This volume contains fifteen papers by invited participants delivered at
the NATO International Workshop on Coping and Health held March 26
through March 30, 1979, at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio study
and Conference Center, Bellagio, Italy. The editors of the book were
co-directors of the workshop as well as participants. The conference was
a small conference consisting of only 20 scientists and was designed to
be an intensive period of exchange of ideas dealing with a range of
topics varying from experimental models of coping through coping and its
psychosomatic implications. The exceptional beauty of the Bellagio Study
and Conference Center, the hospitality of the staff at the Conference
Center as well as the support of the administrative staff of the
Rockefeller Foundation, combined with the intensity and enthusiasm of
the participants made the conference a most memorable one for those who
attended it. A special thanks is in order for the help and assistance of
Dr. B. A. Bayraktar, Executive Officer of Human Factors Program,
Scientific Affairs Division, NATO, and Miss Susan Garfield, Program
Director of the Rockefeller Foundation. Needless to say, without their
participation and help at all points in the organization and planning of
this conference, the conference would not have occurred.