Review the case study beginning on page 314 of the Abnormal Psychology text and respond to the following
using headings to match content in each bullet point:
Compose three open questions you would want to ask Jeremy and his mother during your assessment that will
invite them to expand upon their perspective of the presenting problem. Consider ways to phrase questions
that will help you assess the biological and social risk factors for conduct and oppositional defiant disorders.
Provide a brief rationale for each question.
Identify a potential diagnosis for Jeremy including the psychosocial and environmental problems (V and Z
codes) that would be important to provide a holistic description of the context of the focus of treatment.
Include any information you learned from using the Differential Diagnosis tool.
Support your ideas with references to the course texts, articles from this learning unit, articles from the Optional
Readings, or articles from peer-reviewed journals that you locate in the Capella University Library.
Response Guidelines
Responses are encouraged, but you are not required to post responses to other learners for this discussion
question.
Learning Components
This activity will help you achieve the following learning components:
Identify the main symptoms observed in persons who are experiencing the psychological disorders.
Review assessment tools and their application.
Identify the role of diagnostic codes, including Z codes, to support a holistic diagnosis of clients seen in family
counseling.
Use language appropriate for a counseling professional.
Cite and reference resources, giving appropriate credit for another’s work.
Resources: Jeremiah case study
Jeremy has been increasingly difficult to manage since nursery school. At school, he teases and kicks other
children, trips them, and calls them names. He is described as bad-tempered and irritable, though at times he
seems to enjoy school. Often he appears to be deliberately trying to annoy other children, though he always
claims that others have started the arguments. He does not get in serious fights but does occasionally
exchange a few blows with another child.
Jeremy sometimes refuses to do what his two teachers tell him to do, and this year he has been particularly
difficult during arithmetic, art, and science lessons. He gives many reasons why he should not have to do his
work and argues when told to do it. At home, Jeremy’s behavior varies. Some days he is defiant and rude to
his mother, needing to be told to do everything several times, though he usually complies eventually. Other
days he is charming and volunteers to help, but his unhelpful days predominate. His mother says, “The least
little thing upsets him, and then he shouts and screams.” Jeremy is described as spiteful and mean with his
younger brother, Rickie. His mother also says that he tells many minor lies, though when pressed he is truthful
about important things. (Source: DSM Casebook: A Learning Companion to the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. American Psychiatric Association, 2013.)