Environmental Factors & Life Events
Environmental Factors
The environment in which a person lives, works, and spends their time has a direct effect on their health and wellbeing. Environmental factors include housing conditions, the home environment, and exposure to different types of pollution. Unlike lifestyle factors, individuals may have limited control over their environment — especially if they are affected by poverty or live in a deprived area.
Housing
The specification identifies three aspects of housing: housing needs, housing conditions, and housing location.
Housing needs relate to whether a home is suitable for the people living in it. An elderly person needs a home without stairs or with a stairlift. A family with young children needs enough bedrooms and a safe outdoor space. Overcrowding occurs when there are too many people for the size of the property, leading to stress, lack of privacy, poor sleep, and increased spread of infections.
Housing conditions refer to the state of the property itself. Damp, cold, and poorly maintained homes increase the risk of respiratory conditions like asthma, cause joint pain, and create an unpleasant living environment. Mould growth in damp homes can trigger allergies and breathing problems. Poor housing conditions are strongly linked to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem because the individual feels they have no control over their living situation.
Poor housing conditions (damp, cold, overcrowding) negatively affect physical health (respiratory problems, infections), emotional wellbeing (stress, anxiety, low self-esteem), and social wellbeing (embarrassment about inviting people home, lack of private space).
Housing location affects access to services, employment, education, and social opportunities. Living in a rural area may mean long distances to hospitals, shops, and schools, leading to social isolation. Living in an area with high crime rates can cause fear and anxiety. Conversely, living in a safe neighbourhood with good transport links, parks, and community facilities supports positive health and wellbeing.
Home Environment
The home environment refers to the atmosphere within the home — not just the physical building but the relationships, routines, and emotional climate. A warm, clean, safe, and loving home environment supports positive development across all PIES areas. A chaotic, dirty, unsafe, or hostile home environment has the opposite effect.
For example, a child growing up in a home where there is domestic violence will experience fear, anxiety, and insecurity (emotional), difficulty concentrating at school (intellectual), potential physical harm (physical), and difficulty forming healthy relationships (social). The home environment is particularly important for children and young people, as it shapes their development during critical life stages.
Exposure to Pollution
The specification identifies three types of pollution that affect health and wellbeing.
Air pollution: Caused by traffic fumes, industrial emissions, and burning fossil fuels. It worsens respiratory conditions like asthma and COPD, increases the risk of lung cancer and cardiovascular disease, and can cause headaches and fatigue. People living near busy roads or in cities are most affected.
Noise pollution: Caused by traffic, construction, aircraft, and loud neighbours. Prolonged exposure to noise can cause hearing damage, sleep disturbance, increased stress and anxiety, difficulty concentrating, raised blood pressure, and irritability. It particularly affects emotional and intellectual wellbeing.
Light pollution: Caused by excessive artificial lighting from street lights, buildings, and screens. It disrupts sleep patterns by interfering with the body’s natural circadian rhythm (sleep-wake cycle). Poor sleep leads to fatigue, reduced concentration, weakened immunity, and increased stress. Screen use before bed is a common cause of light pollution affecting young people.
Life Events
A life event is a significant event or change that affects a person’s development. Life events can be expected (planned, like retirement) or unexpected (unplanned, like an accident). The specification groups life events into three categories and requires you to understand how they impact PIES development.
Life events are grouped into three categories: physical events (accident/injury, physical illness, mental and emotional health), relationship changes (marriage, divorce, parenthood, bereavement), and life circumstances (moving house/school/job, redundancy, imprisonment, retirement).
Physical Events
Accident or injury can cause pain, disability, and loss of independence (physical), difficulty concentrating or returning to work or education (intellectual), fear, frustration, and anxiety about recovery (emotional), and social isolation if mobility is reduced (social). Physical illness has similar effects — a serious diagnosis like cancer affects every area of PIES. Mental and emotional health events such as developing depression or experiencing a breakdown affect the ability to function in daily life, maintain relationships, and engage with education or work.
Relationship Changes
Marriage or civil partnership can positively affect wellbeing by providing emotional security, companionship, and shared financial resources. However, it can also bring stress if the relationship is difficult. Divorce or separation can cause grief, loss of income, disruption to children’s lives, loss of shared friendships, and reduced self-esteem. Parenthood brings joy and purpose but also exhaustion, financial pressure, and reduced social life. Bereavement — the death of a loved one — causes grief, loneliness, and can trigger depression. It affects all PIES areas and the impact can last months or years.
Moving house, school, or job can be exciting but also stressful — it disrupts routines, removes familiar social networks, and requires adaptation to new environments. Children who move schools frequently may struggle academically and socially. Exclusion from education removes access to learning, peer relationships, and routine. Redundancy causes loss of income, purpose, and social contact. Imprisonment separates the individual from family and community, causes stigma, and limits future employment. Retirement provides freedom from work pressure but can lead to loss of purpose, reduced social contact, and financial anxiety if income drops.
The impact of any life event depends on the individual’s resilience, the support available to them, and their personal circumstances. Two people experiencing the same life event may respond very differently.