Matching Game: Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders

Ready for another matching game? Sharpen your social work knowledge and get ever-more ready for the social work licensing exam.

Note: this is not how the real exam looks. The real thing is all multiple choice and mostly vignettes. To get a sense of what real exam questions are like and practice with full-length tests, try SWTP. The real exam is 170-questions long. A chunk of those questions are DSM-based. So, for fun and mental weighlifting...DSM matching!

Your job, match the disorder with its simplified description. Here are the definitions:

1. Inhibited, emotionally withdrawn behavior toward adult caregivers.

2. Intrusion and avoidance symptoms following exposure to a life-threatening situation.

3. Intrusion and avoidance symptoms following exposure to a life-threatening situation less than one month ago.

4. Emotional or behavioral symptoms in response to stressor less than three months ago.

5. Child actively approaches and interacts with unfamiliar adults.


Here are the disorders:

A. Acute stress disorder

B. Disinhibited social engagement disorder

C. Post-traumatic stress disorder

D. Reactive attachment disorder

E. Adjustment disorder

Match them! Easy? Answers in comments.

While these definitions are shortened, they cover about the level of knowledge that you'll likely be expected to have to navigate diagnostic questions on the ASWB exam. It's not difficult to imagine a question that will test you--and try to distract you--with the very disorders included here. "A woman reports that ever since _____________, she's been experiencing ____________...What is the MOST likely diagnosis?"

Read more about these disorders here:

• Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders (Wikipedia)
• Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders (PsychCentral)

 Happy studying and good luck on the exam!