editor:
Lorraine Sherr). Several national health psychology journals
have been created that publish health psychology articles in
the country’s language, such as theBritish Journal of Health
Psychology(United Kingdom),Gedrag & Gezondheid: Tijd-
schrift voor Psychologie en Gezondheid(the Netherlands),
Revista de Psicologia de la Salud(Spain), andZeitschrift für
Gesundheitspsychologie(Germany).
Although there are many commonalities between North
American and European health psychology, health psychol-
ogy in Europe is perhaps best characterized by its diversity
(Johnston, 1993). There is wide variation among European
countries in terms of expectation of life and patterns of dis-
ease, in health behaviors and risk behaviors, in health knowl-
edge, health beliefs and attitudes, and in service provision. As
Johnston points out, this diversity provides great potential for
science, as cross-cultural comparisons allow the testing of the
universality of psychological processes, constructs, and mod-
els. Europe thus provides a rich laboratory to undertake the
study of the impact of variation on different health processes,
such as health care provision. This asymmetry also carries
over to education, training, and practice in health psychology
in Europe. Based on the articles being published in the
JapaneseJournal of Health Psychologyduring its first dozen
years of existence, research and education in health psychol-
ogy in Japan appear quite similar to counterparts in the
United States.PROFESSIONAL PRACTICEIn 1984, Joseph D. Matarazzo applied to the state of Oregon
for the incorporation of the American Board of Health Psy-
chology (ABHP). His vision was that professional practice
within health psychology would soon mature sufficiently to
become a bonafide specialty worthy of board certification
from the American Board of Professional Psychology
(ABPP). The purpose of the ABHP was “(1) to define stan-
dards, conduct examinations, grant diplomas and encourage
the pursuit of excellence in the practice of Health Psychol-
ogy; (2) to serve the public welfare by preparing and furnish-
ing to proper persons and agencies lists of specialists who
have been awarded certificates” (ABHP By-laws, Section II).
In 1991, ABHP president Cynthia D. Belar and vice-
president Timothy B. Jeffrey presented a petition to ABPP
for recognition of clinical health psychology as a specialty
in professional psychology. In December of that year,
the first health psychology diplomate examinations were
held. In May 1993, after several years of fine-tuning and
monitoring, the ABPP formally admitted the ABHP into full
affiliation.
When the APA developed a formal mechanism for recog-
nition of specialties, health psychology was one of the first to
apply. Upon recommendation of the Commission on the
Recognition of Specialties and Proficiencies in Professional
Psychology, the APA Council of Representatives recognized
clinical health psychology as a specialty in professional prac-
tice in 1997. The term “clinical” had been added to the name
in this petition to avoid confusing the field and the public
about education and training standards for those preparing
for careers in practice versus those preparing for careers
solely in research. In general, health psychologists preparing
for careers in teaching and research alone were not interested
in the kinds of accreditation and credentialing processes
important to those preparing for careers in practice with the
public. Because ABPP recognized the specialty as health psy-
chology and the APA recognized it as clinical health psychol-
ogy, to maintain consistency in the profession, ABHP
changed its name in 1998 to the American Board of Clinical
Health Psychology.