DSM-III-R and DSM-IV
Experience with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (DSM-III) revealed a number of inconsistencies in the system and a number of instances in which the criteria were not entirely clear. Therefore, the American Psychiatric Association appointed a work group to revise DSM-III, which developed the revisions and corrections that led to the publication of DSM-III-R in 1987.
Several years later, in 1994, the last major revision of the DSM, DSM-IV, was published. It was the culmination of a six-year effort that involved more than 1000 individuals and numerous professional organizations. Much of the effort involved conducting a comprehensive review of the literature to establish a firm empirical basis for making modifications. Numerous changes were made to the classification (e.g., disorders were added, deleted, and reorganized), to the diagnostic criteria sets, and to the descriptive text based on a careful consideration of the available research about the various mental disorders. Developers of DSM-IV and the tenth edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) worked closely to coordinate their efforts, resulting in increased congruence between the two systems and fewer meaningless differences in wording. ICD-10 was published in 1992.