A detailed hierarchical model of psychopathology: From individual symptoms up to the general factor of psychopathology
Open accessPreprint — published as 10.1177/2167702620954799
Abstract
Much of our knowledge about the relationships among domains of psychopathology is built on the diagnostic categories described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), with relatively little research examining the symptom-level structure of psychopathology. The aim of this study was to delineate a detailed hierarchical model of psychopathology—from individual symptoms up to a general factor of psychopathology—allowing both higher- and lower-order dimensions to depart from the structure of the DSM. We explored the hierarchical structure of hundreds of symptoms spanning 18 DSM disorders, in two large samples—one from the general population in Australia (n = 3175), and the other a treatment-seeking clinical sample from the USA (n = 1775). There was marked convergence between the two samples, offering new perspectives on higher-order dimensions of psychopathology. We also found several noteworthy departures from the structure of the DSM in the symptom-level data.
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References 82 · Cited by 107
- Authors
- Forbes, M. K.
- Affiliations
- Macquarie University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Forbes, Miriam K.
- ORCID
- Forbes, Miriam K.
- Venue
- Clinical Psychological Science
- Publisher
- Center for Open Science
- Published
- 2020-04-16
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 139-168
- ISSN
- 2167-7026 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7983870
- OpenAlex
- W3132203141
- Cited by
- 107
- References
- 82
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 12
- FWCI
- 20.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Clinical Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion)
- ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
- OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- World Health Organization
- Macquarie University
- Medical Research Council
- Australian Research Council (FL150100096)
- National Health and Medical Research Council (1122544, 1173146)
- National Institute on Aging (AG051426, R01AG053217, U19AG051426)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Keywords
- psychopathology, hierarchical models, general psychopathology factor, symptom structure
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