There has been little recognition within health psychology of the potential contribution of lifespan developmental psychology to inform our understanding of how adults conceptualise health and disease. This paper focuses on lay people's significations about causes and prevention of disease through adult life cycle. It is based on data from conducted investigation with 67 adults, representing the differing stages within the adult years (early adulthood, middle adulthood and old age). The data indicates that significations about causes and prevention of diseases differ according to the stage of life in which they are conceived. The consequences for health psychology, namely health education, are emphasized.
lay adult significations; health and disease; adult life cycle
