Prevention/Treatment of Health Issue
What is the difference between prevention and treatment?
Prevention is an action taken to stop a health problem, such as obesity, before it starts.
Treatment is an intervention used to help people who already have a health problem, like obesity, to manage and/or reduce it.
Ellis's REBT therapy is based on what cognitive model?
Ellis’s ABCDE model
Who developed Cognitive dissonance Theory?
Leon Festinger (1957)
What is neurotransmission?
This process occurs when a neurotransmitter binds to receptor sites on the next neuron (post-synaptic neuron), allowing a signal to continue through the nervous system.
What are the 5 distinct spheres of McLeory's approach to health promotion?
1. individual
2. interpersonal
3. organisational
4. community
5. public policy
What is the ultimate goal of REBT when treating depression, and how is it achieved?
The core goal is lasting change across three domains — cognitive, emotional, and behavioural.
This is achieved by uncovering irrational beliefs, actively disputing irrational beliefs and teaching them to replace them with more rational, flexible alternatives.
This is so that change is not just temporary relief but a durable shift in how a person thinks and feels
What is cognitive dissonance theory?
We feel psychological discomfort (dissonance) when we hold two conflicting thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, or when our behaviour clashes with our beliefs
This discomfort motivates us to reduce the inconsistency—usually by changing our thoughts, justifying our behaviour, or adjusting our beliefs.
How is diet related to depression?
Reduced rates of anxiety and depression in participants who have high-tryptophan in their diet.
Serotonin is made from amino acids like tryptophan. Tryptophan is found in many whole foods (high in Mediterranean diets)
Highly processed foods have fewer amino acids and low tryptophan (e.g., SAD diet = Standard American diet)
Provide an overview of the results of Teran-Garcia et al (2023) study and provide a conclusion
context: Intervention was promoting healthier lifestyles through nutrition education, physical activity, and family wellness tailored to Hispanic cultural contexts.
Results: BMI of the intervention group was significantly lower than the control group, but only for the short-term. Children who completed the programme showed improvements in dietary habits (e.g., reduced intake of sugary drinks and increased fruit and vegetable consumption).
Conclusion: Health promotion campaigns that target children on an interpersonal level by working with families and a community level by providing group workshops, help address obesity concerns in the short-term.
Provide an overview of REBT session using the 5 stages of the model.
A – Activating event occurs - describe situation that triggered emotional distress.
B – Beliefs about event are irrational - therapist explores.
C – explores emotional and behavioural consequences/impact of the beliefs
D – Disputation of beliefs by challenging them using evidence, questioning, logic (reframing)
E – New thought/belief that is more rational and positive, leading to more positive emotions and behaviours.
When a person who values health continues to eat junk food, dissonance theory predicts they will do one of these three things to restore psychological consistency.
(1) change the behavior,
(2) change the belief/attitude, or
(3) add new justification or cognition to reduce the perceived conflict
Context: A meta-analysis analysing randomised trials on MDD patients, the study analysed symptom severity by comparing placebo and anti-depressant treatments.
Results: All drugs reduced depression symptoms when compared to a placebo, but only in a ‘small’ and ‘unimportant’ way.
Conclusion: The study supports the role of serotonin in depression to some extent, suggesting imbalances in serotonin may contribute to MDD.
The fact that placebos work to a certain extent too suggests that psychological and social factors possibly play a role too.
1. How does stress contribute to overeating?
2. and how can mindful-based eating help reduce overeating?
1. Stress response increases cortisol which stimulates appetite. This then shapes what types of food we choose (sweet, salty, high-fat foods).
These types of food can temporarily calm the brain in a stress response, but in the long-term, increases abdominal fat (this type of fat leaks into the blood > higher lipids > higher risk of disease)
2. becoming more aware of our physical and emotional states—hunger, fullness, boredom, stress—helps us respond to food more healthily.
Mindfulness also encourages slowing down and paying attention while eating, which may reduce unnecessary calorie intake.
According to REBT, what actually causes emotional distress in depression — and why is this distinction important?
REBT argues it is not the event itself (e.g., losing a job) but the beliefs one holds about that event (e.g., "This proves I am worthless") that cause emotional distress.
This is important because it shifts the focus of treatment from changing circumstances to changing thinking, which is far more within a person's control.
"I am a loyal, trustworthy friend" but cancels plans at the last minute — repeatedly — they may feel dissonance.
Explain how they can reduce this by:
1. changing their behaviour
2. changing belief
3. add a justification
To reduce it, they could:
Explain how SSRIs help reduce symptoms of depression at the synapse.
SSRIs reduce depressive symptoms by increasing the level of serotonin in the synaptic cleft.
They work by blocking the reuptake of serotonin into the presynaptic neuron, allowing more serotonin to remain in the synaptic cleft and bind to postsynaptic receptors, improving mood.
A student argues that governments should fund only prevention and cut spending on obesity treatment.
Using both sides of the prevention-versus-treatment debate, explain why this position is too simplistic.
While prevention is more cost-effective and addresses root causes,
treatment cannot be abandoned because some cases are unavoidable regardless of preventive efforts; individuals already living with obesity need personalised support; and ongoing advances in medical and psychological treatments are improving outcomes.
A balanced public health approach requires investment in both.
How can a researcher or clinician evaluate whether REBT has been effective in treating MDD? (measurement)
Effectiveness can be measured using pre- and post-intervention assessments
E.g., standardised tools like the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to track depressive symptoms, alongside measures of irrational beliefs, to determine whether both thinking patterns and mood have improved after treatment.
Explain how cognitive dissonance is relevant to the D stage of a REBT therapy session?
D stage = Dispute the irrational belief (using logic, evidence, Qs) - challenging irrational beliefs by pointing out inconsistencies and reflect on if the belief aligns with how they want to live
This could trigger cognitive dissonance—because the client would be holding the irrational belief and a rational alternative. The internal conflict creates motivation to resolve the discomfort.
e.g., irrational -"if i fail once, i'm a complete failure" vs. rational -"everyone fails sometimes, it doesn't define their worth".
A patient’s depression improves after taking a placebo. Explain why this challenges a purely biological explanation of depression.
Improvement with a placebo suggests that expectations, beliefs, and psychological factors can influence symptoms, meaning depression may not be caused only by biological factors.
Biologically reductionistic to say that the cause is only biological factor, ignoring psychological, cognitive, and social influences that may also contribute to depression.