DIAGNOSTIC/NOSOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROGRAM
Research Diagnostic Project

Aims:
The aim of the Research Diagnostic Project (RDP) is to test improved diagnostic criteria and decision rules for substance use disorders (SUD) in the DSM and ICD traditions. The RDP is dedicated to developing diagnostic models and methods with improved reliability, external validity, ease-of-use,and heuristic power.

Approach:
The RDP’s proprietary database is a multi site, longitudinal cohort study of more than 400 clinical and comparison cases each tested at repeated intervals. The RDP also works with data from other similar research groups, including the National Comorbidity Survey, the Pittsburgh Adolescent Alcohol Research Center, the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism,and others.

The principal approach of the RDP is to apply advanced quantitative methods – receiver-operator characteristic analysis, survival/hazard analysis, item response analysis, catastrophe modeling, and others – to existing, high-quality data on DSM and ICD SUD symptoms taken from large clinical and community samples. The RDP collaborates broadly with nosologists at other institutions, including the University of Pittsburgh, Washington University, and others.

The RDP is currently exploring the nosologic power of substance-specific withdrawal liability, and is also testing several competing generic and drug-customized diagnostic models,feeding them into the DSM-V development process.

Personnel:
James Langenbucher, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
Erich Labouvie, Ph.D., Christopher S. Martin (U. Pitt), Co-Investigators
Lawrence Bavly, M.S., Data Manager

Funding:
The RDP is funded by an Independent Scientist Development Award (K02) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse

Clinical Home