Studying health through three approaches

• A context is explored through the three approaches — biological (brain chemistry, genes), cognitive (thoughts, appraisal) and sociocultural (environment, culture).
• The key concepts — especially causality, measurement and bias — frame how we judge the evidence.
• Much health evidence is correlational, so causal claims must be made cautiously.

Key idea: the biopsychosocial model treats health as the product of biological, psychological and social factors acting together.

Diagnosing mental health disorders

Clinicians classify disorders using the DSM-5-TR (American Psychiatric Association) and the ICD-11 (World Health Organization).

• The guide names examples such as major depressive disorder (MDD), eating disorders, PTSD, OCD and anxiety disorders.
• Reliability = different clinicians reach the same diagnosis; validity = the diagnosis reflects a real, distinct condition.
• Rosenhan (1973), "On being sane in insane places", raised doubts about diagnostic validity and the power of labels.

Concept — bias: diagnosis can carry cultural and gender bias, because ideas of "normal" behaviour vary between cultures.

Which is right?

Explaining depression — three approaches

• Biological: reduced serotonin activity and genetic vulnerability. Caspi et al. (2003) found the 5-HTT gene raised depression risk after stressful life events — a gene-environment interaction.
• Cognitive: Beck's negative cognitive triad — negative views of the self, world and future — and negative schemas maintain depression.
• Sociocultural: stressful life events and low social support raise risk (e.g. Brown & Harris's vulnerability factors).

Concept — causality: no single cause. A diathesis-stress view combines a vulnerability with a trigger.

Which is right?

Health problems: obesity, drug misuse, social media addiction

• Obesity: biological (genetics, appetite hormones such as leptin), cognitive (habits, self-regulation) and sociocultural (an obesogenic environment, food marketing) determinants.
• Drug misuse/addiction: the dopamine reward pathway is reinforced by drug-taking, interacting with learning and social context.
• Social media addiction: intermittent reinforcement and social comparison; evidence is growing but largely correlational.

Risk factors raise the likelihood of a problem; protective factors lower it — neither is deterministic.

Which is right?

Preventing and treating health problems

• Biological treatments: e.g. SSRIs increase the availability of serotonin for depression.
• Psychological treatments: e.g. CBT restructures unhelpful thoughts and behaviours; strong evidence for depression and anxiety.
• Prevention / health promotion: campaigns work best when a threat is paired with clear, achievable steps (self-efficacy).

Concept — measurement: effectiveness is judged with controlled trials and effect sizes, not testimonials.

Which is right?

Sort each idea to its approach

Tap an idea, then tap the approach it belongs to.

Thinking critically about health research

• Causality vs correlation: many health links (e.g. social-media use and mood) are correlational — a third variable or reverse causation may explain them.
• Bias: self-reported health behaviour suffers social desirability; diagnosis can carry cultural bias.
• Perspective & responsibility: prevention raises questions about individual vs societal responsibility for health.

Strong causal claims need experiments (e.g. randomised controlled trials of a treatment), not correlation alone.

Which is right?

Match each term to its description

Tap a term on the left, then its description on the right.

HL extension — culture, motivation and technology in health

At HL you extend each context by weighing the role of culture, motivation and technology.

• Culture: cultural norms shape how distress is expressed and which treatments are accepted; diagnosis must avoid an imposed etic.
• Motivation: the transtheoretical (stages of change) model explains readiness to change a health behaviour.
• Technology: apps and telehealth can widen access to treatment, but raise questions of engagement and evidence quality.

Which is right?

The big ideas to know

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