MH701 EXAM 3 PRACTICE ASSESSMENT
2026 COMPLETE SOLVED QUESTIONS
AND MODEL RESPONSES
◉ Explain the normal response to anxiety:
Answer: Normal response to environmental stressors and promotes
safety by facilitating behavior avoidance of threatened stimuli. The
sense of threat is modulated by fear circuitry including the
amygdala, hippocampus and pre-frontal regions.
◉ Explain anxiety disorders alterations:
Answer: Thought to involve alterations in fear responsivity, driven
by the adjustments in the tuning of special circuit components,
including deficiencies in the dampening of amygdala stress
responses by pre-frontal regions. The neuronal circuitry involved in
the regulation of anxiety operates with a context of environmental
cues, and across a developmental landscape, such that assessment of
normal development tasks and environmental stressors are
essential for clinical evaluation.
◉ Anxiety disorders commonly found in youth:
Answer: GAD, social anxiety disorder and select mutism.
,◉ Treatment for anxiety in youth:
Answer: Multimodal comprehensive treatment including
psychotherapy (CBT most common), family education, family
psychosocial intervention & pharmacological intervention.
◉ Which antidepressants are used in childhood anxiety?
Answer: Fluvoxamine (Luvox), Fluoxetine (Prozac), Sertraline
(Zoloft) and paroxetine (Paxil)
◉ Which drugs are not currently recommended due to adverse
cardiac effects for anxiety in youth?
Answer: TCAs
◉ What other medication has been used in childhood anxiety,
though no data supports their use?
Answer: B-adrenergic receptor agonists such as propranolol
(Inderal) and Buspirone (Buspar)
◉ Which medication can be used short-term to control sleep
disturbances in childhood anxiety?
Answer: Diphenhydramine (Benadryl). long term use is more
recently showing potential association with development of
dementia.
,◉ Which other drug can be used in childhood anxiety, but is not a
first line agent due to potential side effects and addiction potential?
Answer: Benzodiazepines such as Alprazolam (Xanax).
◉ Clonazepam (Klonopin) may be helpful in controlling what in
peds?
Answer: Symptoms of panic and other anxiety sx.
◉ OCD in children: Obsessions are:
Answer: unwanted thoughts, image or urges that cause marked
anxiety that are not connected in a realistic way what they are
designed to neutralize.
◉ To be a disorder, obsessions must:
Answer: Interfere significantly with a child's normal activities.
◉ What medications have been approved by FDA for OCD in
children?
Answer: Sertraline (Zoloft) (6 years and older); Fluoxetine (Prozac)
( 7 years and older); Fluvoxamine (Luvox) ( 8 years and older).
One TCA drug: Clomipramine (10 years and older)
Clomipramine is not recommended as first line due to side effects:
CV risk of hypotension and arrhythmia and seizure risk.
, ◉ When does bipolar in children usually appear?
Answer: mid-to-late adolescence
◉ When mania presents in an adolescent, there is a high incidence
of?
Answer: psychotic features (delusions and hallucinations),
grandiose notions about their power, worth and relationships.
Persecutory delusions and flight of ideas are common.
◉ What is the biological association with early onset bipolar?
Answer: Both structural and functional brain alterations in
prefrontal cortical and subcortical regions associated with
processing and regulation of emotional stimuli: Structural MRI
studies suggest altered development of white matter and a
decreased amygdala volume are found more frequently in this
population.
◉ National institute for health & care excellence (NICE)
recommends what for possible bipolar, severe manic episodes in
youth for treatment?
Answer: Aripiprazole for age 13 and older.
◉ Which medication should not be offered to young girls of
childbearing age?
Answer: Valproate
2026 COMPLETE SOLVED QUESTIONS
AND MODEL RESPONSES
◉ Explain the normal response to anxiety:
Answer: Normal response to environmental stressors and promotes
safety by facilitating behavior avoidance of threatened stimuli. The
sense of threat is modulated by fear circuitry including the
amygdala, hippocampus and pre-frontal regions.
◉ Explain anxiety disorders alterations:
Answer: Thought to involve alterations in fear responsivity, driven
by the adjustments in the tuning of special circuit components,
including deficiencies in the dampening of amygdala stress
responses by pre-frontal regions. The neuronal circuitry involved in
the regulation of anxiety operates with a context of environmental
cues, and across a developmental landscape, such that assessment of
normal development tasks and environmental stressors are
essential for clinical evaluation.
◉ Anxiety disorders commonly found in youth:
Answer: GAD, social anxiety disorder and select mutism.
,◉ Treatment for anxiety in youth:
Answer: Multimodal comprehensive treatment including
psychotherapy (CBT most common), family education, family
psychosocial intervention & pharmacological intervention.
◉ Which antidepressants are used in childhood anxiety?
Answer: Fluvoxamine (Luvox), Fluoxetine (Prozac), Sertraline
(Zoloft) and paroxetine (Paxil)
◉ Which drugs are not currently recommended due to adverse
cardiac effects for anxiety in youth?
Answer: TCAs
◉ What other medication has been used in childhood anxiety,
though no data supports their use?
Answer: B-adrenergic receptor agonists such as propranolol
(Inderal) and Buspirone (Buspar)
◉ Which medication can be used short-term to control sleep
disturbances in childhood anxiety?
Answer: Diphenhydramine (Benadryl). long term use is more
recently showing potential association with development of
dementia.
,◉ Which other drug can be used in childhood anxiety, but is not a
first line agent due to potential side effects and addiction potential?
Answer: Benzodiazepines such as Alprazolam (Xanax).
◉ Clonazepam (Klonopin) may be helpful in controlling what in
peds?
Answer: Symptoms of panic and other anxiety sx.
◉ OCD in children: Obsessions are:
Answer: unwanted thoughts, image or urges that cause marked
anxiety that are not connected in a realistic way what they are
designed to neutralize.
◉ To be a disorder, obsessions must:
Answer: Interfere significantly with a child's normal activities.
◉ What medications have been approved by FDA for OCD in
children?
Answer: Sertraline (Zoloft) (6 years and older); Fluoxetine (Prozac)
( 7 years and older); Fluvoxamine (Luvox) ( 8 years and older).
One TCA drug: Clomipramine (10 years and older)
Clomipramine is not recommended as first line due to side effects:
CV risk of hypotension and arrhythmia and seizure risk.
, ◉ When does bipolar in children usually appear?
Answer: mid-to-late adolescence
◉ When mania presents in an adolescent, there is a high incidence
of?
Answer: psychotic features (delusions and hallucinations),
grandiose notions about their power, worth and relationships.
Persecutory delusions and flight of ideas are common.
◉ What is the biological association with early onset bipolar?
Answer: Both structural and functional brain alterations in
prefrontal cortical and subcortical regions associated with
processing and regulation of emotional stimuli: Structural MRI
studies suggest altered development of white matter and a
decreased amygdala volume are found more frequently in this
population.
◉ National institute for health & care excellence (NICE)
recommends what for possible bipolar, severe manic episodes in
youth for treatment?
Answer: Aripiprazole for age 13 and older.
◉ Which medication should not be offered to young girls of
childbearing age?
Answer: Valproate
