Cited by 216Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesPersonality Disorders and PsychopathologyMental Health Research Topics

What is an emotional disorder? A transdiagnostic mechanistic definition with implications for assessment, treatment, and prevention

Bullis, Jacqueline R., Boettcher, Hannah, Sauer‐Zavala, Shannon, Farchione, Todd J., Barlow, David H.·2019·Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice

Abstract

We present a transdiagnostic definition of the commonly used, but poorly defined, term emotional disorder. This definition transcends and possibly complements traditional descriptive diagnostic categories, and candidate dimensional models of psychopathology by focusing on putative mechanisms that contribute to the onset and maintenance of disorders characterized primarily by dysfunction in the interpretation and regulation of emotion. We review three intermediate transdiagnostic mechanisms that characterize emotional disorders, such as, but not limited to, anxiety and depressive disorders, and then illustrate how this proposed definition applies to additional diagnoses beyond anxiety and depression. Implications of this new conceptualization of disorders of emotion are then discussed in the context of assessment, treatment, and prevention.

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Crossref · 10.1111/cpsp.12278

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202 of 202 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • People with emotional disorders experience frequent and intense emotions that cause discomfort, leading to aversive reaction and emotional avoidance behaviors that bring short-term relief but maintain emotional distress long-term.

    “People with ED experience frequent and intense emotions that cause them discomfort, leading to an aversive reaction to emotions and the initiation of emotional avoidance behaviors that, in the short term, will bring relief but, in the long term, will maintain the emotional distress (Bullis et al., 2019).”
  • Different transdiagnostic treatments have recently been designed to address Emotional Disorders.

    “As a solution to these limitations, different transdiagnostic treatments have recently been designed to address Emotional Disorders (ED; mood, anxiety, and related disorders; Bullis et al., 2019).”
  • Emotional disorders have been grouped based on their common biological and psychological vulnerabilities.

    “These disorders have been grouped based on their common biological and psychological vulnerabilities [1].”
  • The functional model of emotional disorders posits a reciprocal bidirectional relation wherein reductions in symptoms should theoretically engage a feedback loop that reduces future aversive reactivity.

    “Additionally, the functional model of emotional disorders posits a reciprocal bidirectional relation wherein reductions in symptoms should theoretically engage a feedback loop that reduces future aversive reactivity, further reducing the putative cycle of negative emotions and aversive reactivity (Bullis et al., 2019).”
  • Aversive reactivity is a functional mechanism that connects the experience of negative emotions to avoidant coping behaviors that represent emotional disorder symptoms.

    “Specifically, aversive reactivity has been described as a functional mechanism that connects the experience of negative emotions to the avoidant coping behaviors that represent emotional disorder symptoms (e.g., hypersomnia in depression, compulsions in obsessive-compulsive disorder, binging and purging in bulimia nervosa; Bullis et al., 2019;Campbell-Sills et al., 2006).”

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Authors
Bullis, J. R., Boettcher, H., Sauer‐Zavala, S., Farchione, T. J., & Barlow, D. H.
Affiliations
  • Boston University (US)
  • Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders Boston University Boston Massachusetts
Corresponding author
Bullis, Jacqueline R.
Venue
Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice
Published
2019-03-14
Volume
26
Issue
2
Pages
e12278
ISSN
  • 0969-5893 (ISSN-L)
  • 1468-2850
OpenAlex
W2921747713
Cited by
216
References
202
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 39 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 7
FWCI
28.78
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Clinical Psychology Science and Practice (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
Keywords
emotional disorders, transdiagnostic mechanisms, emotional dysregulation, emotional understanding, anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, dimensional models of psychopathology, diagnostic definitions, assessment, treatment, prevention

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