CLINICAL DSM 5PRACTICE EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
A therapist on an inpatient unit conducts an intake with a 40-year-old man who was
transported to the hospital by the police after an altercation in a park. He is unable to
provide a medical or social history and reports having no memory before he arrived at
the hospital. A police check reveals that he is an executive of a large company in a
nearby city who was laid off a few days ago. At the end of his weeklong stay in the
hospital, he has recovered his memory. The MOST likely diagnosis is:
A. Dissociative Amnesia with Dissociative Fugue
B. Factitious Disorder
C. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
D. Acute Stress Disorder - Answers- Dissociative Amnesia with Dissociative Fugue
A school therapist receives a referral for a 13-year-old boy for inattention and poor
grades. During observations and interactions with the student, the therapist experiences
the boy as intelligent and highly verbal but notes that he has difficulty following
instructions and reports that he avoids reading and writing activities. The initial
diagnosis is MOST likely:
A. Conduct Disorder
B. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Predominantly Inattentive Type
C. Autism Spectrum Disorder
D. Learning Disorder - Answers- Learning Disorder
A therapist evaluates a 6-year-old girl with moderately severe cerebral palsy. Among
other symptoms, the parents report that their daughter is often observed attempting to
chew and eat non-food items, including sand and houseplants. Sometimes they are
able to
intervene while she is chewing on the item, but she has been hospitalized on one
occasion for ingesting leaves from a potentially harmful plant. What is the MOST likely
diagnosis in this case?
A. Encopresis
B. Autism Spectrum Disorder
C. Rumination Disorder
D. Pica - Answers- Pica
A couple enters treatment with a therapist due to increasing conflicts and distance after
2 years of marriage. The man reports feeling
as if his wife needs his approval for everything and he's exhausted with her constant
worries and questions about what she should do. The woman endorses frequent
worries about her husband leaving her or dying young and states that she only asks his
opinion because she "trusts him more than I trust myself." The man says that he feels
,more like a parent than a husband and that this can't continue. The woman's diagnosis
is MOST likely:
A. Avoidant Personality Disorder
B. Histrionic Personality Disorder
C. Dependent Personality Disorder
D. Generalized Anxiety Disorder - Answers- Dependent Personality Disorder
A therapist is asked to evaluate a 5-year-old boy whose parents are concerned about
his inability to sit still periodically at school. During the interview, the boy makes multiple
barking noises, blinks almost constantly, and jerks his right arm back and forth. His
parents report that these symptoms started in preschool and are getting in the way of
their son learning and making friends. What is the MOST likely diagnosis at this time?
A. Tourette's Disorder
B. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
C. Stereotypic Movement Disorder
D. Autism Spectrum Disorder - Answers- Tourette's Disorder
A diagnosis of Enuresis is appropriate when:
A. The patient voids feces intentionally or unintentionally at last twice weekly.
B. Medications may be causing the problem.
C. Urine is unintentionally voided at least twice weekly and the patient is at least five
years old.
D. Urine is unintentionally voided at least twice weekly and the patient is at least six
years old. - Answers- Urine is unintentionally voided at least twice weekly and the
patient is at least five years old.
A therapist begins treatment with a child diagnosed with ADHD and intends to use
cognitive behavioral treatment to help improve the child's concentration. The therapist
will MOST likely need to help the child in which additional area?
A. Expressive language
B. Social skills
C. Basic hygiene
D. Bladder control - Answers- Social skills
A school therapist is asked to evaluate an 8-year-old girl who has been crying frequently
in class and complaining of stomach aches. When the therapist interviews the student,
the student begs the therapist to let her go home and be with her mother and also
expresses fears that something bad might happen to her mom. What is the MOST likely
diagnosis in this case?
A. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
B. Separation Anxiety Disorder
, C. School Phobia
D. Generalized Anxiety Disorder - Answers- Separation Anxiety Disorder
A mother brings her 5-year-old daughter for therapy. She is referred by the school. The
mother tearfully reports that the teacher said
that her daughter seems autistic because she doesn't talk or interact with peers. The
mother reports that the daughter plays with her older siblings and cousins and talks a lot
at home and with their extended family. What differential diagnosis should be
considered?
A. Separation Anxiety Disorder
B. Social Phobia
C. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
D. Selective Mutism - Answers- Selective Mutism
An 11-year-old boy is referred to the school therapist for excessive truancy. An
assessment with the boy's parents reveals several incarcerations at the juvenile
detention center for selling drugs and the parents' report a longstanding inability to
enforce limits or
consequences with him. His teacher describes him as quiet and disinterested in school,
although the therapist knows the boy has a
reputation as a bully. What diagnosis is MOST likely:
A. Oppositional Defiant Disorder
B. Antisocial Personality Disorder
C. Bipolar I Disorder
D. Conduct Disorder - Answers- Conduct Disorder
A client is referred to a therapist after being discharged from the psychiatric hospital.
