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Chapter 33
Nursing Care of an Adolescent and Family
1. A 15-year-old is seen at a health care facility for facial acne. When counseling him, you would teach him
that the basic cause of his acne is:
A. lack of showering adequately after gym class.
B. activation of androgen hormones.
C. vitamin deficiency from an inadequate diet.
D. thyroid gland secretions increasing with adolescence.
2. An adolescent is prescribed retinoic acid cream as therapy for his acne. About which of the following
would you caution him?
A. Not putting the medication on just prior to bedtime.
B. Applying the cream while his face is wet.
C. Avoiding staying in the sun for extended periods of time.
D. Not applying the cream directly on lesions.
3. An adolescent is concerned that although he has pubic hair, he has no facial hair yet. He wishes facial hair
would grow to cover acne lesions. You would advise him that facial hair
A. usually grows before pubic hair.
B. is rarely present before 20 years of age.
C. is delayed in boys with acne.
D. usually follows pubic hair growth.
4. An adolescent is concerned that he is going to be unusually short. You would advise him that the
epiphyseal lines of long bones in boys that govern growth usually close between ages
A. 13 and 14 years.
B. 14 and 15 years.
C. 17 and 18 years.
D. 20 and 22 years.
5. Based on the most frequent cause of death in adolescents, what preventive measure would you most want to
teach an adolescent?
A. Home safety.
B. Motor vehicle safety.
C. Firearm safety.
D. Water safety.
6. A 17-year-old writes a suicide note and then swallows aspirin. Which of the following factors would make
you think that he might do this again?
A. He has always been a loner.
B. He states he has been feeling sad lately.
C. He took only six aspirins, so he has some left.
D. His parents were recently divorced.
7. Which intervention would probably be most effective in preventing an adolescent from attempting suicide
with an overdose again?
A. Assessing his financial level.
B. Helping him learn better problem solving.
C. Teaching his parents to keep medicine in a locked cabinet.
D. Helping him locate a close friend at school.
8. A 16-year-old who drives a car he bought with money earned from working after school is seen in an
emergency room after being arrested for driving while intoxicated. The teaching method that will probably
be most effective in getting him to discontinue daily alcohol use is to:
A. review the long-term effects of alcohol on the liver.
B. tell him he should know better.
C. teach that alcohol will eventually lead to other drug abuse.
D. stress that he will lose his driving license if he does not stop.
9. A 16-year-old uses marijuana daily. To help her do better in school, what advice would be most important?
A. Marijuana causes memory gaps that interfere with learning.
B. The effect of marijuana fades fastest if she eats after use.
C. Marijuana leads to muscle laxness, so it should not be used close to gym class.
D. Marijuana increases blood pressure; she should not run after smoking it.
10. The developmental task of the adolescent period according to Erikson is to form a sense of
A. autonomy versus shame or doubt.
B. initiative versus guilt.
C. identity versus diffusion.
D. decisiveness versus indecisiveness.
11. The activity that would best foster the developmental task of a physically challenged adolescent would be:
A. deciding whether she wants her bath before or after lunch.
B. watching television on the set in her room.
C. talking to another adolescent who has a similar disorder.
D. having a teacher bring her school homework in for her.
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12. A 16-year-old girl who has been confined to a wheelchair since early childhood has been acting rebellious
and rude. Her parents ask you, “Are all adolescents like this?” What is your best response?
A. “Yes. Although your daughter’s behaviors are more like those of an adolescent boy.”
B. “No. Your daughter must need some help in dealing with her feelings.”
C. “Your daughter’s behavior seems to be typical adolescent behavior. Let’s talk more about it.”
D. “Your daughter’s behavior results from feelings about her disability; ignore them.”
13. Which action would provide an indication that an adolescent’s parents understand their daughter’s need for
increased independence?
A. Verbalizing, “We try to do everything we can to make things easier for her.”
B. Telling you that they now understand that their daughter’s chief need is for increased privacy.
C. Telling you that they are encouraging their daughter in her search for an after-school job.
D. Saying, “We will always be here for her whenever she needs us.”
14. An adolescent asks you what the term “puberty” means. What is your best response?
A. “It is the age at which one first becomes capable of sexual reproduction.”
B. “It denotes the beginning of secondary sex characteristics.”
C. “It is the time span between 12 and 18 years.”
D. “The time span that denotes the onset of maturity.”
15. An adolescent shares with you that she wishes her breasts would grow larger. Which of the following
would be the best response initially?
A. “It is unlikely that your breasts will grow any more. I wouldn’t spend time thinking about it.”
B. “You look fine to me. Why would you want larger breasts?”
C. “Breast growth usually stops by the age of 16 years. What is the reason you were hoping yours
would grow more?”
D. “Let’s talk about your concern. You know that breast size has nothing to do with ability to
reproduce.”
