Expression of Concern: Eysenck, H. J. (1988). Personality, stress and cancer: Prediction and prophylaxis. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 61(1), 57–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8341.1988.tb02765.x

This expression of concern has been agreed following an examination of papers by Hans Eysenck that were published in British Psychological Society journals. This was undertaken by the Challenging Histories Group of the Society. Specific allegations have been raised since the 1990s about work that Eysenck carried out in collaboration with Ronald Grossarth-Maticek. An inquiry in 2019 by King's College London concluded that 26 articles co-authored by Eysenck and Grossarth-Matcek were ‘unsafe’. King's College did not examine publications based on the same research programme that were solely authored by Eysenck. One of these is the above article originally published in the British Journal of Medical Psychology (now Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice). This presents the results of observational studies and a randomised trial on the prediction and prophylaxis of cancer and other fatal diseases. The effect sizes of the findings, as pointed out in the King's College inquiry, are ‘incompatible with modern clinical science and the understanding of disease processes' (King's College London, 2019).

Accordingly, the Challenging Histories Group (2023) has decided to issue an Expression of Concern to readers. It has been published with the agreement of the journal Editors-in-Chief, the British Psychological Society and John Wiley & Sons, Limited.