BAPSY Abnormal Psychology and Diagnosis 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia) requires a depressed mood for most of the day, more days than not, for at least:
- 6 months
- 1 year
- 2 years (Correct answer)
- 5 years
Correct answer: 2 years
DSM-5 requires depressed mood for at least 2 years (1 year in children/adolescents) for a diagnosis of persistent depressive disorder.
Question 2: A client becomes extremely anxious when separated from home and worries excessively about harm befalling attachment figures. This is most consistent with:
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Separation anxiety disorder (Correct answer)
- Specific phobia
- Agoraphobia
Correct answer: Separation anxiety disorder
Separation anxiety disorder involves developmentally inappropriate and excessive fear or anxiety concerning separation from attachment figures and is now recognized in adults as well.
Question 3: Which of the following best describes 'la belle indifférence' as seen in some conversion disorder cases?
- Extreme distress about neurological symptoms
- Apparent lack of concern about serious neurological symptoms (Correct answer)
- Deliberate fabrication of symptoms for secondary gain
- Fear of having a serious disease
Correct answer: Apparent lack of concern about serious neurological symptoms
La belle indifférence is a notable lack of concern or indifference toward the nature or implications of one's neurological symptoms, occasionally seen in functional neurological symptom disorder.
Question 4: Which specifier is added to a bipolar diagnosis when the patient experiences four or more mood episodes within a 12-month period?
- With mixed features
- With rapid cycling (Correct answer)
- With seasonal pattern
- With psychotic features
Correct answer: With rapid cycling
The 'with rapid cycling' specifier is applied when a patient has four or more distinct mood episodes (manic, hypomanic, or major depressive) within a year.
Question 5: Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is best distinguished from conduct disorder by the fact that ODD:
- Involves more severe aggression toward others
- Does not involve violation of others' basic rights or societal norms (Correct answer)
- First appears only in adolescence
- Always co-occurs with ADHD
Correct answer: Does not involve violation of others' basic rights or societal norms
While ODD involves hostile and defiant behavior, it does not involve the serious violations of others' rights or major societal rules that characterize conduct disorder.
Question 6: The 'two-factor theory' of avoidance learning, most associated with Mowrer, explains phobia maintenance through:
- Observational learning and reinforcement schedules
- Classical conditioning followed by operant conditioning (negative reinforcement) (Correct answer)
- Cognitive distortions and safety behaviors
- Genetic vulnerability and environmental triggers
Correct answer: Classical conditioning followed by operant conditioning (negative reinforcement)
Mowrer proposed that fear is first acquired through classical conditioning, then maintained because avoidance behavior is negatively reinforced by the reduction of anxiety.
Question 7: Which neurotransmitter system is most implicated in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder?
- Dopamine
- Serotonin (Correct answer)
- GABA
- Acetylcholine
Correct answer: Serotonin
Research consistently implicates serotonin dysregulation in OCD, supported by the effectiveness of SSRIs and clomipramine (a serotonergic tricyclic) as primary pharmacological treatments.
BAPSY Abnormal Psychology and Diagnosis 3
Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia) requires a depressed mood for most of the day, more days than not, for at least: