NCE Crisis Intervention 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which factor is considered the single strongest predictor of a future suicide attempt?
- Diagnosis of major depressive disorder
- Family history of suicide
- A previous suicide attempt (Correct answer)
- Social isolation and withdrawal
Correct answer: A previous suicide attempt
A previous suicide attempt is the strongest individual predictor of future attempts and is weighted most heavily in lethality assessments.
Question 2: The SAD PERSONS scale is a clinical tool used to assess:
- Depression severity
- Anxiety symptom clusters
- Suicide risk (Correct answer)
- Trauma exposure history
Correct answer: Suicide risk
SAD PERSONS is a mnemonic-based suicide risk assessment tool evaluating factors such as sex, age, depression, previous attempt, ethanol abuse, rational thinking loss, social support, organized plan, no spouse, and sickness.
Question 3: When a client presents with a specific, lethal, and accessible plan for suicide, the counselor should:
- Schedule a follow-up appointment within one week
- Immediately contact law enforcement without informing the client
- Take immediate protective action including possible hospitalization (Correct answer)
- Notify family members without obtaining consent
Correct answer: Take immediate protective action including possible hospitalization
A specific, lethal, and accessible plan indicates high lethality requiring immediate protective intervention, which may include voluntary or involuntary hospitalization.
Question 4: Psychological First Aid (PFA) is designed primarily to:
- Replace traditional mental health treatment after disasters
- Reduce initial distress and promote adaptive functioning (Correct answer)
- Diagnose trauma disorders in the field immediately after an event
- Provide long-term therapy for trauma survivors
Correct answer: Reduce initial distress and promote adaptive functioning
PFA is an evidence-informed approach providing immediate, practical support to reduce acute distress and foster both short- and long-term adaptive functioning without formal diagnosis.
Question 5: Which of the following is NOT a core element of Psychological First Aid (PFA)?
- Ensuring safety and comfort
- Stabilization of acute distress
- Information gathering on needs and concerns
- Medication management and prescribing (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Medication management and prescribing
PFA focuses on safety, stabilization, information gathering, practical assistance, and connection to supports — medication management requires licensed medical personnel and is outside PFA's scope.
Question 6: The Tarasoff decision primarily established the counselor's duty to:
- Maintain absolute confidentiality under all circumstances
- Warn identifiable third parties threatened by a client (Correct answer)
- Hospitalize any client who expresses violent ideation
- Report all mental health crises to law enforcement
Correct answer: Warn identifiable third parties threatened by a client
Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California established the duty to warn, requiring mental health professionals to notify identifiable potential victims when a client poses a credible, serious threat.
Question 7: The Triage Assessment Model in crisis intervention categorizes individuals into which severity levels?
- Mild, moderate, and severe
- High, moderate, and low risk (Correct answer)
- Acute, subacute, and chronic
- Stable, unstable, and critical
Correct answer: High, moderate, and low risk
The Triage Assessment Model (Myer et al.) assesses affective, behavioral, and cognitive domains to classify crisis severity as high, moderate, or low risk.
