ASWB Bachelors Assessment 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client reports feeling worthless, sleeping 12 hours a day, and losing interest in hobbies for the past three weeks. Which standardized tool is MOST appropriate to assess depression severity?
- GAD-7
- PHQ-9 (Correct answer)
- CAGE
- MMSE
Correct answer: PHQ-9
The PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) is a validated, widely-used tool for screening and measuring the severity of depression symptoms.
Question 2: When assessing risk for domestic violence, a social worker should:
- Only ask about physical violence
- Assess for all forms including emotional, financial, and sexual abuse (Correct answer)
- Wait for the client to spontaneously disclose abuse
- Ask the partner to confirm the client's account
Correct answer: Assess for all forms including emotional, financial, and sexual abuse
Comprehensive domestic violence assessment must include all abuse types—physical, emotional, psychological, financial, and sexual—because clients may not identify non-physical abuse as abuse.
Question 3: A genogram is MOST useful in assessment for:
- Identifying community resources
- Mapping multigenerational family patterns and relationships (Correct answer)
- Assessing a client's daily functional abilities
- Screening for substance use disorders
Correct answer: Mapping multigenerational family patterns and relationships
A genogram is a pictorial representation of family relationships and history across generations, helping identify patterns such as mental illness, divorce, or trauma that may influence the current client.
Question 4: During a mental status examination, 'affect' refers to:
- The client's report of their emotional experience
- The observable expression of emotion during the interview (Correct answer)
- The client's long-term mood pattern
- The client's attitude toward treatment
Correct answer: The observable expression of emotion during the interview
Affect is the clinician-observed, outward expression of emotion (e.g., flat, blunted, labile), distinct from mood, which is the client's subjective internal emotional state.
Question 5: A social worker suspects a client may have an intellectual disability. Which domain of functioning is ESSENTIAL to assess per DSM-5 criteria?
- Sensory processing only
- Intellectual and adaptive functioning (Correct answer)
- Academic achievement exclusively
- Personality traits
Correct answer: Intellectual and adaptive functioning
DSM-5 requires deficits in both intellectual functioning (reasoning, problem-solving) and adaptive functioning (daily life skills) for an intellectual disability diagnosis.
Question 6: Which assessment question is MOST consistent with a solution-focused approach?
- When did your problems first begin?
- What has contributed most to your current struggles?
- What would your life look like if things were a little better? (Correct answer)
- How has your childhood affected your current relationships?
Correct answer: What would your life look like if things were a little better?
Solution-focused assessment uses future-oriented questions like the 'miracle question' to help clients envision desired outcomes and identify existing strengths.
Question 7: A social worker is assessing a child for potential neglect. Which finding would be MOST concerning?
- Child is shy with strangers
- Child is consistently hungry, poorly dressed, and frequently absent from school (Correct answer)
- Child prefers to play alone
- Child has occasional minor injuries from active play
Correct answer: Child is consistently hungry, poorly dressed, and frequently absent from school
Consistent hunger, inadequate clothing, and chronic school absences are classic indicators of neglect, reflecting unmet basic physical and educational needs.
ASWB Bachelors Assessment 3
A client reports feeling worthless, sleeping 12 hours a day, and losing interest in hobbies for the past three weeks.
Which standardized tool is MOST appropriate to assess depression severity?