Portia is a 33-year-old married woman working as an accountant at a large firm. Eight months ago, her father, with whom she was close, died unexpectedly, and a month ago, her firm announced that they would be laying off 40 of its accountancy staff within the next three months. At present, Portia is experiencing moderate depressive and anxious symptoms, and these symptoms appear to be taking a toll on both the quality of her work and the quality of her relationship with her husband. In the present case, which factor would be considered an etiological factor for her depression and anxiety?
a. the downturn in the quality of her marital relationship.
b. the downturn in her work quality.
c. her father's death.
d. more than one of the above
Question 2Which of the following is not accurate regarding the DSM-IV-TR definition of mental disorder?
a. The syndrome must be associated with distress, disability, or increased risk of problems.
b. A mental disorder is considered to represent a dysfunction within an individual.
c. Not all deviant behaviors or conflicts with society are signs of a mental disorder.
d. none of the above
Question 3Which of the following statements is true regarding the relationship between abnormal behavior and mental illness?
a. An individual who exhibits abnormal behavior may not have a mental illness.
b. An individual who exhibits abnormal behavior that persists for at least 6 months has a mental illness.
c. Most of the mental illnesses listed in DSM-IV-TR are defined by isolated abnormal behaviors.
d. all of the above
Question 4The only definition of abnormal behavior that does not involve subjectivity is
a. conformity to norms.
b. subjective distress.
c. disability or dysfunction.
d. none of the above
Question 5Recently, Elizabeth has felt anxious much of the time, and her anxiety has caused her to perform some compulsive rituals that are highly unusual. Her job and her friends, however, have not been affected. Elizabeth is abnormal according to the definition based on
a. violation of social norms and disability/dysfunction/impairment.
b. subjective distress.
c. disability/dysfunction/impairment.
d. violation of social norms and subjective distress.
Question 6Which of the following is a valid question regarding the disability/dysfunction/impairment definition of abnormal behavior?
a. What should the standards for dysfunction be?
b. Who establishes the standards for dysfunction?
c. Both of the above are valid questions.
d. Neither of the above is a valid question.
Question 7Which of the following examples is most clearly abnormal according to the disability/dysfunction/impairment definition of abnormality?
a. a mean, callous supervisor who remains unaware that his/her employees hate him/her
b. a librarian whose religious hallucinations interfere with her ability to work
c. a child whose IQ is below the cutoff point for mental retardation
d. a high-functioning accountant who feels depressed about several aspects of his/her life
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