Health Psychology – Stress, Addiction & Behaviour Change
Health psychology explores how biological, psychological, and social factors influence health, stress, addiction, and behaviour change. This topic covers the impact of stress, models of addiction, and interventions to promote healthy behaviours. Whether you're studying AQA, OCR, Edexcel, or Eduqas, mastering AO1 (knowledge), AO2 (application), and AO3 (evaluation) in health psychology is key to exam success. Let’s break it down into key theories, studies, and exam-ready content.
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How to Navigate This Page:
We use the 👉 icon to highlight important insights:
👉 Exam Tips – Guidance on how topics appear in A-Level exams.
👉 Key Discoveries & Impacts – Groundbreaking findings that shaped psychology.
👉 Real-World Applications – How these concepts are used in everyday life.
👉 Critical Thinking Prompts – Questions to help you develop higher-order thinking.

Core Explanations – The Foundations of Health Psychology
1️⃣ Stress: The Psychological & Biological Response
Stress is the body’s response to perceived threats and can have short-term and long-term effects on health.
🔹 Biological Explanations of Stress
  • General Adaptation Syndrome (Selye, 1936) – The body undergoes three stages:
    1. Alarm – Immediate fight-or-flight response.
    2. Resistance – The body adapts but remains on high alert.
    3. Exhaustion – Prolonged stress leads to illness (e.g., heart disease).
  • Role of the Immune System – Chronic stress weakens the immune system, making people more vulnerable to infections.
👉 Exam Tip: Be prepared to evaluate biological vs. psychological explanations of stress.


2️⃣ Addiction: Why Do People Become Addicted?
Addiction occurs when a person compulsively engages in a behaviour despite negative consequences.
🔹 Biological Explanations of Addiction
  • Dopamine Hypothesis – Addictive behaviours activate the reward system, releasing dopamine.
  • Genetics – Twin studies suggest genetic vulnerability to addiction.
🔹 Cognitive Explanations of Addiction
  • Cognitive Biases – Addicts develop faulty thinking patterns, overestimating rewards and underestimating risks.
  • Expectancy Theory – People anticipate positive effects from addictive behaviour (e.g., relaxation from smoking).
👉 Exam Tip: Expect AO3 evaluation questions comparing biological vs. cognitive explanations of addiction.


​3️⃣ Behaviour Change: How Do People Overcome Unhealthy Habits?
​Health psychology helps explain why people struggle to adopt healthy behaviours and how interventions can help.
  • Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983) – Five stages:
    1. Precontemplation – No intention to change.
    2. Contemplation – Considering change.
    3. Preparation – Planning action.
    4. Action – Implementing change.
    5. Maintenance – Sustaining change.
  • Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) – Helps individuals identify and challenge negative thought patterns to change behaviour.
👉 Exam Tip: Expect evaluation questions on why some people relapse after behaviour change.

Mother of Invention – The Case of Smoking & Behaviour Change Models
Research into smoking cessation has provided insights into why behaviour change is difficult and which interventions work best.
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👉 Discovery: Behaviour change is not linear—people relapse multiple times before quitting successfully.
👉 Impact: Led to smoking cessation programs using CBT, nicotine replacement, and motivational interviewing.
👉 Exam Tip: Use smoking as a real-world example in AO2 questions on addiction and behaviour change.

Exam Relevance – How Education & Child Psychology Appears in A-Level Exams
Health psychology is assessed through AO1 (knowledge), AO2 (application), and AO3 (evaluation). Expect questions on stress, addiction, and behaviour change models.
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  • AO1 – Knowledge: Explain biological and cognitive explanations of stress and addiction.
  • AO2 – Application: Apply theories to real-world health issues like smoking, obesity, and stress management.
  • AO3 – Evaluation: Strengths (scientific research, real-world applications) vs. weaknesses (reductionism, individual differences).

📌 Past Exam Questions:
  • "Evaluate the biological explanations of addiction (16 marks)."
  • "Discuss how behaviour change models explain why people struggle to quit smoking (16 marks)."

​👉 Key to success: Always use research studies to back up your points.

Model Exam Question & Answer
Question: "Evaluate the biological explanation of stress (16 marks)."

Model Answer Breakdown:

  • AO1 (Knowledge - 6 marks)
    • The biological explanation of stress focuses on hormonal responses and the nervous system.
    • Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) explains three stages of stress response.
    • Chronic stress weakens the immune system, increasing illness risk.
  • AO2 (Application - 4 marks)
    • Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (1984) found that medical students had weakened immune responses during exams due to stress.
    • Real-world application: Stress management techniques, like CBT and relaxation therapy.
  • AO3 (Evaluation - 6 marks)
    • Strength: Scientific support from hormone and immune system research.
    • Weakness: Reductionist – ignores cognitive and emotional factors in stress response.
    • Real-world application: Understanding stress improves workplace policies and mental health treatment.

​👉 Exam Tip: High-mark answers always include research evidence & evaluation.

Key Studies & Research
Selye (1936) – General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) Model
  • Found that stress triggers a biological response with three stages: alarm, resistance, exhaustion.
  • AO3: Explains long-term health effects, but does not account for individual differences in stress response.

Griffiths (1994) – Cognitive Biases in Gambling Addiction
  • Found that gamblers overestimate their control over outcomes.
  • AO3: Supports cognitive explanations, but lacks biological evidence.

Prochaska & DiClemente (1983) – Stages of Change Model
  • Found that behaviour change occurs in stages rather than suddenly.
  • AO3: Useful in therapy, but does not explain why some people never change.

​👉 Exam Tip: Use studies as evidence for AO1 & AO3, linking them to health psychology topics.

Reflective Practice & Evaluation
✅ Strengths of Health Psychology:
  • Applies psychology to real-world health issues like addiction, stress, and mental well-being.
  • Develops effective interventions (e.g., CBT for addiction, stress management techniques).

❌ Weaknesses of Health Psychology:
  • Reductionist explanations – Ignores social and environmental influences.
  • Behaviour change models lack predictive power – Cannot always explain why some people relapse.

👉 Critical Thinking Question: "Can psychology help people quit unhealthy habits, or is behaviour change mainly a matter of willpower?"

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