Clinical Assessment Flashcards
7 cards from real ASWB practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Clinical Assessment flashcards as text
A social worker is assessing attachment patterns in a young child using observational methods. Which behavior MOST strongly indicates a disorganized attachment pattern?
Answer: Approaching the caregiver with fearful or contradictory behaviors upon reunion
Disorganized attachment is characterized by contradictory, fearful, or disoriented behaviors toward the caregiver who is simultaneously the source of fear.
During a psychosocial assessment, a client reports that she began binge-eating and purging at age 15 but has used restriction alone for the past two years without bingeing. How should the social worker classify the current presentation?
Answer: Anorexia Nervosa, restricting type, with history of Bulimia Nervosa
If the client currently meets AN criteria through restriction only, the correct diagnosis is Anorexia Nervosa, Restricting Type, with past Bulimia Nervosa noted in the clinical history.
A social worker assessing a client for Borderline Personality Disorder should use which time frame for symptom evaluation?
Answer: A pervasive pattern present since early adulthood across multiple contexts
Personality disorder diagnoses require a pervasive, enduring pattern that began in adolescence or early adulthood and is not limited to mood episodes or situational reactions.
A social worker uses the PHQ-9 with a new client. A score of 15 indicates:
Answer: Moderately severe depression warranting active treatment planning
A PHQ-9 score of 15–19 indicates moderately severe depression, which typically warrants active treatment such as psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, or both.
A social worker is conducting a lethality assessment after a client discloses a plan to overdose on stockpiled medication. Which factor MOST increases imminent risk?
Answer: The client has access to the lethal means described in the plan
Access to the specific means in the plan dramatically increases imminent risk; means restriction is a first-line safety intervention precisely because access is a key risk amplifier.
A social worker assesses a client who reports believing that TV news anchors are sending coded messages specifically intended for him. This belief is BEST described as:
Answer: A delusion of reference
A delusion of reference is a fixed false belief that neutral external events carry a special, personal significance directed at the individual.
When a social worker documents that a client's affect was 'constricted,' this means:
Answer: The client's emotional expression was reduced in range but not entirely absent
Constricted affect refers to a narrowed range of emotional expression — less than the typical range but not the complete absence seen in flat affect.