Which term refers to a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior?

• A. Psychological disorder
• B. Medical model
• C. Epigenetics
• D. DSM-5

Answer: (A)

A psychological disorder is defined by a clinically significant disturbance in cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects dysfunction in mental functioning and leads to distress or impairment in daily life. This framing captures why it’s considered a syndrome: a recognizable pattern of symptoms that tend to occur together and disrupt functioning beyond typical variation. The other terms aren’t the disorder itself: the medical model describes explaining such problems in biological terms; epigenetics concerns how gene expression changes with experience; and DSM-5 is the diagnostic manual that outlines the criteria for disorders, not the disorder as a concept. So the term that best fits the description is psychological disorder.