BSW LSW Study Guide Exam Questions With Complete Answers.

2: A client reports that he has been having difficulties with concentration and decision making, feels worthless, and has frequent crying spells. He also reports feeling depressed on some days. The social worker asks the client a few questions to find out whether he has been experiencing any vegetative symptoms associated with depression. Asking the client about vegetative symptoms allows the social worker to explore for the presence of which of the following indicators of depression? Select one: A. Fatigue, social withdrawal, loss of interest in sex. B. Mental dullness or confusion, psychomotor retardation or agitation, hypersomnia or insomnia. C. Anhedonia, hypersomnia or insomnia, appetite changes. D. Hypersomnia or insomnia, appetite changes, psychomotor retardation. - correct answer D is correct: Vegetative symptoms include persistent problems with appetite, weight loss or weight gain, sleep difficulties, reduced energy levels, and changes in sexual desire or function. In the first interview, a client reports feeling unhappy and discouraged about his future, not eating well, and having difficulty falling asleep at night. He has stopped contacting friends and often misses work when he feels too upset to get out of bed. The social worker suspects that the client may be self-destructive. Given that this is the first interview, how should the social worker proceed with her assessment? Select one: A. Engage the client, gather information about the presenting problem, and observe his body language and facial expressions for nonverbal signs that he poses a danger to himself. B. Identify specific events and situations that have led to the client's distress and find ways to meet his immediate needs. C. Conduct a structured inquiry to collect information as a basis for determining an appropriate plan to protect the client from hurting himself. D. Encourage the client to enter a psychiatric - correct answer C is correct: Whenever you suspect that a client is at risk for suicide, you should address this immediately through the use of direct questions - e.g., "Have you ever thought about hurting yourself?" "Do you plan to hurt yourself?" When a client responds in the affirmative to these questions, the next step is to determine the level of risk for an imminent suicide attempt by asking additional questions to find out more about his suicide plan and whether he has acquired the means to carry out the plan; this information will tell you how far the client has proceeded in thinking about killing himself. The steps you then take to protect the client should be consistent with the level of risk currently posed by the client. The risk to life is highest when a client has both a lethal suicide plan and the means available to carry it out. Which of the following diagnoses cannot be given to an individual who is under the age of 18 years? Select one: A. Borderline personality disorder. B. Antisocial personality disorder. C. Dissociative identity disorder. D. Erectile disorder. - correct answer B is correct: Antisocial personality disorder is one of the few diagnoses which, by definition, cannot be given to a person who is younger than age 18. A minor who displays characteristic signs of antisocial personality disorder would receive a diagnosis of conduct disorder. A client is taking medication to control the symptoms of a mental disorder. Because of the potential side-effect of a serious blood disorder, she is required to have a blood test every week. The client is MOST likely taking which of the following medications? Select one: A. Clozaril. B. Chlorpromazine. C. Clonazepam. D. Celexa. - correct answer A is correct: The atypical (second-generation) antipsychotic clozapine (Clozaril) was introduced in the United States in 1990. In clinical trials, this medication was found to be more effective than conventional (first-generation) antipsychotic medications in individuals with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (schizophrenia that had not responded to other drugs) and the risk of tardive dyskinesia was lower. However, because of the potential side-effect of a serious blood disorder - agranulocytosis (loss of the white blood cells that fight infection) - individuals who are on clozapine must have a blood test every one or two weeks. From the perspective of operant conditioning theory, which of the following statements is the BEST illustration of negative reinforcement? Select one: A. Eat your peas and you can watch television. B. If you do the crime, you must pay the fine. C. If you study hard, you will pass the test. D. If you take out the garbage, I will stop yelling at you. - correct answer D is correct: By definition, reinforcement increases the behavior that it follows. Negative reinforcement involves removing a stimulus (in this case, yelling) in order to increase the frequency of a response (in this case, taking out the garbage). The client is a 24-year-old woman who gave birth to a premature boy four months ago. She reports getting little prenatal care while pregnant with her son and smoking cigarettes during her pregnancy. Her son weighed about 4 pounds when he was born and had fairly low Apgar scores. He remained in the hospital for two months but now lives at home with the client and her boyfriend. The client is feeling anxious about motherhood because her first child, who was fussy but seemed healthy, died at age 5 months. This information suggests that the new baby is MOST at risk for which of the following? Select one: A. Nonorganic failure to thrive. B. Colic. C. SIDS. D. Down syndrome. - correct answer C is correct: Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) refers to the unexpected death of an infant for which no physical cause can be found. The cause of SIDS is unknown but certain risk factors have been identified, many of which are described in this question: In terms of infant risk factors, SIDS occurs more often in male infants, low-birth-weight infants, premature infants, infants with low Apgar scores, infants who sleep on their stomachs, and infants with a sibling who previously died of SIDS. Maternal risk factors include young age, low socioeconomic status, smoking, drug abuse during pregnancy, closely spaced pregnancies, and inadequate prenatal care. A social worker meets with a 30-year-old client who recently divorced her husband. The couple has two children who are living with the client and see their father every other weekend. The client reports feeling exhausted now that she has to care for the children by herself. In assessing this situation, the social worker should be aware that, according to research, in the initial