Which structured clinical interview is widely used to diagnose DSM-5 personality disorders?

• A. DIPD (Diagnostic Interview for Personality Disorders)
• B. IPDE (International Personality Disorder Examination)
• C. SCID-5-PD
• D. CIDI (Composite International Diagnostic Interview)

Answer: (C)

The key idea is a structured interview that directly mirrors the DSM-5 criteria for personality disorders. The SCID-5-PD is designed specifically for this purpose, guiding the clinician through each personality disorder with standardized questions, thresholds for diagnosis, and notes on impairment and duration. This alignment with the DSM-5 criteria makes it the most reliable and widely used tool for diagnosing personality disorders in both clinical practice and research, since it provides a clear, systematic method to determine whether someone meets the criteria.

Other interviews exist for broader or cross-cultural purposes, or for epidemiological screening, but they don’t map to DSM-5 personality disorder criteria as directly or with the same level of clinical precision as SCID-5-PD.