Validity and utility of Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP): III. Emotional dysfunction superspectrum
Abstract
The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is a quantitative nosological system that addresses shortcomings of traditional mental disorder diagnoses, including arbitrary boundaries between psychopathology and normality, frequent disorder co‐occurrence, substantial heterogeneity within disorders, and diagnostic unreliability over time and across clinicians. This paper reviews evidence on the validity and utility of the internalizing and somatoform spectra of HiTOP, which together provide support for an emotional dysfunction superspectrum. These spectra are composed of homogeneous symptom and maladaptive trait dimensions currently subsumed within multiple diagnostic classes, including depressive, anxiety, trauma‐related, eating, bipolar, and somatic symptom disorders, as well as sexual dysfunction and aspects of personality disorders. Dimensions falling within the emotional dysfunction superspectrum are broadly linked to individual differences in negative affect/neuroticism. Extensive evidence establishes that dimensions falling within the superspectrum share genetic diatheses, environmental risk factors, cognitive and affective difficulties, neural substrates and biomarkers, childhood temperamental antecedents, and treatment response. The structure of these validators mirrors the quantitative structure of the superspectrum, with some correlates more specific to internalizing or somatoform conditions, and others common to both, thereby underlining the hierarchical structure of the domain. Compared to traditional diagnoses, the internalizing and somatoform spectra demonstrated substantially improved utility: greater reliability, larger explanatory and predictive power, and greater clinical applicability. Validated measures are currently available to implement the HiTOP system in practice, which can make diagnostic classification more useful, both in research and in the clinic.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 11, 2022
- Source ID
- 10.1002/wps.20943
Entities
People
- Aidan G.c. Wright
- Brady D. Nelson
- Christopher C. Conway
- David S Watson
- Giorgia Michelini
- Hitop Utility Workgroup
- Holly F. Levin‐aspenson
- Irwin Waldman
- Kelsey A. Hobbs
- Kelsie T. Forbush
- Martin Sellbom
- Matthew Sunderland
- Michael N Dretsch
- Michael Witthöft
- Miriam K. Forbes
- Monika A. Waszczuk
- Nicholas R. Eaton
- Robert F. Krueger
- Roman Kotov
- Susan C. South
- Tim Dalgleish
- Tim Slade
Organizations
- Brown University
- Emory University
- Fordham University
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
- Macquarie University
- Purdue University
- Stony Brook University
- University of California, Los Angeles
- University of Cambridge
- University of Kansas
- University of Minnesota
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Otago
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Sydney