Improving health and wellbeing is a global priority. The United Nations identifies it as a top sustainable development goal (SDG 3), and many countries have developed their own programs targeted at improving the health of their citizens. And we citizens clearly care, as witnessed by the expanding market for individuals telling us about the latest tricks to hack our brains, hack our health, or hack the secret to longevity—and selling us the means to do so.

Health is shaped not only by biology and medicine but by the complex interplay of relationships, environments, and experiences. These factors influence behaviors, stress responses, and decision-making in ways that some clinical models may overlook. Health psychology provides the tools to understand these dynamics and design interventions that promote lasting well-being. Here, we reflect on some of the work that Communications Psychology has had the pleasure to publish, demonstrating how an individual’s relationships, surroundings, and online experiences shape their feelings, behaviors and ultimately their health.

Social settings for mental health

Social relationships are fundamental to health and longevity. Persistent loneliness has been linked to poorer physical and mental health-related quality of life over time, highlighting its role as a chronic stressor1. Beyond individual experiences, relationships exert dynamic influences within families. For example, adolescents’ daily stress can spill over to parents, affecting cortisol levels, mood, and even physical symptoms indicating that well-being often depends not only on the individual but our connections with others2. These findings underscore the need for interventions that foster social support and resilience, not only for individuals but across family systems. Strengthening social relationships can play a critical role for health alongside traditional medical care.

Physical settings for healthy choices

Our environments can also shape health behaviors. Research on exposure to natural disasters in Japan and the Philippines has shown that disaster exposure is later followed by detrimental health decisions on the part of survivors, such as a present-bias in decision making and increased smoking and alcohol consumption3. Behavioral nudges embedded in environmental cues also matter. For instance, publicly displaying health-related information as ranges rather than fixed numbers improved adherence to safety guidelines such as speed limits and increased handwashing duration, illustrating how context can steer health-related behaviors4. By studying how physical and social environments interact with cognition and behavior, health psychology can expand our understanding of health and well-being beyond biological risk factors.

Digital spaces for health communication and intervention

Digital spaces are increasingly integral, and complex spaces in health psychology. Online support groups offer mixed outcomes: while they can enhance social well-being and adjustment for people with chronic conditions, they may also heighten anxiety and distress, with inconclusive effects on physical health5. Interestingly, advice patterns on platforms like Reddit reveal a bias toward additive solutions, even though subtractive strategies—doing less—are often judged more effective for mental health concerns. Strikingly, the same bias is displayed by generative AI6. Online platforms can also be sources of misinformation. Health psychology can help by studying which interventions can best curb its spread, such as through social corrections that have also been investigated in political and social psychology7,8. Health psychology helps us understand these digital dynamics by bridging the gap between technological innovation and human behavior.

Pseudoscience in the domain of health communication can pose its own health risk to consumers. Empirical research, not opinion or anecdote, must guide strategies for improving health and resilience. Health psychology plays its own distinct role, complementing work in public health and epidemiology which all scientifically address health concerns and inform evidence-based recommendations. Grounding health recommendations in psychological theory and data, it offers insights that allow us to move beyond quick fixes and toward solutions that truly enhance quality of life.

Communications Psychology is committed to fostering the science of health psychology, inviting observational and experimental studies that draw on psychological theory and frameworks to understand precursors and interventions that affect human health. Whether a study fits the scope of the journal, or would be better suited for publication in a more general public health journal, including our sister journal Communications Health, depends on the degree to which it is informed by psychological theory, and implements psychological predictors or health outcomes. Currently, we are extending an invitation especially for submissions on the topics of physical activity and mental health, stress and health, and digital media and mental health for inclusion in thematic Collections.

Credit: Benjavisa