Chapter 11. Anxiety & OCD

Question 1

Agoraphobia

Answer 1

A DSM-5 disorder characterized by marked
anxiety about places or situations from which escape
or help is not possible without considerable effort or
embarrassment

Question 2

Anxiety

Answer 2

An emotional state of psychological distress
that reflects emotional, behavioral, physiological, and
cognitive reactions to threatening stimuli

Question 3

Anxiety sensitivity

Answer 3

The tendency to perceive anxiety symptoms as upsetting and aversive; may explain a person’s likelihood of developing panic disorder

Question 4

Apprehensive expectation

Answer 4

An essential feature of GAD; excessive worry about the future

Question 5

Attachment

Answer 5

The emotional bond between caregiver and
child during the first few years of life; promotes safety
and allows the child to explore his or her environment

Question 6

Behavioral inhibition

Answer 6

The capacity to inhibit play and vocalization, to withdraw, and to seek a parent when encountering unfamiliar people or situations

Question 7

Cognitive avoidance theory

Answer 7

Posits that worry (and GAD) is maintained through negative reinforcement; individuals replace images of imminent danger with more abstract, analytical thoughts about future misfortune

Question 8

Cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT)

Answer 8

The integration of cognitive and behavioral interventions to produce behavior change; relies on the premise that changes in thoughts or overt actions can affect emotions

Question 9

Cognitive restructuring

Answer 9

Cognitive interventions that involve challenging biases and distortions that lead to negative emotions by looking for objective evidence to support
them

Question 10

Compulsions

Answer 10

Repetitive behaviors or mental acts that
an individual feels driven to perform in response to an
obsession or according to specific, inflexible rules

Question 11

Contingency management

Answer 11

A behavioral intervention in which a person receives positive reinforcement for confronting a feared stimulus and is not allowed to avoid or escape the stimulus

Question 12

Cortico-basal-ganglionic circuit

Answer 12

A neural pathway that underlies OCD; consists of the (1) orbitofrontal cortex, (2) cingulate gyrus, and (3) caudate

Question 13

Excoriation disorder

Answer 13

A DSM-5 disorder characterized by recurrent skin picking that results in lesions; causes distress or impairment

Question 14

Expectancy theory of panic

Answer 14

An explanation for the emergence of panic disorder; posits that people are prone to anxiety about panic attacks because of their heightened sensitivity to anxiety

Question 15

Exposure and response prevention (EX/RP)

Answer 15

A behavioral intervention used to treat OCD; involves exposing oneself to a series of stimuli that elicit obsessions and avoiding their corresponding compulsive behaviors

Question 16

Exposure therapy

Answer 16

A form of behavior therapy used to treat anxiety and related disorders; involves repeatedly confronting feared stimuli for discrete periods of time until anxiety or negative affect dissipates

Question 17

Fear

Answer 17

A behavioral and physiological reaction to immediate threat, in which the person responds to imminent danger by confrontation or escape

Question 18

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

Answer 18

A DSM-5 disorder characterized by persistent worry, that is difficult to control, and associated with restlessness, poor concentration, fatigue, irritability, tension, and/or sleep problems

Question 19

Habit reversal training

Answer 19

A behavioral technique used to decrease unwanted actions; the person engages in a behavior that, when carried out, makes it impossible to produce the unwanted action

Question 20

Interoceptive exposure

Answer 20

A behavioral intervention unique to the treatment of panic disorder; the person intentionally produces physiological symptoms of panic and then uses relaxation techniques to cope with these symptoms

Question 21

Maladaptive anxiety

Answer 21

Anxiety characterized by (1) intensity that is out of proportion to the perceived threat, (2) chronicity that lasts beyond removal of the immediate threat, and (3) impairment

Question 22

Metacognition

Answer 22

The ability to think about one’s own thoughts and feelings

Question 23

Modeling

Answer 23

A behavioral intervention in which the child acquires a new behavior through imitating another (i.e., observational learning)

Question 24

Mowrer’s two-factor theory of anxiety

Answer 24

A general theory of anxiety that posits that disorders emerge through classical conditioning and are maintained through negative reinforcement

Question 25

Obsessions

Answer 25

Recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges, or images that are experienced as intrusive and unwanted

Question 26

Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD)

Answer 26

A DSM-5 disorder characterized by obsessions and/or compulsions that are time consuming and cause significant distress or impairment

Question 27

Panic attack

Answer 27

An abrupt surge of intense fear or discomfort that reaches a peak within 10 minutes and is characterized by heightened negative affect and physiological arousal; can occur by itself or in the context of an anxiety disorder

Question 28

Panic disorder

Answer 28

A DSM-5 disorder characterized by recurrent, unexpected panic attacks and 1 month of worry about future attacks or a change in behavior because of the attacks

Question 29

Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus (PANDAS) theory

Answer 29

An explanation for some causes of childhood OCD; posits that streptococcus infection leads to an autoimmune reaction that causes OCD-like symptoms, tics, and irritability

Question 30

Relaxation training

Answer 30

A cognitive–behavioral intervention designed to reduce physiological arousal and avoid panic; usually involves muscle relaxation, controlled breathing, and pleasant imagery or self-statements

Question 31

Selective mutism

Answer 31

A DSM-5 disorder characterized by consistent failure to speak in social situations in which there is an expectation for speaking (e.g., at school); lasts for at least 1 month and impairs functioning

Question 32

Self-monitoring

Answer 32

A behavioral intervention to treat unwanted actions; the individual observes and records the frequency of the actions during the course of the day

Question 33

Separation anxiety disorder (SAD)

Answer 33

A DSM-5 disorder characterized by a developmentally inappropriate and excessive fear of separation from attachment figures; lasts at least 4 weeks in children and causes distress or impairment in functioning

Question 34

Social anxiety disorder

Answer 34

A DSM-5 disorder characterized by marked fear or anxiety about one or more social situations in which the individual is exposed to possible scrutiny by others; lasts at least 6 months and causes distress or impairment

Question 35

Specific phobia

Answer 35

A DSM-5 disorder characterized by marked fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation; persists for at least 6 months and causes distress or impairment

Question 36

Systematic desensitization

Answer 36

A behavioral technique based on classical conditioning; the person associates a feared stimulus with an incompatible response (e.g., relaxation)

Question 37

Tics

Answer 37

Sudden, rapid, nonrhythmic, and stereotyped behaviors that are involuntary; can be motor or vocal

Question 38

Tourette’s disorder

Answer 38

A DSM-5 disorder characterized by the presence of multiple motor and vocal tics lasting for more than 1 year

Question 39

Trichotillomania

Answer 39

A DSM-5 disorder characterized by the repeated pulling out of hair, resulting in hair loss; causes distress or impairment

Question 40

Vasovagal response

Answer 40

A physiological response that involves a rapid increase and sudden decrease in blood pressure; shown by individuals with blood-injection-injury phobias

Question 41

Worry

Answer 41

A cognitive response to threat in which the person

considers and prepares for future danger or misfortune