Cited by 1,377Mental Health and PsychiatryMental Health Research TopicsPsychology and Mental Health

The RDoC framework: facilitating transition from ICD/DSM to dimensional approaches that integrate neuroscience and psychopathology: Forum - The Research Domain Criteria Project

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Cuthbert, Bruce N.·2014·World Psychiatry

Abstract

In 2008, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) included in its new Strategic Plan the following aim: "Develop, for research purposes, new ways of classifying mental disorders based on dimensions of observable behavior and neurobiological measures". The implementation of this aim was named the Research Domain Criteria project, or RDoC. RDoC is a programmatic initiative that will fund grants, contracts, early-phase trials, and similar activities for the purpose of generating studies to build a research literature that can inform future versions of psychiatric nosologies based upon neuroscience and behavioral science rather than descriptive phenomenology. RDoC departs markedly from the DSM and ICD processes, in which extensive workgroup meetings generate final and finely-honed sets of diagnoses that are modified in field tests only if problems with clinical utility arise. Rather, in keeping with its provenance as an experimental system, the RDoC provides a framework for conducting research in terms of fundamental circuit-based behavioral dimensions that cut across traditional diagnostic categories. While an important aim of the project is to validate particular dimensions as useful for eventual clinical work, an equally important goal is to provide information and experience about how to conceive and implement such an alternative approach to future diagnostic practices that can harness genetics and neuroscience in the service of more effective treatment and prevention. This paper summarizes the rationale for the RDoC project, its essential features, and potential methods of transitioning from DSM/ICD categories to dimensionally-oriented designs in research studies.

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  1. Baddeley AD, Hitch G. Working memo- ry. In: Bower GH (ed). Recent advances in learning and motivation, Vol. 8. New York: Academic Press, 1974:47-89.

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Authors
Cuthbert, B. N.
Affiliations
National Institute of Mental Health (US)
Corresponding author
Cuthbert, Bruce N.
Venue
World Psychiatry
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2014-02
Volume
13
Issue
1
Pages
28-35
ISSN
1723-8617 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1590571936
Cited by
1,377
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 82 · 2025: 96 · 2024: 91 · 2023: 115 · 2022: 128 · 2021: 129 · 2020: 111 · 2019: 123 · 2018: 103 · 2017: 134 · 2016: 99 · 2015: 110 · 2014: 51 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
FWCI
799.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • World Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Mental Health and Psychiatry
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
Keywords
Research Domain Criteria, dimensional classification, psychiatric classification, DSM, ICD, psychiatric diagnosis

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