10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,030-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
These 10 free DBP questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Certification in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP) blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
Domain 5: Assessment principles and interpretation
Question 1
A preschooler's language assessment is repeated after 12 months using the same age-normed instrument. Her raw score rises from 36 to 43, but her age-standardized score falls from 86 to 74; the standard-score mean is 100 with a standard deviation of 15. Both administrations are valid, and the examiner confirms that the decline exceeds expected measurement error. Parents and therapists document new vocabulary and sentence skills without loss of previously acquired abilities. How should the pediatrician explain the apparently conflicting results?
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Correct answer: D - She acquired language skills, but her standing relative to same-age peers declined.
Domain 6: Management principles and laws
Question 2
At a US public-school meeting, staff question whether an 11-year-old with ADHD needs disability-related services because she earns mostly A grades. Her parents spend several hours each evening organizing and supervising her work. An IDEA evaluation documents substantial limitations in concentrating and organizing tasks but finds that she does not need specially designed instruction. Which recommendation is consistent with these findings?
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Correct answer: C - Request Section 504 evaluation for disability-related access needs.
Domain 7: Autism spectrum disorder/social communication disorder
Question 3
An 11-year-old has fluent, grammatically complex speech and average cognitive abilities but repeatedly loses friendships. Since preschool, she has had difficulty sustaining reciprocal conversation, integrating gaze and gestures with speech, and adjusting her behavior to different social relationships. These difficulties occur at home and school and are not driven by fear of embarrassment. No repetitive behavior is evident during the visit. Her parents recall years of repetitive wheel-spinning and intense distress when familiar routes changed; these behaviors became less conspicuous with support. Which diagnosis best accounts for the developmental history?
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Correct answer: C - Autism spectrum disorder
Question 4
A 19-month-old has few spoken words and rarely points to share interest. The initial M-CHAT-R total is 5. The prescribed structured Follow-Up is completed, with 3 responses remaining positive. A local autism diagnostic service has a six-month waiting list. The family asks whether anything should happen while they wait. What should the pediatrician initiate now?
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Correct answer: D - Refer for early-intervention eligibility assessment and autism diagnostic evaluation.
At a treatment review, the parents of a 5-year-4-month-old with well-established ADHD report completing four months of evidence-based parent training. Preschool staff consistently implement the accompanying classroom plan. Despite improved limit-setting, the child's hyperactivity and impulsivity, present for more than a year, remain markedly impairing in both settings, and he repeatedly runs from supervised areas. Sleep, growth, blood pressure, and cardiac history are reassuring; no alternative condition better explains the symptoms. The family is willing to consider medication. What treatment adjustment is best supported?
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Correct answer: A - Add carefully titrated methylphenidate while continuing the behavioral interventions.
Question 6
Methylphenidate has substantially improved a 10-year-old's ADHD-related schoolwork and family functioning. At follow-up, his parent asks whether the drug must be stopped because of blinking and throat-clearing tics. The tics began 18 months before medication, continue to wax and wane without a dose relationship, and cause no pain, embarrassment, or interference with activities. The child is not seeking treatment for them. Growth, sleep, pulse, and blood pressure remain satisfactory. How should the medication plan be handled?
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Correct answer: A - Continue methylphenidate and monitor tic-related impairment.
A previous consultation described a 14-year-old's established intellectual disability as moderate solely because his full-scale IQ was 48. Repeat testing produces a full-scale IQ of 54. His parents ask whether the severity designation should now change. He has received years of adaptive-skills teaching, but the new consultation has not yet reviewed how he functions outside testing. What evidence should carry the greatest weight in updating the severity designation?
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Correct answer: D - His usual conceptual, social, and practical functioning and associated support needs.
Domain 10: Communication disorders
Question 8
A 6-year-old who has spoken Spanish at home since infancy entered an English-language school five months ago. His teacher reports short English sentences and difficulty following verbal instructions. Hearing and nonverbal reasoning are normal. Before deciding whether he has a developmental language disorder rather than a language-exposure difference, the team arranges a bilingual evaluation. Which additional finding would provide the strongest evidence for a disorder?
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Correct answer: B - Grammar and narrative weaknesses in both languages relative to peers with similar exposure.
Domain 11: Genetic disorders
Question 9
The cause of a 15-year-old boy's intellectual disability and longstanding language impairment remains unexplained after chromosomal microarray and trio exome sequencing. Examination shows a long face, prominent ears, and postpubertal macroorchidism. A maternal uncle has unexplained intellectual disability, and the boy's mother developed primary ovarian insufficiency at 34. Which investigation most directly addresses the suspected mechanism that the previous studies may have missed?
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Correct answer: A - FMR1 CGG-repeat sizing with methylation analysis
Domain 13: Neurologic, neuromuscular, and medical complexity
Question 10
A parent shows a video of a 6-month-old having clusters of brief head drops with bilateral arm flexion shortly after awakening. Each movement lasts about one second and recurs every several seconds. During the past two weeks, the infant has stopped reaching for toys as often and has lost previously frequent vocalizations. She is alert between clusters, feeds normally, and has no fever. The movements were initially attributed to reflux. Which response takes priority?
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Correct answer: B - Arrange urgent pediatric neurologic assessment and EEG for epileptic spasms.