ASWB Bachelors cheat sheet

Erikson's psychosocial age bands: trust vs. mistrust (birth–18 months); autonomy vs. shame and doubt (18 months–3 years); initiative vs. guilt (3–6); industry vs. inferiority (6–12); identity vs. role confusion (adolescence); intimacy vs. isolation (young adulthood); generativity vs. stagnation (middle adulthood); integrity vs. despair (later life).

Piaget's stages and ages: sensorimotor (0–2), preoperational (2–7), concrete operational (7–11), formal operational (11 and older). Conservation and reversibility emerge in the concrete operational stage; abstract hypothetical reasoning emerges in formal operations.

Bronfenbrenner's systems nest in a fixed order: microsystem (settings the person directly occupies) → mesosystem (interactions among microsystems) → exosystem (settings affecting the person indirectly) → macrosystem (cultural and societal blueprints) → chronosystem (time and life transitions).

Kohlberg's levels: preconventional (punishment/obedience and instrumental exchange), conventional (interpersonal conformity and law-and-order orientation), postconventional (social contract and universal ethical principles). Movement is sequential; regression under stress is possible.

DSM-5-TR substance use disorder severity rule: 2–3 of the 11 criteria met in a 12-month period = mild; 4–5 = moderate; 6 or more = severe. Meeting 0–1 criteria does not meet the threshold for the disorder.

Ainsworth's Strange Situation classifications: secure (uses caregiver as safe base, soothed on reunion), anxious-ambivalent/resistant (clings, not easily soothed), avoidant (ignores or avoids caregiver), disorganized (contradictory, frozen, or apprehensive behavior, often linked to maltreatment).

Berry's acculturation strategies arise from two questions - is the heritage culture maintained, and is the host culture adopted: integration (both), assimilation (host only), separation (heritage only), marginalization (neither).

Defense mechanisms are graded by adaptiveness: mature defenses include sublimation, humor, altruism, and suppression; immature defenses include denial, projection, splitting, acting out, and passive aggression.

Maslow's hierarchy proceeds physiological → safety → belonging and love → esteem → self-actualization; lower-order needs generally dominate attention until reasonably met, and the order is not rigidly fixed across cultures.

Mental status examination domains: appearance, behavior and psychomotor activity, speech, mood and affect, thought process, thought content (including suicidal and homicidal ideation), perception, cognition (orientation, memory, attention, concentration), and insight/judgment.

Reliability = consistency and reproducibility of scores over time or across raters; validity = the instrument measures the construct it claims to measure. A measure can be reliable without being valid, but cannot be valid without being reliable.

Sensitivity is the proportion of people who truly have the condition and are identified as positive (rules out when high and negative); specificity is the proportion without the condition correctly identified as negative (rules in when high and positive).

PHQ-9 scoring: 0–27 total; 5, 10, 15, and 20 are the cut points for mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe depression. Item 9 screens for thoughts of self-harm and warrants immediate follow-up when endorsed.

CAGE alcohol screen has four yes/no items (Cut down, Annoyed by criticism, Guilty feelings, Eye-opener); a score of 2 or more is a positive screen requiring fuller assessment.

Stages of change are precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and relapse. Intervention matching rule: precontemplation calls for raising awareness and reducing harm; action calls for skill building and relapse prevention.

Suicide risk assessment components: ideation frequency and intensity, plan specificity, intent, access to lethal means, prior attempts, substance use, and protective factors. Asking directly about suicide does not increase risk.

Treatment plans follow a linked chain: identified problem → measurable goal → behavioral objectives → specific interventions → target dates → method of evaluating progress. Objectives must be observable and time-bound (SMART).

DSM-5 removed the multiaxial system; the Global Assessment of Functioning was replaced by the WHODAS 2.0, which rates disability across six domains including cognition, mobility, self-care, getting along, life activities, and participation.

The DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview is a 16-question structured guide used to elicit the client's explanatory model, identity, stressors, and prior help-seeking before finalizing a diagnosis.

NASW Code of Ethics core values, in order: service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence.

Valid informed consent requires four elements: client capacity to consent, voluntariness free of coercion, disclosure of the nature of services plus risks, benefits, and alternatives (including the right to refuse), and documentation in the record.

Confidentiality exceptions: serious and foreseeable harm to self or others, suspected abuse or neglect of children, elders, or dependent adults, court orders, and client-authorized written release.

Duty to protect (Tarasoff) is triggered by a serious threat of violence toward an identifiable victim; protective actions include warning the intended victim, notifying law enforcement, arranging hospitalization or increased treatment, and documenting the reasoning.

HIPAA's minimum necessary standard limits each disclosure to the least protected health information needed for the purpose. Psychotherapy notes are held to a stricter standard and generally require separate client authorization.

Dual or multiple relationships are to be avoided when the professional relationship could be exploited; when unavoidable (for example, in a small rural community), the social worker documents the rationale, consults, and monitors for harm.

Termination rule: services end through a planned process with advance notice, review of progress, and referral or transfer when needed. Unilateral abandonment of a client without these steps is an ethical violation.

Tuckman's group development sequence is forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning; storming is a predictable conflict phase rather than a sign the group has failed.

Rothman's three community organizing models are locality development (broad participation and consensus), social planning (expert-driven analysis and problem solving), and social action (mobilizing to shift power and resources).

Evidence-based practice proceeds in five steps: formulate an answerable question, search for the best available evidence, critically appraise it, apply it while integrating client values and circumstances, and evaluate the outcome.