# Stress and health

> IB Psychology · IB Psychology 2027 First Assessment
> Source: https://www.owlsprep.com/study/ib-psychology-hwb-stress-and-health/

The role of stress in one or more health problems.

## Learning objectives

- The role of stress in one or more health problems.

## How often is this tested?

Based on OwlsPrep's analysis of official CIE IB_PSYCH P2 past papers (2019–2025): **Stress and health** appears **1 times** in the last 7 years — **0.3%** of all P2 questions (1 of 288).

Most-tested forms: Essay: Discuss (22 marks) (1).

*Small sample — indicative only.*

## Core concept

Stress is the body-and-mind response to demands that are appraised as exceeding one's resources, and it plays a role in many health problems. Chronic or acute stress can worsen problems directly — through the stress-hormone and serotonin systems and effects on the body — and indirectly, by pushing people toward coping behaviours like overeating or compulsive screen use. Because stress raises vulnerability rather than acting as a lone switch, its effect usually appears in interaction with a person's biology and environment. Much of the evidence is correlational, so 'stress causes X' should be stated with caution.

## Key studies

IB Psychology answers must be supported by named studies. Learn these to cite as evidence:

**Zhao and Zhou (2021)** — COVID-19-related stress correlated with increased social media addiction, particularly when active use produced 'flow' experiences. — *Anchors stress as a factor in a behavioural health problem (addiction), via a coping/flow pathway.*

**Wankerl et al. (2014)** — Prenatal stress and early-childhood trauma were associated with lower serotonin-transporter (SERT) gene expression — an epigenetic route to depression vulnerability. — *Anchors a biological pathway from stress to a mental-health outcome, showing stress can leave molecular traces.*

## Evaluation (AO3)

**Strength — one factor, plausible pathways** — Stress links to diverse outcomes through credible biological and behavioural routes, and points to concrete stress-management targets.

**Limitation — correlational and hard to define** — Most human evidence is correlational and stress is hard to operationalise, so cause and direction (does stress drive the problem, or the problem create stress?) are difficult to establish.

## Scope

> **note**
>
> This card is the role of stress in health problems. Stressful life events as an environmental explanation of depression are HWB_4; the stress-hormone chemistry is BIO_4; diathesis-stress is BIO_5.

## Common pitfalls

- **Wrong:** Treating 'stress' as a vague feeling that straightforwardly causes illness.
  - Why it fails: A frequently penalised misconception in IB Psychology exams.
  - Correct: Specify stress as an appraisal-plus-physiological process and treat the stress-to-health link as largely correlational and interactive, not a direct one-way cause.

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From [OwlsPrep](https://www.owlsprep.com) — free study guides for A-Level, IB, AP and IGCSE, written against the official syllabus. Canonical page: https://www.owlsprep.com/study/ib-psychology-hwb-stress-and-health/