Chunk #78 — Psychopathology Description and Diagnosis — On the Comprehensiveness, Utility, and Parsimony of Using Homogeneous Constructs to Describe Psychopathology — The parsimony of disaggregation in psychopathology description
We believe that a focus on homogeneous dimensions of dysfunction would, in fact, provide improved parsimony over the current diagnostic system. At present, there are numerous syndromes in the DSM, and many of them share common dimensions of dysfunction. In the domain of personality disorders, description of psychopathology along homogeneous dimensions of personality is already quite well advanced. Researchers may be close to a consensus that domains of dysfunction in personality can be described in terms of four basic personality dimensions and their underlying facets (Widiger, Livesley, & Clark, 2009; Widiger & Simonsen, 2005; Widiger, Simonsen, Krueger, Livesley, & Verheul, 2005). That is, patterns of elevations across well-established personality traits can be used to describe the dysfunction currently described by the full set of personality disorders. There appears to be an advance in parsimony by targeting basic dimensions of personality dysfunction rather than trying to delineate multiple syndromes. And these suggestions of improved parsimony are not limited to personality disorders. There appears to have been important recent progress in identifying dimensions of dysfunction shared by both personality disorders and Axis I clinical disorders (Krueger, 2002; Widiger & Simonsen, 2005).
