TY - JOUR
T1 - Delineating the joint hierarchical structure of clinical and personality disorders in an outpatient psychiatric sample
AU - Forbes, Miriam K.
AU - Kotov, Roman
AU - Ruggero, Camilo J.
AU - Watson, David
AU - Zimmerman, Mark
AU - Krueger, Robert F.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2017/11
Y1 - 2017/11
N2 - Background A large body of research has focused on identifying the optimal number of dimensions – or spectra – to model individual differences in psychopathology. Recently, it has become increasingly clear that ostensibly competing models with varying numbers of spectra can be synthesized in empirically derived hierarchical structures. Methods and materials We examined the convergence between top-down (bass-ackwards or sequential principal components analysis) and bottom-up (hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis) statistical methods for elucidating hierarchies to explicate the joint hierarchical structure of clinical and personality disorders. Analyses examined 24 clinical and personality disorders based on semi-structured clinical interviews in an outpatient psychiatric sample (n = 2900). Results The two methods of hierarchical analysis converged on a three-tier joint hierarchy of psychopathology. At the lowest tier, there were seven spectra – disinhibition, antagonism, core thought disorder, detachment, core internalizing, somatoform, and compulsivity – that emerged in both methods. These spectra were nested under the same three higher-order superspectra in both methods: externalizing, broad thought dysfunction, and broad internalizing. In turn, these three superspectra were nested under a single general psychopathology spectrum, which represented the top tier of the hierarchical structure. Conclusions The hierarchical structure mirrors and extends upon past research, with the inclusion of a novel compulsivity spectrum, and the finding that psychopathology is organized in three superordinate domains. This hierarchy can thus be used as a flexible and integrative framework to facilitate psychopathology research with varying levels of specificity (i.e., focusing on the optimal level of detailed information, rather than the optimal number of factors).
AB - Background A large body of research has focused on identifying the optimal number of dimensions – or spectra – to model individual differences in psychopathology. Recently, it has become increasingly clear that ostensibly competing models with varying numbers of spectra can be synthesized in empirically derived hierarchical structures. Methods and materials We examined the convergence between top-down (bass-ackwards or sequential principal components analysis) and bottom-up (hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis) statistical methods for elucidating hierarchies to explicate the joint hierarchical structure of clinical and personality disorders. Analyses examined 24 clinical and personality disorders based on semi-structured clinical interviews in an outpatient psychiatric sample (n = 2900). Results The two methods of hierarchical analysis converged on a three-tier joint hierarchy of psychopathology. At the lowest tier, there were seven spectra – disinhibition, antagonism, core thought disorder, detachment, core internalizing, somatoform, and compulsivity – that emerged in both methods. These spectra were nested under the same three higher-order superspectra in both methods: externalizing, broad thought dysfunction, and broad internalizing. In turn, these three superspectra were nested under a single general psychopathology spectrum, which represented the top tier of the hierarchical structure. Conclusions The hierarchical structure mirrors and extends upon past research, with the inclusion of a novel compulsivity spectrum, and the finding that psychopathology is organized in three superordinate domains. This hierarchy can thus be used as a flexible and integrative framework to facilitate psychopathology research with varying levels of specificity (i.e., focusing on the optimal level of detailed information, rather than the optimal number of factors).
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U2 - 10.1016/j.comppsych.2017.04.006
DO - 10.1016/j.comppsych.2017.04.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 28495022
AN - SCOPUS:85019031825
SN - 0010-440X
VL - 79
SP - 19
EP - 30
JO - Comprehensive Psychiatry
JF - Comprehensive Psychiatry
ER -