[Classification systems for the clinical approach to pervasive developmental disorders]

This paper compares four systems for the classification of pervasive developmental disorders: DSM-III-R, ICD-10, the French classification of mental disorders in children and adolescents and Manzano and Palacio-Espasa's operational classification. Five children were examined according to a protocol which included clinical and instrumental examination, the BSE scale, a development scale and a psychodynamic observation recorded by video camera. A detailed discussion of the diagnosis of one of the cases is reported as an example, while a synthetic description is given of the other four. The comparison highlights the characteristics of the four systems considered. The differing theoretical premises which inspire them mean that it is important to use all four in the clinical investigation of each case: DSM-III-R and ICD-10 can be used for the initial screening, whilst the other two can be used to classify more specifically all the forms of infantile psychosis.