Personality disorders in DSM-III and DSM-III-R: convergence, coverage, and internal consistency

Although many sections of DSM-III-R reflect few changes from DSM-III, the diagnostic criteria for the personality disorders involve more substantial revisions. This study examined the impact of DSM-III-R revisions in terms of convergence with DSM-III, the diagnostic coverage of patients with personality disorders, and the internal consistency of the personality disorder criteria sets. The results demonstrated a substantial divergence between DSM-III and DSM-III-R diagnoses, increased coverage accompanied by a large increase in overlap among personality disorders, and internal consistency estimates of DSM-III-R criterion sets comparable to those in DSM-III.