Free ABPPSP Practice Questions

Question 1

During a post-offer police suitability evaluation, an applicant produces an interpretable MMPI-3 profile without clinically significant elevations, and the clinical interview does not establish a mental disorder. Background records document repeated falsification of safety reports in two previous jobs. The applicant acknowledges the falsifications but calls them harmless shortcuts. Accurate reporting and integrity are explicit requirements of the position. Which conclusion belongs in the psychologist's report?

Accepted Answer

The corroborated dishonesty raises job-relevant suitability concerns despite the absence of a mental disorder.

Answer

Normal clinical findings support suitability; the agency should address the falsifications separately.

Answer

Another personality inventory is needed before the psychologist can give the documented conduct substantive weight in the suitability opinion.

Answer

The repeated falsifications support a personality-disorder diagnosis that should be the principal basis of the recommendation.

Question 2

Midway through an outpatient appointment, a corrections officer says he intends to shoot himself that evening. He has written a farewell message and has access to a personally owned firearm at home. His service weapon has already been secured. He agrees to hospital assessment but says, 'I don't trust myself once I leave here.' What must the psychologist arrange before the officer leaves the clinic?

Accepted Answer

Direct observation and emergency transport for psychiatric evaluation, with coordinated attention to remaining firearm access.

Answer

A safety plan and urgent outpatient follow-up after the officer returns home.

Answer

An immediate fitness-for-duty appointment before deciding whether hospital assessment is needed.

Answer

A family-supervised return home to secure the firearm and await telephone reassessment.

Question 3

A prospective validation study follows 1,000 newly hired officers for one year. Forty develop a predefined serious job-performance problem. A screening rule, not used in hiring or supervision during the study, flags 30 of those 40 officers and 96 of the 960 officers who do not develop the problem. The agency proposes treating a positive result as strong evidence that an individual will develop the problem. What proportion of flagged officers developed the problem, and what does that imply for individual prediction?

Accepted Answer

About 24%; the rule detects most affected officers, but most positive results are false positives.

Answer

About 75%; the rule's sensitivity shows that most flagged officers later developed the problem.

Answer

About 90%; specificity means that roughly nine in ten flagged officers later developed the problem.

Answer

About 89%; overall accuracy establishes that most officers with a positive screening result later developed the specified problem.

Question 4

A threat-management team is reviewing a former employee who blames an emergency-communications supervisor for his dismissal. He has made angry complaints but no direct threat. Which newly corroborated fact most strongly warrants prompt reassessment for movement toward targeted violence?

Accepted Answer

He has visited the supervisor's home twice and sought information about her arrival and departure times.

Answer

His online complaints increasingly repeat the supervisor's name and focus on the dismissal.

Answer

He has stopped attending a social group and told friends that challenging the dismissal occupies most of his time.

Answer

He has described the dismissal as devastating and recently resumed counseling for symptoms of depression and insomnia.

Question 5

A police chief requests an individualized mandatory fitness-for-duty evaluation after an incumbent officer mentions seeking counseling during a divorce. Current observations and performance records show no impairment, threats, or safety concerns. The agency is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and no periodic examination requirement applies. The chief says the evaluation would simply provide reassurance. How should the psychologist address the referral threshold?

Accepted Answer

Explain that the available facts do not establish a job-related, business-necessity basis for the examination.

Answer

Recommend a brief compulsory psychological screen instead, reserving a full evaluation for an elevated screening result.

Answer

Ask the chief to obtain the officer's counseling records before deciding whether an examination has a sufficient basis.

Answer

Support the examination because armed duties make voluntary mental-health treatment sufficient evidence of a potential direct threat.

Question 6

Eighteen days after surviving a building collapse, a firefighter reports persistent intrusive memories, nightmares, flashbacks, intense physiological reactions to reminders, inability to feel positive emotions, insomnia, irritability, hypervigilance, difficulty concentrating, and exaggerated startle. These symptoms have been present for two weeks and substantially disrupt family and work functioning. She does not avoid thoughts of the event or external reminders. Assessment finds no substance, medication, medical, or other psychiatric explanation. How should this presentation be classified at this visit?

Accepted Answer

Acute stress disorder.

Answer

Posttraumatic stress disorder.

Answer

Adjustment disorder with anxiety.

Answer

A nonpathological acute stress reaction.

Question 7

A crisis negotiator has just established telephone contact with a barricaded man who says, 'My neighbors put cameras in the walls. If I come outside, they'll kill me.' There is no corroboration of the claimed surveillance. The consulting psychologist recommends a response that acknowledges the man's experience without endorsing the allegation. Which line accomplishes that task?

Accepted Answer

It sounds terrifying to feel watched in your own home and unsafe about coming outside.

Answer

What evidence convinced you that your neighbors have installed cameras in the walls?

Answer

Our officers are outside; your neighbors can't hurt you while we're here.

Answer

We can investigate what your neighbors have done, but first I need you to come outside and talk.

Question 8

For several months, a 911 call-taker has repeatedly handled live calls involving violent deaths and graphic descriptions of severe injuries. She now reports intrusive recollections of the calls. A supervisor argues that PTSD assessment is inappropriate because she was never physically at a scene. What is the clinically relevant correction?

Accepted Answer

Repeated, extreme work-related exposure to aversive details can satisfy Criterion A; physical scene attendance is not required.

Answer

Telephone exposure qualifies only when the call-taker personally knows a victim.

Answer

Intrusive recollections establish qualifying trauma exposure regardless of how the information was received.

Answer

Telephone work is secondary occupational stress unless the call-taker's own safety was threatened.

Question 9

A detective hired laterally six months ago has received a conditional offer of an undercover assignment. A commander asks whether the detective's six-month-old preemployment opinion of 'suitable for patrol' can also support this placement. The undercover work requires prolonged isolation, maintenance of a covert identity, and independent decisions with limited supervision. The original evaluation did not assess those demands. What assessment approach is justified for the new referral?

Accepted Answer

Evaluate assignment-specific capacities using a special-duty protocol supported by the relevant job demands.

Answer

Extend the existing opinion to the agency's new assignment.

Answer

Repeat the personality battery and extend the opinion if the clinical profile has remained stable.

Answer

Use a general fitness evaluation to establish absence of impairment before treating the detective as suitable.

Question 10

A National Guard medic receiving cognitive processing therapy scores 57 before treatment and 41 at follow-up on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), using the same past-month version. She reports fewer nightmares and renewed contact with family, but still avoids some trauma reminders. Her clinic uses 33 as a probable-PTSD screening threshold. She asks whether remaining above 33 means the treatment has failed. Which interpretation is supported?

Accepted Answer

The findings are consistent with treatment response, while residual symptoms still require clinical assessment.

Answer

Remaining above the screening threshold indicates nonresponse, so the current treatment should be replaced despite the reported functional gains.

Answer

The size of the score reduction establishes remission, even though the follow-up score remains above the screening threshold.

Answer

The score reduction supports unrestricted deployment readiness once the treating clinician confirms that the questionnaire was scored correctly.

Free ABPPSP Practice Questions

Domain 3: Scientific Knowledge and Methods

Question 1

Domain 4: Relationships

Question 2

Domain 6: Ethical/Legal Standards

Question 3

Domain 7: Practice Standards

Question 4

Domain 9: Knowledge of Client Milieu

Question 5

Domain 10: Evidence-Based Practice

Question 6

Domain 11: Assessment

Question 7

Question 8

Domain 12: Intervention

Question 9

Domain 13: Consultation

Question 10

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