Health and well-being: core idea

· Health and well-being = applied psychology context linking mental health, physical health, and subjective well-being.
· Mind–body interaction = mental and physical health influence each other; the syllabus treats strict separation as artificial.
· Holistic approach = explains health using interacting biological, cognitive, sociocultural, and environmental factors.
· Well-being is related to health but also distinct: it includes self-reported pleasantness, life satisfaction, and quality of life.
· Mental/physical health can be measured more objectively; well-being is more subjective, but still valid for the individual.

This diagram shows how biological, psychological, and social factors interact to influence health. It is useful for explaining why IB Psychology takes a holistic approach to health and well-being rather than separating mind and body. Use it when revising multi-factor explanations of disorders or health problems. Source

Mental health disorders: what you must study

· Students must understand one or more of: major depressive disorder, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorders, or anxiety disorders.
· For a chosen disorder, revise biological explanations: e.g. genetics, neurotransmission, brain function, hormones, or the diathesis-stress model.
· Revise cognitive models: how thoughts, schemas, beliefs, biases, or appraisal patterns help explain the disorder.
· Revise cultural differences: factors explaining differences in prevalence rates between cultures/populations.
· Revise cultural approaches to mental health: how cultures may differ in diagnosis, stigma, help-seeking, treatment, or interpretation of symptoms.
· Revise environmental factors: stressors, trauma, poverty, family environment, discrimination, social isolation, or life events.
· Strong exam answers should link explanations to evidence, concepts such as bias, causality, measurement, and perspective, and one named disorder.

This diagram shows the core CBT idea that thoughts, emotions, and behaviours influence one another. It is directly relevant to cognitive models of mental health disorders and psychological treatment. Use it to revise how maladaptive thinking patterns can maintain symptoms. Source

Health problems: what you must study

· Students must understand one or more of: obesity, substance misuse or abuse, or social media addiction.
· Revise prevalence of health problems: why rates may change over time in one population.
· Revise differences in prevalence: why one health problem may be more common in some populations than others.
· Key factors may include stress, social norms, media exposure, technology use, poverty, access to healthcare, culture, or environmental pressures.
· Revise social learning and health: how observation, imitation, modelling, reinforcement, and perceived norms can explain a health problem.
· Revise stress and health: how stress can contribute to, maintain, or worsen a health problem.
· Strong exam answers should avoid single-cause explanations and show interaction between individual and contextual factors.

This diagram shows the reciprocal relationship between personal factors, behaviour, and environment. It is useful for explaining social learning in health problems such as substance misuse, obesity, or social media addiction. It helps students show that behaviour is shaped by both modelling and context. Source

Prevention and treatment: what you must study

· Students must understand prevention and treatment in relation to the chosen disorder(s) and chosen health problem(s).
· Biological treatment for one disorder = explain and evaluate one or more biological treatments, such as medication or other biologically focused interventions.
· Psychological treatment for one disorder = explain and evaluate one or more psychological treatments, such as CBT or other therapy-based approaches.
· Prevention/treatment for one health problem = explain and evaluate one or more strategies targeting obesity, substance misuse/abuse, or social media addiction.
· Evaluation should focus on effectiveness, strengths, limitations, ethical issues, cultural sensitivity, and generalizability.
· For top marks, connect treatment to change: how the intervention aims to alter behaviour, thoughts, biological processes, or environmental conditions.
· Avoid describing treatment only; include why it should work, how effectiveness is measured, and what evidence would support it.

Stress and health

· Stress can be studied as a factor influencing one or more health problems.
· Stress may affect health through physiological pathways, cognitive appraisal, and coping behaviours.
· Stress can increase risk through behaviours such as overeating, substance use, sleep disruption, or excessive social media use.
· Exam answers should distinguish between correlation and causation when discussing stress and health.
· Strong answers should mention measurement issues, such as self-report stress scales, physiological measures, and individual differences in appraisal.

This diagram shows the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, a key biological pathway involved in stress responses. It can support explanations of how chronic stress may affect physical and mental health. Use it when connecting biological mechanisms to health problems or disorders. Source

Cultural differences and health

· Cultural differences may explain variation in mental health prevalence, diagnosis, stigma, symptom expression, and help-seeking.
· Prevalence rates can be affected by real differences in risk, but also by measurement, diagnostic criteria, access to services, and reporting bias.
· Cultural approaches to mental health may include different understandings of symptoms, causes, treatment, family roles, and community support.
· Top exam answers should avoid cultural stereotyping and explain emic and etic issues where relevant.
· Link culture to concepts: bias in diagnosis, measurement of symptoms, perspective in interpreting behaviour, and responsibility in avoiding stigma.

Research methods and class practicals for this topic

· Recommended class practical for health and well-being = interview: structured, semi-structured, or focus group.
· Possible topics: stress management, physical health habits, mindfulness perceptions, social media use and self-esteem, exercise habits and mood.
· Avoid sensitive or harmful topics for student interviews, such as personal mental health diagnosis, bullying, self-harm, or traumatic experiences.
· Ethical requirements include informed consent, right to withdraw, anonymity, confidentiality, protection from harm, and debriefing where needed.
· Practical write-up should briefly include aim, procedure, sampling technique, sample findings, and ethical considerations.
· For interviews, useful evaluation points include credibility, researcher bias, participant bias, demand characteristics, and transferability.

Exam focus: concepts to apply

· Bias: cultural bias, gender bias, researcher bias, participant bias, sampling bias, diagnostic bias, publication bias.
· Causality: avoid claiming one factor directly causes a disorder/health problem unless the evidence supports this; discuss interaction and complexity.
· Change: prevention and treatment aim to change health behaviour, symptoms, coping, thoughts, biological processes, or social/environmental conditions.
· Measurement: prevalence, diagnosis, symptoms, well-being, stress, and treatment effectiveness all require careful operationalization.
· Perspective: biological, cognitive, sociocultural, and holistic explanations can all explain health and well-being.
· Responsibility: psychologists must avoid harm, protect participants, reduce stigma, and communicate uncertainty in findings.

High-scoring evaluation points

· Strength of evidence: experimental evidence may support causality, while correlational evidence often shows association only.
· Reductionism vs holism: biological explanations may be precise but can ignore cognition, culture, or environment; holistic explanations are broader but harder to test.
· Culture and generalizability: findings from one population may not apply globally due to cultural norms, diagnosis, stigma, or healthcare access.
· Measurement validity: mental health and well-being often rely on self-report, clinical diagnosis, or indirect measures.
· Effectiveness of treatment: consider symptom reduction, relapse, adherence, side effects, accessibility, cultural fit, and long-term outcomes.
· Ethics: research and treatment must consider consent, confidentiality, stigma, vulnerable participants, and protection from harm.

Best exam strategy

· Choose a small set of examples and master them deeply: one disorder, one health problem, and two treatments/strategies.
· For each topic, prepare a mini essay plan with claim → evidence → explanation → evaluation → concept link.
· Use the syllabus wording in answers: biological explanations, cognitive models, cultural differences, environmental factors, prevalence, social learning, stress, prevention, treatment, and effectiveness.
· Do not list studies without linking them to the question; always explain how the evidence supports or challenges the argument.
· Aim for balanced answers that show interaction between biological, cognitive, sociocultural, and environmental factors.