ASWB Clinical Assessment 3

Question 1

A social worker screens a 70-year-old client using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). What cognitive domains does this tool evaluate?

Accepted Answer

Multiple domains including visuospatial ability, executive function, memory, attention, and language

Answer

The MoCA screens across several cognitive domains and is sensitive to mild cognitive impairment, making it broader than orientation-only tools.

Question 2

During assessment, a client describes hearing a voice that commands her to harm herself. This symptom is BEST classified as:

Accepted Answer

A command auditory hallucination

Answer

Command auditory hallucinations involve perceived voices that instruct the individual to perform specific acts, representing a high-risk psychotic symptom.

Question 3

A social worker is assessing a client who reports excessive worry about multiple life domains for over a year, accompanied by muscle tension and sleep difficulty. The MOST likely diagnosis to explore is:

Accepted Answer

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Answer

Pervasive, uncontrollable worry across multiple domains lasting at least 6 months with physical symptoms like tension and insomnia is characteristic of GAD.

Question 4

When conducting a cultural formulation as part of a clinical assessment, which element is MOST important to explore?

Accepted Answer

The client's cultural identity and how culture shapes their understanding of the problem

Answer

The DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview centers on understanding how cultural identity, explanatory models, and cultural stressors shape the client's experience.

Question 5

A social worker notes that a client consistently shifts to unrelated topics before completing a thought, making the conversation hard to follow. This thought process is BEST described as:

Accepted Answer

Tangential thinking

Answer

Tangential thinking is characterized by responses that veer off to unrelated subjects, never returning to the original point, unlike circumstantial thinking which eventually returns.

ASWB - Association of Social Work Boards Practice Test

ASWB - Association of Social Work Boards Practice Test

ASWB Clinical Assessment 3