Human Behavior and Social Environment
A social worker assesses how family, school, and community influence a child’s behavior. Which framework is being used?
A. Psychodynamic theory
B. Ecological systems theory
C. Behavioral theory
D. Cognitive theory
Ecological systems theory
Rationale: This framework examines how multiple environmental systems (family, school, community) interact to influence behavior.
Advocating for equitable access to resources primarily reflects which NASW ethical principle?
A. Integrity
B. Competence
C. Service
D. Social justice
Social justice
Rationale: Social justice directly addresses equitable distribution of resources and systemic oppression.
A client reports persistent low mood, fatigue, and hopelessness for over two weeks. Which diagnosis is MOST likely?
A. Persistent depressive disorder
B. Major depressive disorder
C. Adjustment disorder
D. Bipolar II disorder
Major depressive disorder
Rationale: Two or more weeks of depressive symptoms meet criteria for MDD. Persistent depressive disorder requires two years.
A social worker adapts communication style to match a client’s cultural norms. This reflects:
A. Cultural competence
B. Cultural sensitivity
C. Cultural humility
D. Cultural relativism
Cultural sensitivity
Rationale: Cultural sensitivity involves awareness and respectful adaptation of communication styles.
A study measures whether an intervention works under controlled conditions. This addresses:
A. External validity
B. Internal validity
C. Reliability
D. Replicability
Internal validity
Rationale: Internal validity determines whether outcomes are caused by the intervention itself.
A client experiences distress after becoming a parent, despite excitement about the role. Which concept BEST explains this response?
A. Fixation
B. Role strain
C. Identity diffusion
D. Regression
Role strain
Rationale: Role strain occurs when the demands of a role are stressful or overwhelming, even if the role itself is desired. The distractors involve developmental or pathological processes not indicated here.
A social worker notices that a policy disproportionately impacts marginalized populations despite appearing neutral. This is an example of:
A. Individual discrimination
B. Structural inequality
C. Cultural bias
D. Explicit oppression
Structural inequality
Rationale: Structural inequality occurs when systems or policies produce unequal outcomes regardless of intent.
A client experiences panic attacks unexpectedly and worries about future attacks. Which diagnosis BEST fits?
A. Specific phobia
B. Panic disorder
C. Agoraphobia
D. Social anxiety disorder
Panic disorder
Rationale: Panic disorder involves unexpected panic attacks and anticipatory anxiety.
A clinician actively reflects on their own biases and power in the therapeutic relationship. This BEST reflects:
A. Cultural competence
B. Cultural responsiveness
C. Cultural humility
D. Cultural awareness
C. Cultural humility
Rationale: Cultural humility emphasizes lifelong self-reflection and recognition of power dynamics.
Which research design is MOST appropriate for establishing causality?
A. Cross-sectional
B. Case study
C. Randomized controlled trial
D. Correlational
Randomized controlled trial
Rationale: RCTs best control for confounding variables and establish cause-effect relationships.
A client demonstrates different coping strategies depending on environmental demands. Which concept BEST explains this observation?
A. Ego strength
B. Person–environment fit
C. Social learning
D. Defense mechanisms
Person–environment fit
Rationale: This concept explains how functioning depends on the match between individual capacities and environmental demands. Ego strength and defense mechanisms are intrapsychic; social learning focuses on modeling.
A clinician supports a client affected by a policy but does not engage in broader advocacy. This approach BEST reflects:
A. Case advocacy
B. Administrative advocacy
C. Legislative advocacy
D. Systems reform
Case advocacy
Rationale: Case advocacy focuses on helping individual clients navigate systems without addressing broader policy change.
A client hears voices only during severe mood episodes. Which diagnosis is MOST accurate?
A. Schizophrenia
B. Bipolar I disorder
C. Schizoaffective disorder
D. Mood disorder with psychotic features
Mood disorder with psychotic features
Rationale: Psychotic symptoms occur exclusively during mood episodes, ruling out schizoaffective disorder.
A client prefers family involvement in decision-making. What should the social worker do FIRST?
