Validity, reliability and clinical utility of mental disorders: The case of ICD-11 schizophrenia

Diagnostic classification systems categorise mental psychopathology in mental disorders. Although these entities are clinical constructs developed by consensus, it has been pointed out that in practice they are usually managed as natural entities and without evaluating aspects related to their nosological construction. The objectives of the study are to review a) the conceptualisation of mental disorders, b) the indicators of validity, reliability and clinical utility, and c) the values ​​of these indicators in ICD-11 schizophrenia. The results show that mental disorders are conceptualised as discrete entities, like the diseases of other areas of medicine; however, differences are observed between these diagnostic categories in clinical practice. The reliability and clinical utility of mental disorders are adequate; however, the validity is not yet clarified. Similarly, ICD-11 schizophrenia demonstrates adequate reliability and clinical utility, but its validity remains uncertain. The conceptualisation of psychopathology in discrete entities may be inadequate for its study, therefore dimensional and mixed models have been proposed. The indicators of validity, reliability and clinical utility enable us to obtain an accurate view of the nosological state of mental disorders when evaluating different aspects of their nosological construction.