Cited by 639Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesMental Health Research TopicsPersonality Disorders and Psychopathology

A proposal for a dimensional classification system based on the shared features of the DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders: implications for assessment and treatment

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Brown, Timothy A., Barlow, David H.·2009·Psychological Assessment

Abstract

A wealth of evidence attests to the extensive current and lifetime diagnostic comorbidity of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., DSM-IV) anxiety and mood disorders. Research has shown that the considerable cross-sectional covariation of DSM-IV emotional disorders is accounted for by common higher order dimensions such as neuroticism/behavioral inhibition (N/BI) and low positive affect/behavioral activation. Longitudinal studies indicate that the temporal covariation of these disorders can be explained by changes in N/BI and, in some cases, initial levels of N/BI are predictive of the temporal course of emotional disorders. The marked phenotypal overlap of the DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders is a frequent source of diagnostic unreliability (e.g., temporal overlap in the shared features of generalized anxiety disorder and mood disorders, situation specificity of panic attacks in panic disorder and specific phobia). Although extant dimensional proposals may address some drawbacks associated with the DSM nosology (e.g., inadequate assessment of individual differences in disorder severity), these proposals do not reconcile key problems in current classification, such as modest reliability and high comorbidity. This article considers an alternative approach that emphasizes empirically supported common dimensions of emotional disorders over disorder-specific criteria sets. Selection and assessment of these dimensions are discussed along with how these methods could be implemented to promote more reliable and valid diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment planning. For instance, the advantages of this system are discussed in context of transdiagnostic treatment protocols that are efficaciously applied to a variety of disorders by targeting their shared features.

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Crossref · 10.1037/a0016608

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93 of 93 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Emotional disorders involve sharp increases in affect in response to environmental triggers and interpreting those experiences as harmful.

    “Emotional disorders are characterized by a tendency to experience steep increases in affect in response to environmental stimuli and, subsequently, interpret these emotional experiences as harmful (Andrews, 1990; Andrews, 1996; Brown & Barlow, 2009).”

    From The role of negative affectivity and negative reactivity to emotions in predicting outcomes in the unified protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders (2012) · cites this paper as Brown & Barlow, 2009

    In “A New Proposal for a Dimensional Classification System” (page unavailable), the paper describes discrete eruptions of emotion, including fear triggered by internal or external cues, and apprehension about anxiety or panic symptoms. These examples support parts of the claim, but the paper does not characterize emotional disorders generally as a sequence of sharp affective increases in response to environmental stimuli followed by interpreting those experiences as harmful. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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  • Psychological inflexibility as a transdiagnostic process has been described as a continuum or dimension that could contribute to most psychological disorders, with a growing body of research increasingly supporting this parsimonious approach.

    “psychological inflexibility as a transdiagnostic process has been described as a continuum or dimension that could contribute to most psychological disorders (Hayes et al., 2011), with a growing body of research increasingly supporting this parsimonious approach (Levin et al., 2014;Brown & Barlow, 2009).”

    From Better living with illness: A transdiagnostic acceptance and commitment therapy group intervention for chronic physical illness (2016) · cites this paper as Brown & Barlow, 2009

    Split into 2 atoms — 0 confirmed, 2 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

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  • The transdiagnostic approach posits that emotional disorders are manifestations of a common psychopathological vulnerability, with neuroticism/negative affect/behavioral inhibition and low extraversion/positive affect/behavioral activation as key transdiagnostic factors.

    “This approach posits that ED are manifestations of a common psychopathological vulnerability underlying these disorders, with neuroticism/negative affect/behavioral inhibition and low extraversion/positive affect/behavioral activation as key transdiagnostic factors (Brown and Barlow, 2009).”

    From Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a blended transdiagnostic group CBT for the treatment of emotional disorders (2025) · cites this paper as Brown and Barlow, 2009

    In “Alternative Classification Systems” (page unavailable), the paper describes emotional disorders as manifestations of shared vulnerabilities and identifies neuroticism/negative affect and extraversion/positive affect as core temperament dimensions related to behavioral inhibition and activation. But it says low positive affect is associated particularly with depression and social anxiety, while mania is associated with high positive affect; the claim overgeneralizes low extraversion/positive affect/behavioral activation across emotional disorders. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Cross-sectional covariation of emotional disorders can be accounted for by a small set of latent variables, including high negative affectivity/neuroticism, low positive affectivity, and high autonomic arousal.

