Which statement best differentiates adjustment disorder from a primary anxiety disorder?

• A. Adjustment disorder requires a history of trauma.
• B. Adjustment disorder is a response to identifiable stressor with symptoms within 3 months of the stressor and impairment, not meeting criteria for another mental disorder; anxiety disorder has pervasive symptoms not tied to a single event.
• C. Anxiety disorder always begins after age 18.
• D. Adjustment disorder has symptoms for at least 6 months.

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is how adjustment disorder is defined in relation to anxiety disorders. Adjustment disorder is a reaction to an identifiable stressor, with symptoms that begin within 3 months of that stressor and cause clinically significant impairment. Crucially, these symptoms do not meet criteria for another mental disorder. This makes it distinct from primary anxiety disorders, where the worry or fear is more pervasive and not tied to a single, identifiable event.

In anxiety disorders, symptoms tend to be chronic and widespread across different situations, not just tied to one stressor, and they often persist beyond a short window after the event. That’s why the statement describing adjustment disorder as tied to an identifiable stressor with onset within 3 months and impairment, and not meeting criteria for another disorder, best differentiates it from a primary anxiety disorder.

The other options don’t fit because: a history of trauma is not required for adjustment disorder (the stressor can be non-traumatic), anxiety disorders aren’t defined by onset after a specific age (they can begin in childhood or later), and adjustment disorder isn’t defined by a minimum duration of six months ( symptoms usually remit within six months after the stressor ends).