Clinicians' judgments of clinical utility: a comparison of the DSM-IV and five-factor models

J Abnorm Psychol. 2006 May;115(2):298-308. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.115.2.298.

Abstract

Clinical utility, or the usefulness of a diagnostic system in clinical practice, has been identified as an important construct in proposed revisions to the diagnostic nomenclature and a significant limitation of dimensional models of personality disorder, such as the 5-factor model (FFM). Only 1 study to date has addressed explicitly the clinical utility of the FFM, and the findings suggested significant limitations. In the current study, 245 practicing psychologists described 3 historic cases using both the FFM and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) and then rated each model on 6 aspects of clinical utility. In contrast to prior research, the psychologists in this study considered the FFM to have greater clinical utility than the existing diagnostic categories.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Legal Case

MeSH terms

  • Antisocial Personality Disorder / diagnosis*
  • Antisocial Personality Disorder / psychology*
  • Attitude of Health Personnel*
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders*
  • Factor Analysis, Statistical
  • Humans
  • Judgment*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Terminology as Topic