The American Psychiatric Association (APA) Classification of Mental Disorders: Strengths, Limitations and Future Perspectives.

The following discussion has been developed to facilitate an historical perspective for future work in defining the boundaries and characteristics of psychopathology. The chapter begins with an historical overview of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) classification systems that started with efforts to collect statistics about the population at large (i.e. U.S. Census), which would be consistent with statistics on the diagnostic composition of patients in mental hospitals. Next, there is a review of the history of international collaboration that has allowed for the ongoing coordination efforts to develop classification systems by both the APA and the international scientific community. After a review of the strengths and limitations of the DSM-IV, the chapter concludes with a look ahead to future efforts to improve the validity and clinical utility of diagnostic criteria for psychopathology, and the arrangement of such diagnoses into a system of classification. The roots of the fifth-edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V) developmental process are described as options for future efforts to ensure continued collaboration between U.S. and international developers of the DSM and ICD systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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