Practice Question
A nurse in a mental health facility is caring for a young adult client.
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Correct Answer:
Experience with legal system since teenage years.
Rationale:
Experience with legal system since teenage years
🧠ASPD requires evidence of conduct problems before age 15 and a persistent pattern of rule-breaking into adulthood.
🧠A history of shoplifting, auto theft, and juvenile detention demonstrates early-onset conduct disorder, which is the developmental precursor to ASPD.
🧠Repeated arrests reflect disregard for social norms and laws, a core diagnostic theme.
🧠Continuing legal trouble in adulthood shows the pervasive and persistent nature of the behavior rather than isolated incidents.
🧠These features collectively align with DSM-5 criteria for ASPD.
Relationship with family
🧠Marked estrangement and inability to maintain stable, caring relationships are common in ASPD due to lack of empathy, exploitation, and manipulative interpersonal style.
🧠Distancing from family often stems from a pattern of violating others’ rights, hostility, and callousness, which undermine trust and attachment.
🧠Chronic conflictual interactions and limited remorse contribute to relational breakdowns that persist across settings.
🧠The social history here illustrates impaired attachment consistent with the disorder’s interpersonal domain.
🧠These relational deficits are not episodic; they are enduring traits central to ASPD.
Acceptance of responsibility
🧠Failure to accept responsibility and externalization of blame (e.g., “the judge has it out for me”) reflect lack of remorse and rationalization—signature cognitive patterns in ASPD.
🧠Such statements minimize harm and justify antisocial acts, supporting a pattern of deceitfulness and accountability avoidance.
🧠This cognitive style often coexists with aggression, irritability, and disregard for consequences, perpetuating legal and social problems.
🧠Persistent denial impedes therapeutic alliance and reduces engagement with treatment or rehabilitation efforts.
🧠These features are diagnostically salient for ASPD.
Substance use
🧠 Substance misuse (alcohol, cannabis) frequently co-occurs with ASPD, amplifying impulsivity, risk-taking, and aggressive behavior.
🧠Intoxication lowers inhibition, facilitating rule violations and criminal acts, which are already more likely in ASPD.
🧠Substance use can also serve as a maladaptive coping strategy in individuals with low frustration tolerance and sensation-seeking traits.
🧠The pattern strengthens the clinical impression of a pervasive, cross-situational dysfunction rather than isolated behaviors.
🧠While not diagnostic alone, in this context it supports the ASPD profile.
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This question is from Custom NUR212 Final Assessment Fall 1 2025 which contains 50 questions.
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Question Details
- Category: RN Nursing Exam(s)
- Subcategory: ATI Exam(s)
- Domain: RN ATI MedSurg
- Answer Choices: 8