Moving toward DSM-5: The field trials

The purpose of successive DSM revisions is to incorporate the growing knowledge base about mental disorders into diagnosis and to bring diagnostic criteria ever closer to accurate and precise identification of corresponding disorders (5). However, this goal must be accomplished while maintaining the clinical utility of the diagnostic criteria for purposes of ready, reliable, and valid use by both clinicians and researchers for prevention, early identification, and treatment. Field trials are the first real-world, empirical test of the success of these efforts in clinical settings.