IBPsychologyDPSLRevision NotesHealth PsychologyHealth ProblemsSummary Table: Key Studies of Health Problems

Summary Table: Key Studies of Health Problems (DP IB Psychology: SL): Revision Note

Syllabus Edition

First teaching 2017

Last exams 2026

Written by: Claire Neeson

Reviewed by: Raj Bonsor

Updated on 2 July 2026

Key Studies Summary of Health Problems

SUMMARY TABLE: KEY STUDIES HEALTH PROBLEMS
Topic	Two Key Studies
Explanations of Health Problems (stress) - Biological Use both of these studies to answer a question on the biological explanation for stress Use Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (1984) to answer a question on protective factors and health, as social support was a protective factor against exam stress	Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (1984) Fernald et al. (2008)
Explanations of Health Problems (stress) - Cognitive Use both of these studies to answer a question on the cognitive explanations for stress Use both of these studies to answer a question on risk factors and health	Gomes et al. (2013) Jamieson et al. (2011)
Explanations of Health Problems (stress) - Sociocultural Use both of these studies to answer a question on the sociocultural explanations for stress Use Cohen et al. (2014) to answer a question on protective factors and health	Brunet et al. (2013) Cohen et al. (2014)
Prevalence of Health Problems (smoking) Use both of these studies to answer a question on the prevalence rates of tobacco use and smoking	Valente et al. (2005) Strassman et al. (2022)

SUMMARY TABLE: KEY STUDIES HEALTH PROBLEMS

Topic

Two Key Studies

Explanations of Health Problems (stress) - Biological

Use both of these studies to answer a question on the biological explanation for stress
Use Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (1984) to answer a question on protective factors and health, as social support was a protective factor against exam stress

Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (1984)

Fernald et al. (2008)

Explanations of Health Problems (stress) - Cognitive

Use both of these studies to answer a question on the cognitive explanations for stress
Use both of these studies to answer a question on risk factors and health

Gomes et al. (2013)

Jamieson et al. (2011)

Explanations of Health Problems (stress) - Sociocultural

Use both of these studies to answer a question on the sociocultural explanations for stress
Use Cohen et al. (2014) to answer a question on protective factors and health

Brunet et al. (2013)

Cohen et al. (2014)

Prevalence of Health Problems (smoking)

Use both of these studies to answer a question on the prevalence rates of tobacco use and smoking

Valente et al. (2005)

Strassman et al. (2022)

How do I use these studies in an exam question on this topic?

IB students have a lot of content to cover (particularly students taking Psychology at Higher Level) so the purpose of this revision resource is to slim down and streamline the number of studies you need per topic/exam question
The exam question command term will be one of the following: ‘Evaluate’, ‘Discuss’, ‘Contrast’ or ‘To what extent’
Each command term requires you to answer the question in slightly different ways, using the content as shown in the summary table above i.e. specific studies per topic/question
In order to slim down the content you need to revise you can see above how some of the studies can be used for more than one potential exam question
Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (1984), Gomes et al. (2013), Jamieson et al. (2011) and Cohen et al. (2014) can be used to answer more than one potential exam question on Paper 2 content so you may decide to keep all of these studies and ‘throw away’ any studies which you find that you don’t need to revise
Remember that all Paper 2 questions are ERQs (Extended Response Questions) which are worth 22 marks, take an hour to write and need to be rich in critical thinking

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Summary Table: Key Studies of Health Problems (DP IB Psychology: SL): Revision Note

Key Studies Summary of Health Problems

How do I use these studies in an exam question on this topic?

Unlock more, it's free!

Join the 100,000+ Students that ❤️ Save My Exams

Author: Claire Neeson

Reviewer: Raj Bonsor