ASWB Masters Assessment 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A social worker uses the PHQ-9 with a new client. A score of 15 indicates:
- Minimal depression
- Mild depression
- Moderately severe depression (Correct answer)
- Severe depression
Correct answer: Moderately severe depression
On the PHQ-9, a score of 15–19 indicates moderately severe depression, prompting active treatment planning.
Question 2: A client presents with impulsivity, unstable relationships, chronic feelings of emptiness, and fear of abandonment. These features are MOST consistent with which personality disorder?
- Narcissistic personality disorder
- Histrionic personality disorder
- Antisocial personality disorder
- Borderline personality disorder (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder is characterized by instability in relationships, self-image, and affect, along with marked impulsivity and fear of abandonment.
Question 3: During an assessment, a client reports drinking alcohol to 'calm nerves.' This statement MOST likely indicates a need to assess for:
- Antisocial personality disorder
- Co-occurring anxiety and alcohol use disorder (Correct answer)
- Trauma and stressor-related disorder only
- Somatic symptom disorder
Correct answer: Co-occurring anxiety and alcohol use disorder
Using alcohol to manage anxiety suggests potential co-occurring anxiety and alcohol use disorders, which commonly present together.
Question 4: A social worker is assessing a veteran who served in combat. The client reports nightmares, hypervigilance, avoidance of crowded spaces, and emotional numbing for the past two months. The MOST likely diagnosis to explore is:
- Acute stress disorder
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (Correct answer)
- Adjustment disorder
Correct answer: Post-traumatic stress disorder
PTSD is characterized by intrusion, avoidance, negative alterations in cognition/mood, and hyperarousal lasting more than one month following trauma.
Question 5: Which of the following assessment findings would MOST warrant an immediate safety intervention?
- A client expressing hopelessness about their job search
- A client with a specific plan, means, and timeline to end their life (Correct answer)
- A client reporting passive thoughts of death without intent
- A client disclosing a previous suicide attempt five years ago
Correct answer: A client with a specific plan, means, and timeline to end their life
A specific plan, available means, and stated timeline represent imminent suicide risk requiring immediate intervention.
Question 6: A social worker documents that a client is 'oriented x3.' This means the client correctly identified:
- Their name, address, and date of birth
- Person, place, and time (Correct answer)
- Current mood, affect, and thought content
- Immediate, recent, and remote memory
Correct answer: Person, place, and time
Being oriented x3 means the client accurately identifies person, place, and time during the mental status examination.
Question 7: In social work assessment, 'presenting problem' refers to:
- The clinician's formulation of the client's underlying pathology
- The client's primary reason for seeking services in their own words (Correct answer)
- The most severe diagnosis identified during intake
- The problem identified as most urgent by the treatment team
Correct answer: The client's primary reason for seeking services in their own words
The presenting problem is the client's own stated reason for seeking help, forming the starting point of the assessment.
ASWB Masters Assessment 4
A social worker uses the PHQ-9 with a new client.
A score of 15 indicates: