Discriminant Validity Involves How Much Constructs Discriminate from Each Other

The DSM IV-TR, published by the American Psychiatric Association, is the authoritative book for clinicians, psychiatrists, therapists and other healthcare professionals who diagnose mental disorders. It lists the diagnostic criteria and features, differential diagnoses, course and prevalence of the disease. It is the go-t

This problem have improved but it is still a problem caused by the DSM. DSM-IV TR also does not consider patients subjective experience of a disorder. That is, the approach is not a dimensional approach as there is no first-person report but rather, observations are usually carried out which may neglect the more somatic and psychological processes that underlie the symptoms (Flanagan, Davidson & Strauss, 2007).3 Also, DSM causes most clinicians to be primarily concerned with the signs and symptoms of a disorder rather than the underlying cause by giving a list of certain criteria for diagnosis.

Since the discrete nature of the DSM relies on a yes-no approach to classification, patient is either afflicted with a certain mental illness, or not. On the discussion of the not criminally responsible individual, this means that if an individual answers incorrectly or does not provide the right information, they may not be properly characterized under a certain disorder. This may not necessarily mean that the individual does not possess this certain disorder. Furthermore, disorders that have not yet been discovered by psychiatrist will not be found within the DSM manual. The obvious consequence for this would mean that individuals who have special types of disorders might not be diagnosed at all and if they are, they may be diagnosed under incorrect categories due to a lack of understanding. A second criticism of the DSM-IV is that the cut-off points for each disorder are often chosen with little empirical justification. Merely relying on the number of symptoms and the duration of which they appear could mean that those who do not meet the cut-off points for a given category are simply funnelled into the criminal justice system without receiving the quality of mental health attention that they may require. In certain cases, having only two symptoms instead of the required three to possess a certain mental disorder would mean that you do not have that disorder at all. This sort of information should be considered as potentially being sufficient to leave someone in a position where they do not appreciate the nature and quality of their actions. Even if these factors are insufficient to warrant an acquittal based on an entry of NCRMD, it should at the very least be used as a mitigating

The ICD is produced by a global health agency with a constitutional public health mission, while the DSM is produced by a single national professional association DSM-IV Codes are the classification found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision, also known as DSM-IV-TR, a manual published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) that includes all currently recognized mental health

This diversity in the professions that contribute to the criteria found in the DSM-5 can only assist in assuring the validity of the disorders presented within it. The disorders contained in the manual all have a series of specific requirements that an individual must

The DSM is a classified system used by psychiatrist and other clinical professions in order to diagnose clients and patients who show signs of some type of disorder. The two advantages of using this model or classification system ranges from the validity of an assessment used by clinicians and other health care professionals. Build around the concepts and purposes for the DSM model is that it supports a number of standard assessments of diagnosing different treatment providers. Furthermore, (Comer, J. 2016) suggest that the DSM-5 requires clinicians to provide both categorical and dimensional information which is part of being consistent in diagnosing. From a categorical perspective this refers to the name of a particular category of a disorder which is indicated on behalf of the client’s symptoms. From the dimensional perspective it is a rating of how the client symptoms and the severity of the dysfunction through various dimensions.

The diagnostic process for personality disorders currently covers a broad scope of various tests and symptoms, causing a source of frustration for psychiatrists (Aldhous). The symptoms and side effects of several personality disorders can tend to blur together, making diagnosis challenging (Aldhous). Most psychiatric patients are diagnosed with several personality disorders at once, with twenty percent of people with personality disorders simply diagnosed with a “personality disorder not otherwise specified” (Aldhous). Using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, commonly referred to as the DSM, psychiatrists attempt with great difficulty to categorize their patients into a specific disorder, only to diagnose

The second part of the problem is when multiple disorders that are currently considered separate and very similar. Having people with seemingly very different patterns be classified as having the same disorder was something I also saw frequently at my work. In the case of substance dependance we would have some patients who felt they could quit a substance if not for withdrawal, and other who felt the substance controlled their life. To me these seem like different problems, and I wouldn't think of treating them in the same way. I feel the same way about persons entering treatment for major depression that began with a specific event but lasting unreasonably long compared to a person who didn't have a clear event that started the episode. For the first example it could be a lack of coping strategies, yet for the other it may be cognitive distortions, yet both would be listed as the same disorder. As I previously stated, the opposite also seems problematic. Using the previous example, the cognitive distortions resulting in a major depressive episode could also result in dysthymia. Biological theories of disorders also don't seem to support these separations, with similar neuro-chemical problems being associated with ranges of disorders. Together, these two issues call into question the accuracy in our current system of categorical diagnosis in finding discrete clusters of symptoms.

The current categorical approach of the DSM-V is a much more black and white perspective of diagnosis. In other words, a person is either healthy or disordered; a person either meets for the diagnostic criteria or he does not. With a cutoff or threshold for diagnosis, it is much easier to decide who receives treatment, as well as for insurance companies to understand who deserves

Categorical approach is important, because it can tell whether certain symptom is present or absent to help clinician decide which mental disorder it belongs to and help decide typical treatment. However, people with same disorders may not necessarily show the smae symptomes. Although they

Nonetheless, there are limitations associated with the medical model and the DSM. These limitations include focusing on the symptoms rather than focusing on other factors in the

Before answering the question we need to understand what DSM-5 is it is shortened from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Of mental Disorders and the five shows how much it has changed over the years. This classification wouldn’t be possible without Emil Krapelin who developed the first modern classification system for abnormal behavior which helped form the first DSM. The DSM-5 list approximately 400 mental disorders each one explains the criteria for diagnosing the disorder and key clinical features and sometimes describes features that are often times not related to the disorder. The classification is further explained by the back ground information such as: research finds, age, culture, gender trends, and each disorder’s prevalence, risk, course, complications predisposing factors, and family patterns. The DSM-5 is the only one of the editions that seeks both categorical and dimensional information as part of the diagnosis, rather than categorical information alone (Comer, 2013, pp.100). Now that we know what DSM-5 is we need to know what categorical information and dimensional information mean. Categorical information refers to the name of the disorder indicated by the patient’s symptoms. An example of this would be when a clinician must decide if a patient is showing

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has a number of features. First of all, every disorder is identified using a name and a numerical code. In addition, the manual provides the criteria for diagnosing each disorder as well as establishes subtypes of a disorder and examples that would illustrate the disorder. The manual goes further by addressing the typical age of onset, culturally related information, gender-related information, prevalence of a disorder, typical clinical course of a disorder, typical predisposing factors of a disorder and genetic family patterns of a disease (Summers, 2009). The DSM-IV is a tool that is used by mental health practitioners and social service workers. As has been demonstrated

Discriminant validity as explained by Peter and Churchill (1986) mirrors the degree to which the measure is remarkable and not just an impression of different variables. Every measurement of a construct ought to be one of a kind and distinctive from the other despite the fact that each mirrors a part of that construct. There are a few approaches to assess discriminant validity. Average Variance Extracted (AVE) is a typical technique for testing discriminant validity (Gerbing and Anderson, 1988). The Average Variance Extraction method introduced by Fornell and Larcker (1981) can be used by inspecting the cross loadings of every item in the construct and the square root of AVE computed for each construct. Every one of the items ought to have

KESSLER, R. C., BERGLUND, P., DEMLER, O., JIN, R., MERIKANGAS, K. R., & WALTERS, E. E. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of general psychiatry, 62, 593-602.