The DSM-5 promises to be a major reformulation of psychopathology, and no section is likely to change diagnostic practice more than that of personality pathology. Unlike the DSM-IV, the DSM-5 personality disorders will be conceptualized as involving core deficits in interpersonal and self-functioning, and will utilize a hybrid assessment model involving both pathological trait dimensions and a limited set of personality disorder types. These changes are based on empirical and theoretical work conducted during the era of DSM-III/IV, but nevertheless there is significant disagreement among personality assessors regarding the DSM-5 proposal. In this volume, several members of the DSM-5 work group offer rationales for the proposal and offer empirical evidence regarding suggested changes, and several personality assessment researchers critique the proposal and offer alternative conceptualizations.
This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Personality Assessment.