Originally published in 1985, this volume of Stress and Anxiety was number nine in the series first started in 1975. During this time stress research had continued to proliferate, and demands for practical solutions for stress-related problems had accelerated at an even faster pace. While much had been learned about the nature of stress and its impact on behavior, it was felt that dedicated multidisciplinary efforts by social, behavioral, and medical scientists would still be required to make further progress in this highly complex field.

Growing evidence of the effects of stress on such medical disorders as coronary heart disease had stimulated demands for stress reduction and stress management programs. There remained, however, a tremendous gap between the wide variety of programs designed to ameliorate the effects of stress and the knowledge base on which such programs must depend. In the US, stress had become a major growth industry, and there was an urgent need for stress modification efforts to be firmly based on a solid foundation of empirical research.

This volume is based on papers presented at two international conferences on Stress and Anxiety convened in 1980 at The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS), Wassenaar, The Netherlands. Today it can be read in its historical context.