A1 – Psychological Definition of Health and Ill Health, Addiction, and Stress Health and Ill Health
A1 – Psychological Definition of Hyealth and Ill Health, Addiction, and Stress
Health and Ill Health
Definitions and Characteristics:
Biomedical model:
Views health as the absence of disease or physical malfunction.Example: A doctor diagnoses hypertension — treatment focuses solely on lowering blood pressure through medication.
Evaluation:
✅ Strengths: Scientifically testable, objective, effective for acute illnesses.
❌ Limitations: Ignores psychological and social factors, e.g. stress or lifestyle choices.
Biopsychosocial model (Engel, 1977):
Health results from the interaction between biological (genes, hormones), psychological (beliefs, coping strategies), and social (support networks, culture) factors.Example: A person’s recovery from surgery depends on genetic resilience (bio), optimism (psych), and family support (social).
Evaluation:
✅ Holistic – considers multiple influences.
❌ Harder to test empirically due to complexity.
Health as a continuum:
Health and illness exist on a scale rather than a binary (healthy vs unhealthy).Example: A smoker with no disease yet may be mid-continuum; someone with cancer may be at the illness end.
Evaluation:
✅ Recognises fluctuation and subjective perception of health.
❌ Difficult to measure where individuals lie on the continuum.
Addiction
Definitions and Characteristics:
Behavioural addiction: Compulsive engagement in rewarding non-substance-related behaviour (e.g., gambling, gaming).
Physiological addiction: Physical dependence on a substance (e.g., nicotine, alcohol) leading to withdrawal when stopped.
Griffiths’ Six Components of Addiction (2005):
Salience: Activity dominates thinking/behaviour.
Example: A gambler constantly thinking about betting odds.
Tolerance: Needing increasing amounts for same effect.
Example: Smoker needing more cigarettes to feel relaxed.
Withdrawal: Unpleasant symptoms when stopped.
Example: Anxiety and irritability when quitting alcohol.
Conflict: With self or others.
Example: Ignoring family to play online games.
Relapse: Returning to behaviour after abstinence.
Mood alteration: Emotional changes such as euphoria or escape from reality.
Evaluation:
✅ Useful for identifying behavioural vs substance addictions.
❌ Ignores social/cultural influences on addictive behaviour.
Stress
Definitions and Characteristics:
Stressor: Any event perceived as threatening or demanding.
Example: Exams, financial problems.
Psychological stress: Emotional strain from perceived inability to cope.
Coping and Perception: Stress depends on the person’s appraisal (Lazarus, 1993).
Example: One student sees an exam as a challenge; another as a threat.
Evaluation:
✅ Explains individual differences in stress response.
❌ Difficult to quantify “perceived” stress objectively.
A2 – Psychological Approaches to Health
Biological Influences
Genetic predisposition: Some individuals inherit vulnerability to addiction or illness.
Example: DRD2 gene linked to dopamine receptor sensitivity and addiction risk.
Neurotransmitter imbalances:
Example: Low serotonin → depression; dopamine surges → addiction.
Evaluation:
✅ Supported by twin studies.
❌ Reductionist – ignores environmental triggers.
Behaviourist Approach
Healthy/unhealthy behaviour explained by learning:
Positive reinforcement: Reward encourages repetition.
Example: Praise for going to the gym.
Negative reinforcement: Removal of unpleasant feeling encourages behaviour.
Example: Smoking to reduce stress.
Operant conditioning applications:
Health campaigns using incentives for quitting smoking.
Evaluation:
✅ Explains habit formation.
❌ Ignores internal cognitive processes.
Social Learning Approach (Bandura, 1977)
Observation and imitation of role models (parents, peers, media).
Example: Teen copies parents’ drinking habits; or influencer promotes healthy eating.
Vicarious reinforcement: Seeing others rewarded encourages imitation.
Evaluation:
✅ Explains social transmission of health behaviours.
❌ Fails to explain individual differences if same model observed.
Cognitive Approach
Behaviour influenced by thoughts, beliefs, and interpretations.
Example: Person drinks alcohol to “relieve stress” (self-medicating belief).
Cognitive dissonance: Discomfort from conflicting beliefs and actions (e.g., “I know smoking kills but I enjoy it”).
Professional biases: Doctors’ expectations affect diagnosis and treatment.
Evaluation:
✅ Useful in therapies like CBT for addiction.
❌ Overemphasises rational decision-making; emotions play a role too.
A3 – Theories of Stress, Behavioural and Physiological Addiction
Health Belief Model (Becker, 1974)
Behaviour depends on:
Perceived seriousness: How severe illness is believed to be.
Perceived susceptibility: Risk of experiencing illness.
Cost-benefit analysis: Pros and cons of changing behaviour.
Cues to action: Internal (symptoms) and external (adverts).
Example: A smoker quits after TV ad on lung cancer.
Evaluation:
✅ Useful for predicting preventive health actions.
❌ Does not consider habits or social influences.
Locus of Control (Rotter, 1966)
Internal locus: Belief that personal actions determine outcomes.
