About DART
Offering the DART as an open-access tool allows for greater access to a semi-structured psychodiagnostic tool that can be used in clinical and research settings with adult populations. In addition, the DART’s modular design offers interviewers the flexibility to administer the entire interview or individual disorder-specific modules, which can reduce the duration of the interview and make the interview less burdensome to interviewees. The DART can also be used in conjunction with the DART questionnaire, a self-report screening tool, which can guide interviewers to relevant modules to administer.
The following is a list of the DART modules and the DSM-5 disorders assessed in each module:
- Anxiety disorders: panic disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, selective mutism, specific phobia
- Depressive disorders: major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder; depressive disorders specifiers
- Bipolar and related disorders: hypomanic or manic episodes, bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder, cyclothymic disorder, bipolar disorders specifiers
- Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders: obsessive-compulsive disorder, hoarding disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, excoriation disorder, trichotillomania
- Trauma-and-stressor related disorders: posttraumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, adjustment disorder
- Substance-related and addictive disorders: alcohol use disorder, gambling disorder, substance use disorders
- Feeding and eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder
- Somatic symptom and related disorders: illness anxiety disorder, somatic symptom disorder
- Sleep-wake disorders: insomnia disorder
- Dissociative disorders: depersonalization/derealization disorder
- Schizophrenia spectrum and related psychotic disorders algorithm: delusional disorder, brief psychotic disorder, schizophreniform disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder
- Personality disorders: borderline personality disorder
- Screening modules: risk assessment (suicide, self-harm and homicide risk), psychosis screen
Additional information about the DART and instructions for use is available and can be found in our DART User Guide (.docx).
McCabe, R. E., Milosevic, I., Rowa, K., Shnaider, P., Pawluk, E. J., Antony, M. M. & the DART Working Group. (2021). Diagnostic Assessment Research Tool (DART), Version 4. Hamilton, ON: St. Joseph’s Healthcare/McMaster University.
- The DART Working Group includes (alphabetically): Alcolado, G., Cameron, D., Donegan, E., Gavric, D., Gahagan, K., Ghai, A., Holshausen, K., Key, B., Laliberte, M., McNeely, H., Merrifield, C., Nowakowski, M., Szota, L., Waechter, S., Young, L.
To obtain a copy of the DART, please complete a request form.
For questions or more information about the DART, please email Dart@stjosham.on.ca
Access to this instrument is not restricted, however, the DART is intended to be used by trained professionals. It is the responsibility of the person(s) using this assessment to ensure that the right credentials, education and training are met to administer and interpret the results or that learners are supervised by a professional meeting these requirements.
The DART was developed in Canada by psychologists, primarily at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University.
A study of the psychometric properties of the DART is currently underway funded by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grant.
- Pawluk, E. J., Musielak, N., Milosevic, I., Rowa, K., Shnaider, P., Schneider, L. H., & McCabe, R. E. (2021). An Evaluation of the Diagnostic Assessment Research Tool (DART) Screener for DSM-5 Disorders. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment. Advance online publication.
- Schneider, L. H., Pawluk, E. J., Milosevic, I., Shnaider, P., Rowa, K., Antony, M. M., Musielak, N., & McCabe, R. E. (2021). The diagnostic assessment research tool in action: A preliminary evaluation of a semistructured diagnostic interview for DSM-5 disorders. Psychological Assessment. Advance online publication.
- McCabe, R. E., & Pawluk, E. J. (2021). The Diagnostic Assessment Research Tool (DART): A new, open-access psychodiagnostic interview. Psynopsis, 43(1), 27.