period following divorce, a custodial mother is MOST likely to: Select one: A. use more authoritarian but less consistent punishment. B. believe she is an inadequate parent. C. be overly permissive. D. expect her ex-husband to discipline the children. - correct answer A is correct: Following divorce, parents experience emotional distress and changes in functioning that often include a "diminished capacity to parent" (Wallerstein & Blakeslee, 1990): The mother, who usually has physical custody of the children, is frequently socially isolated and lonely and experiences a decline in income. She tends to be uncommunicative, impatient, and less warm and loving toward her children (especially sons) and to monitor her children's activities less closely and be less consistent but more authoritarian in terms of punishment. Custodial fathers have similar problems, although they may adjust to their situation sooner than custodial mothers (Hetherington & Stanley-Hagan, 1986). Finally, noncustodial fathers are often overly permissive and indulgent with their children during visits, but after the first few months, their visits often decline in number, and many stop making child support payments (Hetherington, 1989). A client's father dies from complications related to an untreated ulcer. The client, who doesn't have an ulcer, begins experiencing medical symptoms similar to those his father had. Which of the following defense mechanisms describes this situation? Select one: A. Introjection. B. Reaction formation. C. Regression. D. Repression. - correct answer A is correct: Introjection involves internalizing the qualities of another object (person). When used as a defense mechanism, it serves to remove the distinction between the person and the introjected object. Therefore, introjecting a love object (the father, in this case) can allow a person to avoid an undesired awareness of separateness or a threat of loss. A social worker whose private practice is located in an urban setting has many clients who are poor and live in impoverished parts of the city. Some of her clients fail to show up for their appointments or show up late. Which of the following is the MOST likely reason for this? Select one: A. Environmental stressors that prevent them from showing up. B. Low motivation for change. C. Value differences that impede trust and/or effective treatment. D. Hostility or resistance. - correct answer C is correct: "C" is the best answer because it encompasses the widest range of barriers to effective treatment that could be present in this situation. In addition, choosing "C" allows you to avoid making assumptions about these clients that might not be true ("A" and "B"). A child living in the United States is exposed to both English and a second language between the ages of six months and 3 years and, as result, becomes fluent in both languages. If the child had not been exposed to the second language until after the age of 4 or 5, she would have had more trouble acquiring the second language. This provides evidence for: Select one: A. the concept of critical periods. B. the concept of sensitive periods. C. the theory information processing. D. the notion of imprinting. - correct answer B is correct: Although some authors use the terms "critical period" and "sensitive period" interchangeably, they actually mean two different things. A critical period refers to a time when, if certain developmental events don't happen, later aspects of development will not occur. A sensitive period refers to an optimal period rather than a necessary period. The situation described in this question suggests there is a sensitive period for dual language learning. The client is a 35-year-old man who was laid off from his job at a supermarket where he was a manager. The client reports that there are no jobs available in his community and his money is running out fast. Although he's receiving unemployment insurance, he's barely getting by because he has to help his sister who's a single mom with a low-paying job. A social worker who relies on an ecological approach would assume that this client's problems result from which of the following? Select one: A. Inadequate coping skills. B. Either his personality or his environment. C. Exchanges between the client and his environment. D. Occupying a niche that is inconsistent with his needs and aspirations. - correct answer C is correct: The ecological perspective adopts a transactional view of the relationship between an organism (person) and its environment. This view suggests that a person and his environment engage in ongoing circular exchanges in which each reciprocally affects the other over time. Based on this view, proponents of the ecological model assume that a person's problems and needs result from exchanges between the person and his environment, not from either personality or environment alone. A client has cancer and has been told by his doctors that his prognosis is poor. The client asks his wife to help him plan their annual family reunion which will take place a few months after his chemotherapy treatment is scheduled to end. According to Kubler-Ross's theory of death and dying (1969), the client's behavior is MOST characteristic of: Select one: A. denial. B. acceptance. C. bargaining. D. relief. - correct answer C is correct: Kubler-Ross's theory of death and dying (1969) attempts to explain the stages people pass through as they move toward death. In sequence, these stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. People may exhibit several of these stages simultaneously and the stages do not always occur in the same sequence: (a) In the denial stage, people resist the idea that they are going to die (e.g., they actively question or reject their diagnosis or prognosis; "The doctor must be wrong"). (b) In the anger stage, people express anger toward family, people in good health, caregivers, God, etc. (e.g., "What did I do to deserve this? It's unfair"). (c) Next, as the person begins to realize that his death may be coming, he tries bargaining in an effort to win a reprieve from death. This may include making promises to God, family, etc. ("If I live, I promise to ...") or asking God or another higher power to allow him to live long enough to attend a specific event (such as this client's reunion) or complete a specific task. (d) Once the patient loses hope that he will recover, he may become depressed. (e) The final stage is acceptance in which the person has accepted that death is approaching and worked through the prior stages and the fear of death. At this stage, the person may be unemotional and uncommunicative; he may have no emotions (positive or negative) about the present or future.