Questions: DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria and Classification
3 questions to test your understanding
Score: 0 / 3
Question 1 Multiple Choice
What does it mean that the DSM-5 integrates both 'categorical' and 'dimensional' approaches to diagnosis?
AIt classifies disorders into named categories while also measuring symptom severity along continua, such as cross-cutting symptom scales.
BIt replaces categorical diagnosis entirely with numerical severity scores.
CIt groups disorders by biological cause in one section and by symptom pattern in another.
DIt provides separate categorical systems for adults and children within the same manual.
DSM-5 retains named diagnostic categories (e.g., Major Depressive Disorder) for clinical utility while adding dimensional elements — such as severity specifiers and cross-cutting symptom measures — that acknowledge symptom continuums across diagnoses. Neither approach alone fully captures clinical reality.
Question 2 True / False
Meeting most of the DSM-5 symptom criteria for a disorder is sufficient, by itself, for a clinician to assign that diagnosis.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
DSM-5 criteria include more than symptom checklists. Exclusion criteria rule out symptoms caused by substances, medical conditions, or better explained by another disorder. Clinical significance criteria require that symptoms cause meaningful distress or functional impairment. Clinician judgment integrates all of this — symptom count alone is not a diagnosis.
Question 3 Short Answer
Why do DSM-5 diagnostic criteria specify minimum duration requirements (e.g., symptoms present for at least two weeks) in addition to symptom checklists?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Duration requirements distinguish disorders from transient, normative reactions. Many symptoms — sadness, anxiety, sleep changes — are normal responses to life circumstances. A minimum duration threshold ensures that a clinician is identifying a persistent, clinically significant pattern rather than a time-limited emotional response. It also improves reliability by reducing diagnoses based on a single assessment moment.
Without duration criteria, a person grieving a loss could be diagnosed with major depression on day three of sadness. Duration requirements are one of several design features in DSM-5 that attempt to balance sensitivity (catching real disorder) against over-pathologizing ordinary human experience.