CPHSSWCE0076 - Testing the Validity of DSM Major Depressive Disorder Criteria

Course Description

Tests of the validity of DSM diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder.

Mark Schmitz, PhD.

The current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) incorporated some important changes in the assessment of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the basic notion of disorder severity remains as a simple count of the number of depressive symptoms, even though recent research suggests that qualitative differences between symptoms imply different clinical correlates. One diagnostic distinction based on qualitative differences among depressive symptoms is the division of MDD into uncomplicated MDD (UMDD) versus complicated MDD (CMDD), defined based on six particularly pathosuggestive symptoms or features: more than six months duration, marked functional impairment, sense of worthlessness, suicidal ideation, psychotic symptoms, and psychomotor retardation. Uncomplicated MDD will not contain any of these symptoms. This distinction has been extensively studied and shown to possess both concurrent and predictive validity, with UMDD having a markedly more benign concurrent and predictive profile than CMDD. This course will present the research that has tested this UMDD/CMDD distinction, and will discuss the diagnostic, epidemiologic, and clinical implications.