HSP Cultural and Individual Diversity 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A health service psychologist discovers that an evidence-based treatment was validated primarily on White, middle-class populations. When applying it with a Black client, the clinician should:
- Withhold the treatment entirely since it was not validated on this population
- Apply the treatment without modification and document outcomes
- Adapt the treatment in a culturally responsive manner while monitoring efficacy (Correct answer)
- Refer the client to a research study to obtain proper treatment
Correct answer: Adapt the treatment in a culturally responsive manner while monitoring efficacy
Cultural adaptation of evidence-based treatments while monitoring outcomes is the recommended practice when applying treatments across diverse populations.
Question 2: The ADDRESSING framework (Hays, 2008) is used in multicultural psychology to:
- Diagnose culturally bound syndromes
- Systematically consider multiple cultural identity dimensions when conceptualizing clients (Correct answer)
- Assess acculturation levels in immigrant populations
- Guide translation of psychological instruments
Correct answer: Systematically consider multiple cultural identity dimensions when conceptualizing clients
The ADDRESSING framework prompts clinicians to systematically consider age, disability, religion, ethnicity, social status, sexual orientation, indigenous heritage, national origin, and gender.
Question 3: Which term describes a clinician's assumption that their own cultural norms are the standard against which all others should be measured?
- Cultural humility
- Ethnocentrism (Correct answer)
- Acculturation
- Cultural relativism
Correct answer: Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's own culture is the natural standard, leading to the evaluation of other cultures by comparison to one's own.
Question 4: When working with an LGBTQ+ client, a health service psychologist should be aware that conversion therapy practices:
- Are endorsed by APA as a therapeutic option for ego-dystonic homosexuality
- Have been found effective for some clients and should be offered as a choice
- Are considered unethical and harmful by all major U.S. psychological and medical associations (Correct answer)
- Are only problematic when used with minors
Correct answer: Are considered unethical and harmful by all major U.S. psychological and medical associations
All major U.S. psychological and medical associations, including APA, have condemned conversion therapy as unethical and harmful based on evidence of psychological harm.
Question 5: A psychologist working with an elderly Asian American client finds the client defers all treatment decisions to adult children. The most culturally responsive approach is to:
- Insist the client make all decisions independently to respect autonomy
- Ignore family involvement and treat only the identified patient
- Explore the cultural meaning of family decision-making and incorporate family as appropriate within an ethical framework (Correct answer)
- Report the family for undue influence
Correct answer: Explore the cultural meaning of family decision-making and incorporate family as appropriate within an ethical framework
Exploring family-centered decision-making within the client's cultural context respects collectivist values while maintaining ethical obligations to the client.
Question 6: In health service psychology, 'intersectionality' refers to:
- The intersection of psychology with medical specialties
- How multiple social identities overlap and create unique experiences of privilege and oppression (Correct answer)
- A therapy technique combining CBT and psychodynamic approaches
- Geographic crossover in health disparities data
Correct answer: How multiple social identities overlap and create unique experiences of privilege and oppression
Intersectionality, coined by Crenshaw, describes how overlapping identities (race, gender, class, etc.) interact to create distinct experiences that cannot be understood by examining each identity separately.
Question 7: The 'cultural humility' approach to multicultural competence, as opposed to 'cultural competence,' emphasizes:
- Achieving mastery of specific cultural facts and traditions
- Ongoing self-reflection, openness, and learning rather than claiming expertise (Correct answer)
- Memorizing DSM diagnostic criteria for culture-bound syndromes
- Delegating cultural concerns to community health workers
Correct answer: Ongoing self-reflection, openness, and learning rather than claiming expertise
Cultural humility emphasizes lifelong learning, self-critique, and power imbalance awareness rather than achieving fixed competence endpoints.
HSP Cultural and Individual Diversity 2
A health service psychologist discovers that an evidence-based treatment was validated primarily on White, middle-class populations.
When applying it with a Black client, the clinician should: