Practice Question
A nurse is caring for a preschool-aged client who appears malnourished and dehydrated.
Answer Choices:
Rationale:
🟦 Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is most likely because the assessment shows a persistent lack of emotional responsiveness, avoidance of caregivers, and minimal reaction to comfort, which are hallmark indicators of this disorder in young children.
🟦 The child turns away from both the nurse and caregiver when distressed, indicating an inability to form secure emotional bonds, which is central to the diagnostic pattern of RAD.
🟦 The caregiver shows minimal involvement, no physical affection, and dismisses the child’s emotional needs, creating an environment of severe neglect, which is a major risk factor.
🟦 The child’s malnutrition and dehydration also point to chronic unmet physical and emotional needs, which aligns with inhibited-type attachment disturbance.
🟦 Therefore, the combination of emotional withdrawal, absence of bonding behaviors, and caregiver non-responsiveness supports the risk of RAD.
❌ Incorrect Options Explained
1. Dissociative amnesia
🟩 This condition involves inability to recall personal information, usually triggered by trauma, but is not associated with avoidance of comfort or emotional withdrawal.
🟩 Preschool children rarely express dissociative amnesia in this behavioral pattern.
🟩 The primary concerns here are attachment and emotional neglect, not memory impairment.
2. Acute stress disorder
🟩 Acute stress disorder presents after a specific traumatic event, with symptoms such as intrusive thoughts, dissociation, or hyperarousal.
🟩 There is no evidence of a recent acute trauma in the scenario, but rather a chronic neglect pattern.
🟩 The child’s behavior aligns more with long-term relational deprivation than an acute stress reaction.
3. Lack of adequate nutrition
🟩 While the child is clearly malnourished, this refers to a physical problem, not an attachment disorder risk.
🟩 Malnutrition alone does not explain the emotional withdrawal and lack of response to comfort.
🟩 The question specifically asks about psychosocial risk, making nutritional status an insufficient explanation.
4. Multiple siblings
🟩 Having siblings does not cause or strongly correlate with attachment disorders.
🟩 The problem is caregiver neglect, not family size.
🟩 This option does not reflect the child's emotional reactions, which are key to diagnosing RAD.
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This question is from Custom Psych NUR2520 Mental Health Mid Term October 2025 which contains 85 questions.
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From Exam
Custom Psych NUR2520 Mental Health Mid Term October 2025
85 Questions
View Full Exam Start PracticingQuestion Details
- Category: RN Nursing Exam(s)
- Subcategory: Examplify Exam(s)
- Domain: Mental Health
- Answer Choices: 0