Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26783505›Full record

ArticleClinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science2015

Limits of Current Approaches to Diagnosis Severity Based on Criterion Counts: An Example with DSM-5 Alcohol Use Disorder.

Sean P Lane, Kenneth J Sher

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 67 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
67citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

67 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Alcohol use disorder severity moderates clinical response to varenicline.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2021
    Trial
  6. Trial
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  10. Revisiting the Drinker Inventory of Consequences: An extensive evaluation of psychometric properties in two alcohol clinical trials.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2018
    Trial
  11. Daily Life Assessment of Seven Alcohol-Use-Disorder Symptoms.Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2026
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Rasch analysis of DSM-5 alcohol use disorder in a large inpatient sample.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2025
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Variants of the P3 event-related potential operate as indicators of distinct mechanisms contributing to problematic alcohol use.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024
    Article

7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Sean P LaneUniversity of Missouri-Columbia and the Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Columbia, MO, USA.
Kenneth J SherUniversity of Missouri-Columbia and the Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Columbia, MO, USA.

Funding

Psychology of Alcohol Use and Dependence TrainingT32AA013526 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA · PI DENIS M MCCARTHY, KENNETH JAMES SHER · 2002 to 2026
$9.0M
Alcohol and Adult Development: Understanding Etiology and ConsequencesK05AA017242 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA · PI SHER, KENNETH JAMES · 2007 to 2016
$2.1M
NIAAA NIH HHS K05 AA017242NIAAA NIH HHS T32 AA013526
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Within DSM-5, some diagnoses are now associated with a severity gradient based on the number of diagnostic criteria satisfied. Reasons for questioning the validity of this approach include the implicit assumptions of equal criterion severity and strict additivity of criteria combinations. To assess the implications of heterogeneity of criterion configurations on severity grading, we examined the association between all observed combinations of DSM-5 alcohol use disorder criteria endorsement, at each level of number of criteria endorsed, and multiple validity measures among 22,177 past-year drinkers from Wave 2 of the NESARC. Substantial variability of implied severity across criteria combinations was observed at each level of endorsement, with nontrivial overlap in implied severity across criterion counts. Findings suggest severity indices are at best imprecise and, potentially, misleading. These problems are likely inherent in traditional polythetic approaches to diagnosis and almost certainly applicable to other disorders. Approaches for improving severity grading are proposed.

Indexed as

alcohol use disorderclinical diagnosisDSM-5NESARCseverityvalidity

Identifiers

PMID26783505
PMCPMC4714779

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.