CBC Psychology of Obesity 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A counselor using motivational interviewing hears a patient say, 'I really want to be healthier for my kids, but I love food too much.' What is the most appropriate initial response?
- Reflect the ambivalence and explore the patient's own motivations for change (Correct answer)
- Warn the patient about the medical dangers of obesity
- Provide a strict meal plan to remove decision-making
- Tell the patient she must choose between food and her children
Correct answer: Reflect the ambivalence and explore the patient's own motivations for change
Motivational interviewing responds to ambivalence with reflective listening to elicit the patient's own change talk rather than confrontation or advice.
Question 2: Which finding is most consistent with the concept of weight stigma internalization?
- A patient applies negative societal stereotypes about weight to herself, worsening depression and disordered eating (Correct answer)
- A patient files a discrimination complaint against her employer
- A patient joins a body-positivity advocacy group
- A patient loses weight in response to a physician's advice
Correct answer: A patient applies negative societal stereotypes about weight to herself, worsening depression and disordered eating
Internalized weight bias means adopting society's anti-fat stereotypes toward oneself, which is linked to poorer mental health and eating outcomes.
Question 3: A patient who was denied a job promotion says the interviewer kept glancing at her body. Research suggests experiences of weight discrimination most often lead to which behavioral outcome?
- Increased eating and avoidance of exercise, promoting further weight gain (Correct answer)
- Immediate sustained weight loss through motivation
- No measurable effect on health behaviors
- Automatic improvement in self-esteem through resilience
Correct answer: Increased eating and avoidance of exercise, promoting further weight gain
Studies show weight discrimination paradoxically increases obesity risk by triggering stress eating and exercise avoidance rather than motivating weight loss.
Question 4: Which childhood experience shows the strongest documented association with adult obesity in the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) research?
- Cumulative exposure to abuse and household dysfunction (Correct answer)
- Attending multiple schools
- Being an only child
- Early bedtimes enforced by parents
Correct answer: Cumulative exposure to abuse and household dysfunction
The ACE studies found a dose-response relationship between cumulative childhood adversity and adult obesity risk.
Question 5: A patient says she eats when she is bored, lonely, or anxious rather than when physically hungry. The counselor's first skill-building target should be which of the following?
- Helping her differentiate emotional triggers from physiological hunger cues (Correct answer)
- Prescribing an 800-calorie liquid diet
- Recommending she avoid all social situations
- Teaching her to skip breakfast to reduce total intake
Correct answer: Helping her differentiate emotional triggers from physiological hunger cues
Interventions for emotional eating begin with building awareness that distinguishes emotional triggers from true hunger.
Question 6: In the dual-process model of eating behavior, obesogenic food choices are most often attributed to what imbalance?
- Strong automatic/impulsive reactions to food cues overriding weaker reflective self-control (Correct answer)
- Excessive reflective planning suppressing appetite
- Equal strength of both systems producing paralysis
- Complete absence of the impulsive system
Correct answer: Strong automatic/impulsive reactions to food cues overriding weaker reflective self-control
Dual-process theory holds that automatic impulsive responses to palatable food cues frequently overpower deliberate, goal-directed control.
Question 7: A patient reports that food is the only reliable source of pleasure in her life. Which counseling strategy directly addresses this pattern?
- Behavioral activation to build alternative rewarding activities (Correct answer)
- Complete elimination of all palatable foods
- Extended fasting protocols
- Discouraging all pleasurable activities to build discipline
Correct answer: Behavioral activation to build alternative rewarding activities
Behavioral activation expands the patient's repertoire of non-food rewards, reducing reliance on eating for pleasure.
CBC Psychology of Obesity 3
A counselor using motivational interviewing hears a patient say, 'I really want to be healthier for my kids, but I love food too much.' What is the most appropriate initial response?