16. When encouraging the hospitalized physically challenged or chronically ill adolescent to develop and
maintain a sense of identity, you would:
A. provide the opportunity for individual decision making.
B. provide physical comfort to the individual.
C. ask the parents what the adolescent is capable of doing.
D. provide care until the adolescent insists on being independent.
17. The parents of an adolescent boy are concerned about the amount of sleep he seems to require. What advice
would you give them?
A. “As long as he seems otherwise well, this sounds like a typical teenager.”
B. “Adolescents only need 8 hours of sleep a night; anything over this is excessive.”
C. “Your son is probably engaged in too many activities and is wearing himself out.”
D. “Your son may be taking drugs; the side effect of many drugs is to cause sleepiness.”
18. The nurse working with adolescents should be aware that the most widely used drug among adolescents is
A. alcohol.
B. heroin.
C. cocaine.
D. speed.
19. The adolescent experimenting with drugs
A. will ultimately show signs of depression and suicide.
B. will reach maturity earlier than the adolescent who does not experiment with drugs.
C. is likely to have difficulty achieving the developmental tasks of adolescence.
D. is most likely self-assured, confident, and a class leader.
20. When planning health care for an adolescent runaway, which of the following would be most important to
do first?
A. Assess the runaway’s educational level.
B. Determine the reasons why the adolescent ran away.
C. Assess if the adolescent has sufficient resources on which to live.
D. Determine if the parents are willing to take the adolescent back into their home.
21. An obese 16-year-old comes into a health office at her high school. The best method of obtaining a
nutrition history from her would be to:
A. ask her what she knows about good nutrition.
B. tell her to list what she plans to eat for the next 24 hours.
C. ask her what she ate yesterday if it was a typical day.
D. telephone her mother and ask her what she ate yesterday.
22. A teenager states that she has followed one fad diet after another. When counseling her, you should be
aware that these types of diets appeal to adolescents because:
A. they appear cheaper than eating regular food, so they are easily afforded by adolescents.
B. an adolescent grows best on innovative nutrition, so these diets help them reach optimum height.
C. cardiac output is stimulated with sporadic nutrition, so the diets give bursts of energy.
D. they are a way of expressing identity, thus they meet adolescent development needs.
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23. The nurse realizes Raul is concerned about developing body odor and that he has consulted some
websites that address this problem. The nurse recognizes a valid and reliable website would cite which
aspect is true of body odor in adolescents?
A. It is largely dependent on ethnicity and body type.
B. It is caused by an increase in the activity of apocrine glands.
C. Poor hygiene is the main cause of adolescent body odor.
D. Body odor can result from clogged sebaceous glands.

MATCHING: Match each term with its corresponding definition.

COLUMN A COLUMN B
_____ 1. The masculinizing hormones; secreted in small and A. Puberty
gradually increasing amounts up to about 7 or 9 years of age, B. Prepubescence
then followed by a rapid increase in both sexes, the level of C. Adolescence
androgens in males increasing over that in females with the D. Estrogen
onset of testicular function. E. Androgens
_____ 2. Regular use of drugs for other than the accepted F. Testosterone
medical purposes; use of drugs resulting in physical or G. Menarche
psychologic harm to the user and/or detrimental effects to society. H. Gynecomastia
_____ 3. The hormone that increases with the onset of I. Nocturnal emission
testicular function. J. Religious beliefs
_____ 4. Behavior associated with drug use that is voluntary K. Peer group
and culturally defined. L. Obesity
_____5. Behaviors associated with drug use that are M. Anorexia nervosa
physiologic and involuntary; not culturally defined. N. Bulimia
_____ 6. The initial appearance of menstruation; occurs O. Drug abuse
about 2 years after the appearance of the irst pubescent changes. P. Drug tolerance
_____7. The feminizing hormone; found in low quantities Q. Addiction
during childhood; secreted in slowly increasing amounts until
about age 11 years in both males and females, then followed by
a distinction in its secretion between the male and the female.
_____ 8. Temporary breast enlargement and tenderness;
common during mid-puberty in boys.
_____ 9. Eating disorder characterized by binge eating and
purging followed by self deprecating thoughts, a depressed
mood, and awareness that the eating pattern is abnormal.
_____ 10. A period of transition between childhood and
adulthood, beginning with the gradual appearance of secondary
sex characteristics at about 11 or 12 years of age and ending
with cessation of body growth at 18 to 20 years.
_____ 11. The first period of puberty; occurs about 2 years
immediately before puberty, when the child is developing
preliminary physical changes that herald sexual maturity.
_____ 12. Eating disorder characterized by a refusal to
maintain a minimally normal body weight; severe weight loss
in the absence of obvious physical causes.
_____ 13. Occurs in males toward the end of the growth
spurt of adolescence.
_____ 14. The maturational, hormonal, and growth process that
occurs when the reproductive organs begin to function and the
secondary sex characteristics develop.
_____15. Are strongly influenced by inter-personal relationships
with peers as well as adults in their environment.
_____ 16. Condition said to exist when a child’s BMI is
greater than the 95th percentile.
_____ 17. Serves as a strong support to adolescents and forms
the transitional world between dependence and autonomy