Reliability and validity must be balanced when defining mental disorders

Psychiatry diagnostic thresholds oscillate to avoid over or under diagnosis, and the method of defining mental disorders by criteria sets has another inherent set of difficult-to-balance trade-offs—between “reliability” and “validity.” Reliability means agreement and consistency—will different clinicians seeing the same patient arrive at the same diagnosis. Validity means truth—will the diagnosis tell you the details you need to know. Generally, the DSM has to prioritize reliability when defining mental disorders to prevent disagreement, which sacrifices validity.

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References

• Frances, Allen. (2013). Saving Normal CHAPTER 1. What’s Normal and What’s Not? (p. 46). New York, NY: HarperCollins.

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Type:🔴 Tags: Psychiatry Status:☀️