Internalizing psychopathology and its links to suicidal ideation, dysfunctional attitudes, and help-seeking readiness in a national sample of college students

Background: Recent evidence suggests that multiple emotional disorders may be better assessed using dimensional models of psychopathology. The current study utilized a cross-sectional population survey of college students (N = 8613 participants) to examine the extent to which broad psychopathology factors accounted for specific associations between emotional problems and clinical and behavioral validators: suicidality, dysfunctional attitudes, and treatment seeking. Methods: Confirmatory factor models were estimated to identify the best structure of psychopathology. Models were then estimated to examine the broad and specific associations between each psychopathology indicator and the clinical and behavioral validators. Results: The hierarchical model of psychopathology with internalizing problems at the top, fear, and distress at the second level, and five specific symptom dimensions at the third level evidenced the best fit. The associations between symptom indicators of psychopathology and clinical and behavioral validators were relatively small and inconsistent. Instead, much of the association between clinical and behavioral validators and emotional problems operated at a higher-order level. Limitations: The cross-sectional nature of the survey precludes the ability to make conclusions regarding causality. Conclusions: Researchers should focus on investigating the shared or common components across emotional disorders, particularly concerning individuals presenting with higher rates of suicidal ideation dysfunctional attitudes, and help-seeking behavior. Using higher-order dimensions of psychopathology could simplify the complex presentation of multiple co-occurring disorders and suggest valid constructs for future investigations.