There are compelling reasons for clinical researchers to embrace this perspective. Should the authors of the DSM–V continue to presume the syndromal status of composite constructs, and thus define multidimensional entities as the proper object of study, the science of psychopathology research will develop more slowly than necessary. We believe one component of the next significant advance in the DSM process is to set aside the traditional but perhaps ill-fitting syndromal perspective and focus instead on homogeneous dimensions of dysfunction.