External locus: Belief that fate or others control outcomes.
Example: Internals more likely to diet successfully.
Evaluation:
✅ Predicts motivation for health behaviour.
❌ Cultural bias – Western emphasis on personal control.
Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1985)
Components:
Personal attitude
Subjective norms
Perceived behavioural control
Example: Teen decides to exercise because friends value fitness and they feel capable.
Evaluation:
✅ Strong predictor of intention.
❌ Intention ≠ behaviour (gap between planning and doing).
Self-Efficacy Theory (Bandura, 1977)
Belief in one’s ability to succeed in specific situations.
Sources:
Mastery experiences (past success)
Vicarious experiences (seeing others succeed)
Social persuasion (encouragement)
Emotional states (low anxiety → higher self-efficacy)
Example: Someone who successfully quits once is more likely to do so again.
Evaluation:
✅ Central in behaviour change programs.
❌ Doesn’t account for external barriers (e.g., cost of gym).
Transtheoretical Model (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983)
Stages:
Precontemplation
Contemplation
Preparation
Action
Maintenance
Example: Smoker progresses through stages when quitting.
Evaluation:
✅ Recognises change as gradual.
❌ Oversimplifies relapse and individual variation.
B1 – Stress
Causes of Stress
Life events: Big changes like divorce, bereavement (Holmes & Rahe, 1967).
Daily hassles: Minor irritations accumulate (Lazarus, 1984).
Workplace stress: Role conflict, low control, poor environment.
Example: Air traffic controller with high responsibility but low control.
Personality:
Type A (competitive, hostile) – higher stress risk.
Type B (relaxed) – lower risk.
Physiological Responses to Stress
GAS (Selye, 1936): Alarm → Resistance → Exhaustion.
SAM System (acute): Adrenaline from adrenal medulla – fight/flight.
HPA System (chronic): Cortisol release – prolonged stress.
Evaluation:
✅ Explains biological mechanisms.
❌ Gender bias – women may “tend and befriend” (Taylor, 2000).
❌ Fight or flight maladaptive in modern contexts.
Link to Physical Ill Health:
Short-term: Headaches, nausea.
Long-term: Heart disease, hypertension, stroke.
B2 – Physiological Addiction
Smoking
Biological approach:
Initiation: Genetic predisposition (dopamine reward pathways).
Maintenance: Nicotine regulates dopamine; tolerance develops.
Relapse: Withdrawal symptoms drive relapse.
Learning approach:
Initiation: Parental role models.
Maintenance: Negative reinforcement (stress relief).
Relapse: Conditioned cues (smell of smoke).
Evaluation:
✅ Biological + learning models complement each other.
❌ Ignores cognitive motivations (e.g., self-image).
Alcohol
Cognitive approach (Self-medication):
Initiation: Coping with stress.
Maintenance: Belief that alcohol manages anxiety.
Relapse: Increased stress when abstaining.
Learning approach (Operant conditioning):
Positive reinforcement: Relaxation, social acceptance.
Negative reinforcement: Relief from withdrawal.
Evaluation:
✅ Explains social and emotional aspects.
❌ Neglects genetic influences.
B3 – Non-Substance-Related Addiction
Gambling
Cognitive approach (Expectancy Theory):
Initiation: Cost-benefit analysis (“I might win big”).
Maintenance: Cognitive biases – illusion of control.
Relapse: Recall bias (remember wins, forget losses).
Learning approach:
Variable reinforcement – wins unpredictable but powerful.
Cue reactivity: Seeing betting adverts triggers relapse.
Evaluation:
✅ Explains persistence despite losses.
❌ Ignores emotional regulation motives.
Shopping
Learning approach:
Initiation: Role models and advertisements.
Maintenance: Positive reinforcement (pleasure, dopamine rush).
Relapse: Exposure to cues (sales, ads).
Cognitive approach (Self-medication):
Initiation: Coping with boredom or distress.
Maintenance: Anxiety reduction.
Relapse: Withdrawal boredom, guilt, or anxiety.
Evaluation:
✅ Explains emotional cycle of spending.
❌ Difficult to measure objectively; overlaps with OCD behaviour.
Approach | Strengths | Weaknesses | Best Explains |
|---|---|---|---|
Biological | Scientific, objective, effective treatments | Reductionist, deterministic | Smoking, alcohol |
Behaviourist | Explains habit and relapse, testable | Ignores thoughts/emotions | Smoking, gambling |
Social Learning | Explains initiation, media influence | Doesn’t explain persistence, ignores biology | All initial addiction onset |
Cognitive | Focus on beliefs, supports CBT | Hard to prove causation, ignores withdrawal | Gambling, shopping, alcohol relapse |
Smoking: Best explained by biological (nicotine, dopamine) and behaviourist (conditioning to cues) approaches.
Alcohol: Best explained by cognitive (self-medication) and biological (genetic vulnerability) models.
Gambling: Strongly explained by cognitive (biases) and behaviourist (variable reinforcement) theories.
Shopping: Explained by cognitive (coping with emotions) and social learning (role models, advertising).