DNP 671 Module 5 Anxiety and ADHD Interviewing Post Example

Course	DNP 671 Advanced Mental Health Assessment Across the Lifespan
Module	Module 5
Paper type	Discussion board post and reply
Length	About 342 words
Format	Discussion post with APA 7 citations
School	Arizona State University
Program	Doctor of Nursing Practice
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for DNP 671 Module 5

Week 6 Discussion: An Anxious Adult and a Child With ADHD

When Worry Floods the Room and the Child Will Not Sit: Interviewing for Anxiety and ADHD

Initial Post

The adult with anxiety. The hardest part, I expect, will be keeping the interview on track without making the patient feel dismissed. An anxious patient may move from one worry to the next, and my natural response is to reassure, which can feed the worry. Shea (2017) describes gently structuring an interview, summarizing what the patient has said and redirecting with permission. A brief screening tool also helps organize the conversation. The GAD-7 asks about seven symptoms over the past two weeks and performed well as a screen for generalized anxiety disorder in primary care (Spitzer et al., 2006). Using it at the start can give the anxious patient a clear frame and me a baseline. I also need to remember medical causes such as thyroid disease and stimulant or caffeine use.

The child with ADHD. The hardest part will be that a child may behave perfectly in a 30-minute office visit, or be overwhelmed by a strange room, and neither tells me how he functions at school or home. The American Academy of Pediatrics guideline recommends diagnosing ADHD using DSM criteria with information from parents, teachers and other school personnel, documenting impairment in more than one major setting, and screening for coexisting conditions (Wolraich et al., 2019). That guideline makes it easier: I do not have to rely on what I see in the office. Rating scales completed by parents and teachers, and asking for specific examples ("What happens during homework?"), will tell me more.

What both cases share is that the interview is only one source. For the adult, a validated scale and a medical review; for the child, reports from several settings.

Question for the group: how do you redirect an anxious patient without seeming impatient?

What this page is doingThe post treats each patient separately, naming a specific difficulty and a specific remedy from the readings and guidelines, then draws a shared lesson about using more than one source.

Reply to a Classmate (Medical Causes)

You reminded us that hyperthyroidism and arrhythmias can look like panic. I would add stimulant use, including high-caffeine energy drinks, which many of my adult patients forget to mention.

References

Shea, S. C. (2017). Psychiatric interviewing: The art of understanding (3rd ed.). Elsevier.

Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B. W., & Löwe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: The GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(10), 1092-1097. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.166.10.1092

Wolraich, M. L., Hagan, J. F., Allan, C., Chan, E., Davison, D., Earls, M., Evans, S. W., Flinn, S. K., Froehlich, T., Frost, J., Holbrook, J. R., Lehmann, C. U., Lessin, H. R., Okechukwu, K., Pierce, K. L., Winner, J. D., & Zurhellen, W. (2019). Clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents. Pediatrics, 144(4), e20192528. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-2528

Reading the DNP 671 Module 5 assignment instructions

This Week 6 board belongs to the unit on assessing adults and children with anxiety and children with ADHD, with DSM criteria, interviewing chapters from Shea and Cepeda and optional readings. It asks what you think will be hardest about interviewing an adult with anxiety and a child with ADHD, and what you have learned from the readings that may make it easier. Dates and the rubric are posted in Canvas. Expect to address both patients separately, naming a realistic difficulty for each and pairing it with a strategy, tool or guideline from the readings. Validated screening instruments and the need for information from more than one setting in ADHD are especially worth including, along with medical causes to rule out.

How this DNP 671 Module 5 example is built

The post addresses the two patients in separate sections. For the anxious adult, it names the challenge of keeping a worried patient on track, offers gentle structuring and summarizing from the interviewing text and describes the GAD-7 with its screening evidence, adding medical causes to rule out. For the child, it explains why one office visit can mislead and uses the pediatric ADHD guideline's requirements for information from several settings. A short paragraph draws the shared lesson that the interview is only one source, and a closing question asks how to redirect without seeming impatient. The reply adds stimulant use as a cause of anxiety. Three sources support the post. Both cases end with the same lesson, which ties the post together.

DNP 671 Module 5 rubric: what earns full marks

This discussion is likely graded on realistic difficulties for each patient, strategies drawn from the readings, correct use of screening tools and guideline criteria, attention to medical and coexisting conditions and a useful reply. The best posts treat the two patients distinctly. Citing the GAD-7's validation and the ADHD guideline's multi-setting requirement shows evidence-based practice. Recognizing that office behavior may not reflect daily function shows clinical judgment. Replies that add a differential consideration, such as medical causes, contribute to the group. Faculty also value a reminder that physical illness can produce anxiety or attention problems.

DNP 671 Module 5 help: mistakes that cost marks

A common weakness is writing about anxiety and ADHD in general rather than about interviewing. Focus on what will be hard in the interview and how you will handle it. Another is diagnosing ADHD from office behavior alone; the guideline requires information from several settings. Mention medical causes for anxiety. For a draft based on your own patients, send the desk a brief sketch with names removed. Name one tool for each patient. Keep the post balanced between the two cases. Choose one screening tool for each patient and say how you would use it in the visit. Keep the two sections roughly equal in length.

Write yours, or have the desk draft it

This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Arizona State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.

More DNP 671 and Doctor of Nursing Practice sample papers

DNP 671 Module 5 questions, answered

Where can I find a free DNP 671 Module 5 sample paper?

Above is a finished DNP 671 Week 6 post comparing an interview with an anxious adult and one with a child who may have ADHD.

What is the GAD-7?

A seven-item screening questionnaire for generalized anxiety disorder that asks about symptoms over the past two weeks.

How is ADHD diagnosed in children?

Using DSM criteria with information from parents, teachers and others, showing impairment in more than one setting, and screening for coexisting conditions.

Why can't ADHD be diagnosed in one office visit?

A child's behavior in an unfamiliar office may not reflect how he functions at home and school.

What medical causes can mimic anxiety?

Thyroid disease, heart rhythm problems and stimulant or caffeine use are among the causes to consider.

DNP 671 Module 5 Discussion: Interviewing an Adult With Anxiety and a Child With ADHD Example