The patient was an awkward child who was ridiculed by his father for his inability to catch a ball

Question

As an adult, the patient developed panic attacks at the time his company established af-ter-work team sporting activities. Which data discussed during the nursing interview pro-vides insight to the possible cause of this anxiety disorder when applying the behavioral model?
a. He always avoids sports because "I'm short and not the least bit athletic."
b. When in fifth grade, the patient caused his team to "lose the big softball game."
c. The company he works for places tremendous emphasis of successful team work.
d. As a child he wore a leg brace that prevented him from participating in school sports.

Answer 1

ANS: A
In behavioral models that are based on learning theory, the etiology of anxiety symptoms is a generalization from an earlier traumatic experience to a benign setting or object. As a result, he associates embarrassment and shame with sports events and develops panic attacks. The same kinds of cognitive operations that link embarrassment with sporting events link the cog-nition of the expectation of embarrassment with the idea of a sporting event, and the indi-vidual begins to experience panic attacks while merely thinking about being involved. The remaining options are not as likely to bring about the embarrassment and shame that would produce such a response.