Book excerpt: The Conceptual Evolution of DSM-5 highlights recent advances in our understanding of cross-cutting factors relevant to psychiatric diagnosis and nosology. These include developmental age-related aspects of psychiatric diagnosis and symptom presentation; underlying neuro-circuitry and genetic similarities that may clarify diagnostic boundaries and inform a more etiologically-based taxonomy of disorder categories; and gender/culture-specific influences in the prevalence of and service use for psychiatric disorders. This text also considers the role of disability in the diagnosis of mental disorders and the potential utility of integrating a dimensional approach to psychiatric diagnosis. A powerful reference tool for anyone practicing or studying psychiatry, social work, psychology, or nursing, The Conceptual Evolution of DSM-5 details the proceedings from the 2009 American Psychopathological Association's Annual Meeting. In its chapters, readers will find a thorough review of the empirical evidence regarding the utility of cross-cutting factors in nosology, as well as specific suggestions for how they may be fully integrated into the forthcoming fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.