Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: A hierarchical taxonomy of psychopathology aims to replace traditional disorder categories with a hierarchy of increasingly general dimensions that arise from the statistical covariation among symptoms.However, the ontogeny and ontology of these dimensions remain contentious.We analyzed two large longitudinal datasets to examine developmental changes in two dimensions of psychopathology, at two distinct levels of the hierarchical taxonomy, at two distinct developmental periods: the p-factor from early to late adolescence and major depressive disorder from middle adulthood to old age.We used latent change score models to directly compare the ability of two long-standing theories-the common cause theory and the dynamic mutualism theory-to explain the development of the two dimensions of psychopathology.A dynamic mutualism model best explained the development of the pfactor, while both models provided equally good explanations for the development of major depressive disorder.But neither model could provide a sufficient explanation for the development of either dimension.We show that computational models offer a promising tool to improve mechanistic theories of psychopathology and suggest that progress may lie at the interface between multiple causes.
Author: Aristodemou, Michael E.
Institution: Leiden University
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7067475409