The psychopathology of everyday art: a quantitative Study - World ...

computed on any of these levels. Groups of 2 character and 3 character codes combine
related categories, and kappa coefficients at these levels tend to be higher than for more
specific 4 character categories, since they ignore some differences in diagnostic
disagreement 254 . For the purpose of this research, subjects were classified by 3 character
groups although diagnoses were actually made at the 4 character level, which is usual for
clinicians, as shown in table 10.
The ICD-10 DCR (Diagnostic Criteria for Research, 1993) version was used for this
research 255 , which is consistent and compatible with the Clinical Descriptive version and
other national classification systems (e.g. DSM-IV) 256 . The criteria are explicit, easy to
apply and are specified in more detail than in the more narrative equivalent statements
in the clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines from which they were derived. Very
high interrater agreements have been reported 257 , which was important for this research
as reliability of diagnoses was not statistically investigated. The criteria contain
descriptions of symptoms and other attributes of the patients, together with statements
about the frequency, relative importance and duration of symptoms. Exclusion and
inclusion statements are also provided.
254 Ibid.
255
Division of Mental Health of the World Health Organization (1993), International Criteria for Diagnoses
in the Mental and Behavioral Disorders: Diagnostic Criteria for Research (ICD-10 DCR), Geneva: Author.
256
N. Sartorius, T. Bedirhan Ustun, A. Korten, J.E. Cooper, J. van Drimmelen (1995), Progress toward
achieving a common language in psychiatry, II: results from the international field trials of the ICD10
diagnostic criteria for research for mental and behavioral disorders, Am. J. Psychiatry , V.152(10):1427-
1437.
257 Although in trials, numbers were low for some diagnostic groups. The population was not randomly
selected and the range of possible diagnoses were more limited than the field trials for the ICD-10 clinical
202