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Relating DSM-5 section II and section III personality disorder diagnostic classification systems to treatment
Leslie C Morey1, Kathryn T Benson1
1Texas A&M University.
Background:
Beginning with DSM-III, the inclusion of a "personality" axis was designed to encourage awareness of personality disorders and the treatment-related implications of individual differences, but since that time there is little accumulated evidence that the personality disorder categories provide substantial treatment-related guidance. The DSM-5 Personality and Personality Disorders Work Group sought to develop an Alternative Model for personality disorder, and this study examined whether this model is more closely related to clinicians' decision-making processes than the traditional categorical personality disorder diagnoses.
Procedures:
A national sample of 337 clinicians provided complete personality disorder diagnostic information and several treatment-related clinical judgments about one of their patients.
Findings:
The dimensional concepts of the DSM-5 Alternative Model for personality disorders demonstrated stronger relationships than categorical DSM-IV/DSM-5 Section II diagnoses to 10 of 11 clinical judgments regarding differential treatment planning, optimal treatment intensity, and long-term prognosis.
Conclusions:
The constructs of the DSM-5 Alternative Model for personality disorders may provide more clinically useful information for treatment planning than the official categorical personality disorder diagnostic system retained in DSM-5 Section II.
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