The records indicate that he has been hearing voices for the past four months and he
believes he is being followed. According to the DSM 5 criteria, the MOST likely
diagnosis for the client is:
A. Brief Psychotic Disorder
B. Schizophrenia
C. Schizoaffective Disorder
D. Schizophreniform Disorder - Answers- Schizophreniform Disorder
During an assessment, a therapist in a medical clinic finds that a patient has a decrease
in libido, difficulty sleeping, and feelings of
hopelessness for the last month. The MOST likely diagnosis in this case is:
A. Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder
B. Persistent Depressive Disorder
C. Major Depressive Disorder
D. Adjustment Disorder - Answers- Major Depressive Disorder
ANSWERS
A therapist on an inpatient unit conducts an intake with a 40-year-old man who was
transported to the hospital by the police after an altercation in a park. He is unable to
provide a medical or social history and reports having no memory before he arrived at
the hospital. A police check reveals that he is an executive of a large company in a
nearby city who was laid off a few days ago. At the end of his weeklong stay in the
hospital, he has recovered his memory. The MOST likely diagnosis is:
A. Dissociative Amnesia with Dissociative Fugue
B. Factitious Disorder
C. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
D. Acute Stress Disorder - Answers- Dissociative Amnesia with Dissociative Fugue
A school therapist receives a referral for a 13-year-old boy for inattention and poor
grades. During observations and interactions with the student, the therapist experiences
the boy as intelligent and highly verbal but notes that he has difficulty following
instructions and reports that he avoids reading and writing activities. The initial
diagnosis is MOST likely:
A. Conduct Disorder
B. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Predominantly Inattentive Type
C. Autism Spectrum Disorder
D. Learning Disorder - Answers- Learning Disorder
A therapist evaluates a 6-year-old girl with moderately severe cerebral palsy. Among
other symptoms, the parents report that their daughter is often observed attempting to
chew and eat non-food items, including sand and houseplants. Sometimes they are
able to
intervene while she is chewing on the item, but she has been hospitalized on one
occasion for ingesting leaves from a potentially harmful plant. What is the MOST likely
diagnosis in this case?
A. Encopresis
B. Autism Spectrum Disorder
C. Rumination Disorder
D. Pica - Answers- Pica
A couple enters treatment with a therapist due to increasing conflicts and distance after
2 years of marriage. The man reports feeling
as if his wife needs his approval for everything and he's exhausted with her constant
worries and questions about what she should do. The woman endorses frequent
worries about her husband leaving her or dying young and states that she only asks his
opinion because she "trusts him more than I trust myself." The man says that he feels
,more like a parent than a husband and that this can't continue. The woman's diagnosis
is MOST likely:
A. Avoidant Personality Disorder
B. Histrionic Personality Disorder
C. Dependent Personality Disorder
D. Generalized Anxiety Disorder - Answers- Dependent Personality Disorder
A therapist is asked to evaluate a 5-year-old boy whose parents are concerned about
his inability to sit still periodically at school. During the interview, the boy makes multiple
barking noises, blinks almost constantly, and jerks his right arm back and forth. His
parents report that these symptoms started in preschool and are getting in the way of
their son learning and making friends. What is the MOST likely diagnosis at this time?
A. Tourette's Disorder
B. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
C. Stereotypic Movement Disorder
D. Autism Spectrum Disorder - Answers- Tourette's Disorder
A diagnosis of Enuresis is appropriate when:
A. The patient voids feces intentionally or unintentionally at last twice weekly.
B. Medications may be causing the problem.
C. Urine is unintentionally voided at least twice weekly and the patient is at least five
years old.
D. Urine is unintentionally voided at least twice weekly and the patient is at least six
years old. - Answers- Urine is unintentionally voided at least twice weekly and the
patient is at least five years old.
A therapist begins treatment with a child diagnosed with ADHD and intends to use
cognitive behavioral treatment to help improve the child's concentration. The therapist
will MOST likely need to help the child in which additional area?
A. Expressive language
B. Social skills
C. Basic hygiene
D. Bladder control - Answers- Social skills
A school therapist is asked to evaluate an 8-year-old girl who has been crying frequently
in class and complaining of stomach aches. When the therapist interviews the student,
the student begs the therapist to let her go home and be with her mother and also
expresses fears that something bad might happen to her mom. What is the MOST likely
diagnosis in this case?
A. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
B. Separation Anxiety Disorder
, C. School Phobia
D. Generalized Anxiety Disorder - Answers- Separation Anxiety Disorder
A mother brings her 5-year-old daughter for therapy. She is referred by the school. The
mother tearfully reports that the teacher said
that her daughter seems autistic because she doesn't talk or interact with peers. The
mother reports that the daughter plays with her older siblings and cousins and talks a lot
at home and with their extended family. What differential diagnosis should be
considered?
A. Separation Anxiety Disorder
B. Social Phobia
C. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
D. Selective Mutism - Answers- Selective Mutism
An 11-year-old boy is referred to the school therapist for excessive truancy. An
assessment with the boy's parents reveals several incarcerations at the juvenile
detention center for selling drugs and the parents' report a longstanding inability to
enforce limits or
consequences with him. His teacher describes him as quiet and disinterested in school,
although the therapist knows the boy has a
reputation as a bully. What diagnosis is MOST likely:
A. Oppositional Defiant Disorder
B. Antisocial Personality Disorder
C. Bipolar I Disorder
D. Conduct Disorder - Answers- Conduct Disorder
A client is referred to a therapist after being discharged from the psychiatric hospital.
The records indicate that he has been hearing voices for the past four months and he
believes he is being followed. According to the DSM 5 criteria, the MOST likely
diagnosis for the client is:
A. Brief Psychotic Disorder
B. Schizophrenia
C. Schizoaffective Disorder
D. Schizophreniform Disorder - Answers- Schizophreniform Disorder
During an assessment, a therapist in a medical clinic finds that a patient has a decrease
in libido, difficulty sleeping, and feelings of
hopelessness for the last month. The MOST likely diagnosis in this case is:
A. Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder
B. Persistent Depressive Disorder
C. Major Depressive Disorder
D. Adjustment Disorder - Answers- Major Depressive Disorder