A. Encourage individual autonomy
B. Assess cultural meaning and consent
C. Limit family involvement
D. Refer to ethics committee
Assess cultural meaning and consent
Rationale: The social worker must respect cultural norms while ensuring informed consent.
Participants drop out of a longitudinal study at different rates. This threatens:
A. Reliability
B. Construct validity
C. Internal validity
D. External validity
Internal validity
Rationale: Differential attrition introduces systematic bias that affects causal conclusions.
A client raised in chronic instability displays heightened threat perception that was adaptive in childhood but maladaptive in adulthood. Which theory MOST accurately explains this pattern?
A. Psychodynamic theory
B. Trauma-informed perspective
C. Life history theory
D. Behavioral conditioning
Life history theory
Rationale: Life history theory explains how early environmental unpredictability calibrates survival strategies that may later become maladaptive. Trauma theory explains symptoms but not adaptive calibration.
A new welfare policy emphasizes employment readiness while reducing direct financial assistance. From a social work perspective, the PRIMARY critique is that it:
A. Encourages dependency
B. Prioritizes efficiency over equity
C. Assumes equal access to opportunity
D. Violates distributive justice
Assumes equal access to opportunity
Rationale: The policy ignores structural barriers (e.g., childcare, discrimination), a core social work critique.
A client recognizes their obsessive thoughts as irrational but feels compelled to perform rituals. This indicates the symptoms are:
A. Delusional
B. Ego-dystonic
C. Ego-syntonic
D. Overvalued beliefs
Ego-dystonic
Rationale: Ego-dystonic thoughts are experienced as unwanted and distressing, characteristic of OCD.
A social worker modifies an evidence-based intervention to align with a client’s cultural beliefs while preserving core components. This is BEST described as:
A. Cultural relativism
B. Treatment drift
C. Cultural adaptation
D. Loss of fidelity
Cultural adaptation
Rationale: Cultural adaptation preserves essential intervention elements while improving cultural relevance.
A measure yields consistent results but fails to assess the intended construct. The measure is:
A. Valid and reliable
B. Reliable but invalid
C. Invalid and unreliable
D. Valid but unreliable
Reliable but invalid
Rationale: Reliability reflects consistency; validity reflects accuracy.
A community exhibits intergenerational patterns of stress-related illness following collective historical trauma. Which concept BEST integrates biological, psychological, and social transmission mechanisms?
A. Social capital
B. Epigenetics
C. Collective efficacy
D. Structural violence
Epigenetics
Rationale: Epigenetics explains how social stressors can alter gene expression across generations, integrating biological and social transmission. The other options explain social processes but not biological embedding.
A mental health policy mandates evidence-based practices while limiting clinician discretion for culturally responsive modifications. The MOST significant ethical tension involves:
A. Fidelity versus flexibility
B. Informed consent
C. Client self-determination
D. Professional boundaries
Fidelity versus flexibility
Rationale: The conflict lies between adhering to standardized evidence-based models and adapting them for cultural relevance.
A hospitalized client presents with acute onset confusion, fluctuating consciousness, and impaired attention. Which condition must be ruled out FIRST?
A. Dementia
B. Schizophrenia
C. Delirium
D. Major neurocognitive disorder
Delirium
Rationale: Delirium is an acute medical emergency and must always be ruled out first.
A client reports microaggressions that cause psychological distress but do not meet legal criteria for discrimination. The MOST appropriate clinical response is to:
A. Focus solely on coping skills
B. Normalize the experience without exploration
C. Validate the impact and contextualize within systemic oppression
D. Refer the client to legal advocacy
Validate the impact and contextualize within systemic oppression
Rationale: This approach affirms lived experience and addresses systemic contributors to distress.
A social worker integrates research findings, clinical expertise, and client preferences when selecting interventions. This BEST represents:
A. Empirically supported treatment
B. Practice-based evidence
C. Evidence-based practice
D. Translational research
C. Evidence-based practice
Rationale: Evidence-based practice explicitly integrates research evidence, clinician expertise, and client values.