LPC Psychopathology and Diagnosis 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client insists she is physically ill despite repeated negative medical evaluations and becomes preoccupied with the idea she has cancer. DSM-5 would most likely diagnose her with:
- Illness Anxiety Disorder (Correct answer)
- Somatic Symptom Disorder
- Factitious Disorder
- Conversion Disorder
Correct answer: Illness Anxiety Disorder
Illness Anxiety Disorder involves high health anxiety with minimal or no somatic symptoms and preoccupation with having a serious disease.
Question 2: Which of the following is a primary feature of Avoidant Personality Disorder that distinguishes it from Social Anxiety Disorder?
- Fear of negative evaluation only in performance situations
- Pervasive pattern present since early adulthood across contexts (Correct answer)
- Avoidance of all public spaces
- Onset after a specific traumatic social event
Correct answer: Pervasive pattern present since early adulthood across contexts
Avoidant Personality Disorder reflects a pervasive, lifelong pattern of social inhibition and feelings of inadequacy, not limited to specific triggers.
Question 3: A child repeatedly moves into a new caregiver's home and immediately seeks excessive physical contact with the new adult. This pattern best describes:
- Reactive Attachment Disorder
- Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder (Correct answer)
- Separation Anxiety Disorder
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
Correct answer: Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder
Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder is characterized by culturally inappropriate, overly familiar behavior with unfamiliar adults.
Question 4: The DSM-5 dimensional approach to diagnosis differs from DSM-IV primarily by:
- Eliminating all categorical diagnoses
- Introducing a multiaxial system
- Recognizing symptom severity and specifiers across a continuum (Correct answer)
- Requiring biological markers for all diagnoses
Correct answer: Recognizing symptom severity and specifiers across a continuum
DSM-5 moved toward a dimensional approach by emphasizing symptom severity specifiers and cross-cutting measures alongside categorical diagnoses.
Question 5: Which specifier would be used for a client diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder who has experienced four or more mood episodes in the past 12 months?
- With mixed features
- With rapid cycling (Correct answer)
- With seasonal pattern
- With anxious distress
Correct answer: With rapid cycling
Rapid cycling specifier applies when a client has four or more distinct mood episodes (manic, hypomanic, or depressive) within a 12-month period.
Question 6: A client reports spending 5+ hours daily on gambling, has lost relationships and a job, and continues despite repeated attempts to stop. The DSM-5 classifies Gambling Disorder under which category?
- Impulse-Control Disorders
- Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders (Correct answer)
- Obsessive-Compulsive Related Disorders
- Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders
Correct answer: Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders
DSM-5 reclassified Gambling Disorder under Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders, recognizing its behavioral addiction profile.
Question 7: Which of the following is NOT a criterion for Conduct Disorder in DSM-5?
- Aggression to people and animals
- Destruction of property
- Deceitfulness or theft
- Repeated truancy beginning after age 16 (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Repeated truancy beginning after age 16
Conduct Disorder criteria include truancy beginning before age 13, not after age 16.
LPC Psychopathology and Diagnosis 3
A client insists she is physically ill despite repeated negative medical evaluations and becomes preoccupied with the idea she has cancer.
DSM-5 would most likely diagnose her with: