Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Psychopharmacology pp 36–39Cite as

Adjustment Disorders

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:

Synonyms

Anxiety or mixed states; Reactive depressions; Stress-related mood disorders

Definition

In DSM-5, the adjustment disorders (AD) have been placed in the chapter with the “Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders” that also include reactive attachment disorder, disinhibited social engagement disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), acute stress disorder, and other stress and related disorders. The AD emanate from a known stressor including those of a catastrophic type and result in dysfunction at work, at school, or at the social level (e.g., interpersonal functioning) and/orpersonal distress within 3 months of the stressor. (In the ICD-10, onset must occur within 1 month of exposure to an identifiable stressor.) They can be further defined by the accompanying mood state, e.g., depressed, anxious, or mixed; by the presence of a disturbance of conduct; or by the absence of these predominating features, in which case they are considered unspecified. (In DSM-5 unspecified has...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   949.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   1,099.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Further Reading

  • American Psychiatric Association (2013) Diagnostic and statistical manual fifth edition. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman MJ, Spiegel D, Ursano R, Strain J (2011a) A review of acute stress disorder in DSM-5. Depress Anxiety 28:802–817

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman MJ, Resick PA, Bryant RA, Strain JJ, Horowitz M, Spiegel D (2011b) Classification of trauma and stressor-related disorders in DSM-5. Depress Anxiety 28:737–749

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzales-Jaimes EI, Turnbull-Plaza B (2003) Selection of psychotherapeutic treatment for adjustment disorder with depressive mood due to acute myocardial infarction. Arch Med Res 34:298–304

    Google Scholar 

  • Kovacs M, Ho V, Pollock MH (1995) Criterion and predictive validity of the diagnosis of adjustment disorder: a prospective study of youths with new-onset diabetes mellitus. Am J Psychiatry 152:523–528

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maercker A, Einsle F, Kollner V (2006) Adjustment disorders as stress response syndromes: a new diagnostic concept and its exploration in a medical sample. Psychopathology 627:135–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Maina G, Forner F, Bogetto F (2005) Randomized controlled trial comparing brief dynamic and supportive therapy with waiting list condition in minor depressive disorders. Psychother Psychosom 74:43–50

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mihelich ML (2000) Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing treatment of adjustment disorder. Diss Abstr Int 61:1091

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen N, Fakra E, Pradel V et al (2006) Efficacy of etifoxine compared to lorazepam monotherapy in the treatment of patients with adjustment disorders with anxiety: a double-blind controlled study in general practice. Hum Psychopharmacol 21:139–149

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Popkin MK, Callies AL, Colon EA et al (1990) Adjustment disorders in medically ill patients referred for consultation in a university hospital. Psychosomatics 31:410–414

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Strain JJ, Friedman MJ (2011) Considering adjustment disorders as stress response syndromes for DSM – 5. Depress Anxiety 28:818–823

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Strain JJ, Newcorn J, Mezzich J et al (1998) Adjustment disorder: the McArthur reanalysis. In: DSM-IV source book, vol 4. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC, pp 404–424

    Google Scholar 

  • Strain JJ, Klipstein K, Newcorn J (2009) Adjustment disorders. In: Gelder MG, Lopez-Ibor JJ, Andreasen NC (eds) The New Oxford textbook of psychiatry. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 716–724

    Google Scholar 

  • Zinbarg RE, Barlow DH, Liebowitz M et al (1994) The DSM-IV field trial for mixed anxiety-depression. Am J Psychiat 151:1153–1162

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 G. L. Levy Place, 1230, 10029, New York, NY, USA

    James J. Strain

Authors
  1. James J. Strain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James J. Strain .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Behavioural Pharmacology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

    Ian P. Stolerman

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    Lawrence H. Price

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Strain, J.J. (2015). Adjustment Disorders. In: Stolerman, I.P., Price, L.H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychopharmacology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36172-2_357

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation