ASWB Clinical Trivia 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A mandated reporter social worker suspects child abuse based on a child's disclosure. The social worker should:
- Investigate further before reporting to avoid false allegations
- Report to child protective services immediately (Correct answer)
- Consult with the child's parents first
- Document and review the case at next supervision
Correct answer: Report to child protective services immediately
Mandated reporters must report suspected abuse immediately without conducting their own investigation or waiting for confirmation.
Question 2: Which cognitive distortion involves believing that one small negative event will lead to total failure or catastrophe?
- Personalization
- Magnification/catastrophizing (Correct answer)
- Selective abstraction
- Arbitrary inference
Correct answer: Magnification/catastrophizing
Catastrophizing is the cognitive distortion of exaggerating the significance of a problem to predict an extreme, disastrous outcome.
Question 3: A client with a history of trauma becomes suddenly silent and appears detached during a session. This response is MOST consistent with:
- Malingering
- Dissociation (Correct answer)
- Psychosis
- Resistance
Correct answer: Dissociation
Dissociation during trauma processing is a common protective response where the client mentally detaches from distressing material.
Question 4: Which ethical principle requires social workers to respect clients' rights to make their own decisions?
- Nonmaleficence
- Beneficence
- Self-determination (Correct answer)
- Justice
Correct answer: Self-determination
Self-determination is the ethical principle that upholds individuals' rights to make their own choices about their lives.
Question 5: The psychiatric diagnosis that requires at least two weeks of depressed mood or loss of interest PLUS at least four additional symptoms is:
- Persistent depressive disorder
- Major depressive disorder (Correct answer)
- Adjustment disorder with depressed mood
- Cyclothymic disorder
Correct answer: Major depressive disorder
Major depressive disorder requires a two-week episode with five or more symptoms, including depressed mood or anhedonia.
Question 6: A social worker who discloses personal information to normalize a client's experience is using:
- Countertransference
- Self-disclosure (Correct answer)
- Confrontation
- Interpretation
Correct answer: Self-disclosure
Therapeutic self-disclosure involves the clinician intentionally sharing personal information to benefit the client's therapeutic process.
Question 7: In family systems theory, the term 'triangulation' refers to:
- Three-generational trauma patterns
- A third person being pulled into a two-person conflict to reduce tension (Correct answer)
- Mapping family relationships on a genogram
- A technique for joining with resistant family members
Correct answer: A third person being pulled into a two-person conflict to reduce tension
Triangulation occurs when a dyad under stress draws in a third party to manage anxiety and stabilize the relationship.
ASWB Clinical Trivia 3
A mandated reporter social worker suspects child abuse based on a child's disclosure.
The social worker should: