Validation of the DSM-5 Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure in a Community Sample

The shift toward transdiagnostic and dimensional approaches to diagnosing mental disorders has created a need for assessment tools that efficiently measure a range of mental health symptoms and their severity. The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties and diagnostic utility of the DSM-5 Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure (CCSM), developed by the American Psychiatric Association as a brief transdiagnostic measure of mental health symptoms, in community-dwelling adults. Participants (N = 482) completed symptom measures corresponding to CCSM domains and self-reported diagnostic criteria were used to establish DSM-5 diagnoses. The results showed CCSM domains had significant validity correlations with longer measures of the same or similar mental health constructs and overall symptom severity was associated with functional impairments and current treatment status. Several domains demonstrated moderate diagnostic efficiency for corresponding DSM-5 diagnoses. The recommended thresholds for depression, anxiety, and substance use domains showed strong sensitivity (≥ 0.83) but low specificity (range = 0.60-.73), whereas the personality functioning threshold showed low sensitivity (0.51) and excellent specificity (0.92). These results suggest CCSM domains are internally consistent and valid measures of psychopathology. Further, these findings indicate the CCSM shows promise as a screening tool for specific DSM-5 disorders in community samples.