Maladaptive emotional and/or behavioural response to an identifiable psychosocial stressor, capturing those who experience difficulties adjusting after a stressful event at a level disproportionate to the severity/intensity of the stressor.
Maladaptive emotional and/or behavioural response to an identifiable psychosocial stressor, capturing those who experience difficulties adjusting after a stressful event at a level disproportionate to the severity/intensity of the stressor.
Clinical features
Symptoms are characterised by stress responses that are out of step with socially or culturally expected reactions to the stressor and/or which cause marked distress and impairment in daily functioning.
Summary of corresponding DSM-5 and ICD-11 diagnostic criteria for adjustment disorder. | American Psychiatric Association . Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5®) 5th ed. American Psychiatric Association Publishing; Washington, DC, USA: 2013. Trauma- and stressor-related disorders. | World Health Organization . World Health Organisation International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. 11th ed. World Health Organization; Geneva, Switzerland: 2004.
Differential diagnosis:
Differential diagnosis for AD (ICD-11) | Maercker, A., & Lorenz, L. (2018). Adjustment disorder diagnosis: Improving clinical utility. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 19(sup1), S3–S13. https://doi.org/10.1080/15622975.2018.1449967