    “cross-sectional covariation of emotional disorders can be accounted for by a small set of latent variables, including high negative affectivity/neuroticism, low positive affectivity, and high autonomic arousal.[26][27][28][29]”

    From The Classification of Anxiety and Fear-Related Disorders in the ICD-11: Review: Anxiety and Fear-Related Disorders in ICD-11 (2016) · cites this paper as [26]

    The Abstract and Alternative Classification Systems section report that negative affectivity/neuroticism and positive affectivity account for substantial cross-sectional covariation among emotional disorders. The Limitations to the Current DSM System section describes high autonomic arousal as characteristic of PTSD and panic disorder/agoraphobia, but does not identify it as a higher-order variable accounting for that broader covariation. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • Neuroticism has been shown to underlie the origin of EDs, as well as the high comorbidity present in these disorders.

    “and has been shown to underlie the origin of EDs, as well as the high comorbidity present in these disorders (Brown and Barlow, 2009).”

    From Unified Protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders in people with post COVID-19 condition: study protocol for a multiple baseline n-of-1 trial (2023) · cites this paper as Brown and Barlow, 2009

    The Abstract and Alternative Classification Systems section (page not supplied) describe neuroticism as etiologically relevant to emotional disorders and report that shared dimensions, including neuroticism, account for much of their covariation. But the paper says the correlational findings preclude firm conclusions about direction of effect, so the claim that neuroticism has been shown to underlie the disorders’ origin and comorbidity overstates the evidence. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Cites

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3 of the 96 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 9

  1. Barlow DH 2002 Anxiety and its disorders: The nature and treatment of anxiety and panic 2 New York Guilford Press
  2. Brown TA Rapee RM 1996 Validity of the DSM-III-Rand DSM-IVclassification systems for anxiety disorders Current controversies in the anxiety disorders 21 45 New York Guilford Press
  3. Brown TA Barlow DH Barlow DH 2002 Classification of anxiety and mood disorders Anxiety and its disorders: The nature and treatment of anxiety and panic 2 292 327 New York Guilford Press
  4. Campbell-Sills LA Liverant G Brown TA 2004 Psychometric evaluation of the Behavioral Inhibition/Behavioral Activation Scales (BIS/BAS) in large clinical samples Psychological Assessment 16 244 254 15456380
  5. Di Nardo PA Brown TA Barlow DH 1994 Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: Lifetime Version (ADIS-IV-L) New York Oxford University Press
  6. Keane TM Barlow DH Barlow DH 2002 Posttraumatic stress disorder Anxiety and its disorders: The nature and treatment of anxiety and panic 2 418 453 New York Guilford Press
  7. Kendell RE 1975 The role of diagnosis in psychiatry Oxford Blackwell
  8. Steenkamp M McLean CP Arditte KA Litz BT Antony MM Barlow DH in press Assessment of adults exposed to trauma Handbook of assessment, treatment planning, and outcome evaluation: Empirically supported strategies for psychological disorders 2 New York Guilford Press
  9. White KS Barlow DH Barlow DH 2002 Panic disorder and agoraphobia Anxiety and its disorders: The nature and treatment of anxiety and panic 2 328 379 New York Guilford Press

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Authors
Brown, T. A., & Barlow, D. H.
Affiliations
Boston University (US)
Venue
Psychological Assessment
Published
2009
Volume
21
Issue
3
Pages
256-271
ISSN
  • 1040-3590 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-134X
OpenAlex
W1999696094
Cited by
639
References
96
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 42 · 2017: 64 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 39 · 2014: 50 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 38
FWCI
37.66
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Psychological Assessment (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH039096)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
Keywords
dimensional classification, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, DSM-IV, transdiagnostic treatment, diagnostic reliability, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, specific phobia
MeSH terms
Anxiety Disorders, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Models, Psychological, Psychotherapy, Temperament, Comorbidity, Mood Disorders, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

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