Chapter 11 Anxiety Disorders, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Somatic Symptom Disorders

Question 1

Emotion regulation

Answer 1

Emotional control, involving the modulation, toleration, and endurance of emotions.

Question 2

Fears

Answer 2

Anxieties elicited in the presence of a specific stimulus.

Question 3

Worries

Answer 3

Anxieties about possible future events.

Question 4

Anxiety disorders

Answer 4

Internalizing disorders in which anxiety has gone from adaptive to pathological in terms of its intensity, duration, and pervasiveness; characterized by exaggerated and unrealistic fears and worries, overcontrol, inhibition, withdrawal, avoidance, and somatic symptoms.

Question 5

Anxiety sensitivity

Answer 5

The degree to which an individual focuses on signals of anxiety; involving hypervigilance and attention to bodily sensations, a tendency to focus on weak or infrequent sensations, and a disposition to react to somatic sensations with distorted cognitions.

Question 6

Separation anxiety disorder

Answer 6

A type of anxiety disorder characterized by intense age-inappropriate distress when separated from the caregiver, as well as clingy behaviors in the presence of the caregiver; associated with significant impairment in a child’s daily functioning.

Question 7

Phobic disorders

Answer 7

Types of anxiety disorders characterized by excessive and unrealistic fears of particular objects or situations, intense anxiety in the presence of such objects or situations, and avoidant behaviors.

Question 8

Specific phobias

Answer 8

A type of anxiety disorder characterized by particular fear of an object, situation, or person (e.g., animals, injury or blood, natural phenomena).

Question 9

Social phobia

Answer 9

A type of anxiety disorder characterized by an intense fear of scrutiny or evaluation by others.

Question 10

Agoraphobia

Answer 10

A type of anxiety disorder characterized by the experience of intense anxiety in places where individuals feel insecure, trapped, or not in control, most often associated with avoidance of such places.

Question 11

Generalized anxiety disorder

Answer 11

A type of anxiety disorder characterized by excessive and unrealistic worries and fears about a variety of stimuli and situations.

Question 12

Panic disorder

Answer 12

A type of anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent, somewhat unpredictable panic attacks (i.e., extremely intense and often frightening episodes of anxiety).

Question 13

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Answer 13

A type of anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that lead to anxiety and ritual behaviors that are intended to reduce anxiety.

Question 14

Obsessions

Answer 14

A persistent and intense intrusion of unwanted thoughts or images.

Question 15

Compulsions

Answer 15

Persistent and intense impulses to perform a specific behavior.

Question 16

Somatization

Answer 16

A term that refers to a variety of processes in which an individual experiences physical symptoms, such as pain or loss of function, for which a physical cause cannot be found or, if present, cannot fully account for the level of impairment.

Question 17

Somatic symptom disorders

Answer 17

A disorder characterized by the expression of anxiety through physical symptoms such as headaches and abdominal pain, leading to clinically significant distress and impairment.

Question 18

Conversion disorder (functional neurological symptom disorder)

Answer 18

A type of anxiety disorder characterized by unexplained deficits in voluntary motor or sensory function that cannot be adequately accounted for by known pathophysiological mechanisms; psychological factors are clearly associated with the emergence of symptoms.

Question 19

Homotypic continuity

Answer 19

The stability of specific diagnoses and symptom patterns over time; for example, anxious and internalizing symptoms present during preschool, childhood, and adolescence for the same individual.

Question 20

Heterotypic continuity

Answer 20

The underlying similarity of symptoms, relative to developmentally salient issues and tasks, over time, despite changes in specific diagnoses.

Question 21

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

Answer 21

A psychotherapy approach that attempts to remedy dysfunctional emotions, cognitions, and behaviors through goal-oriented, systematic, empirically based treatment techniques. CBT is based on the principles and empirical findings of learning theories and cognitive psychology.

Question 22

Modeling

Answer 22

A classic treatment for fears, based on the principles of observational learning, modeling involves watching, practicing, and imitating adaptive behavior.

Question 23

Systematic desensitization

Answer 23

A classic treatment for fears based on the principles of classical conditioning; involves teaching an anxious child how to relax and how to maintain relaxation when exposed to the feared stimulus. Exposure is done gradually (i.e., systematically, from stuffed dogs to videos of dogs to real dogs), building on the child’s successes over time.

Question 24

Exposure

Answer 24

A main component of cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders. Exposure to the stimuli and situations that are associated with anxiety is systematic and controlled, with in vivo (real life) practice preferred.