TY - JOUR
T1 - The p factor
T2 - One general psychopathology factor in the structure of psychiatric disorders?
AU - Caspi, Avshalom
AU - Houts, Renate M.
AU - Belsky, Daniel W.
AU - Goldman-Mellor, Sidra J.
AU - Harrington, Honalee
AU - Israel, Salomon
AU - Meier, Madeline H.
AU - Ramrakha, Sandhya
AU - Shalev, Idan
AU - Poulton, Richie
AU - Moffitt, Terrie E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research received support from the National Institute on Aging (NIA; Grant G032282) and the Medical Research Council (Grant MRK00381X). Additional support was provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD; Grant HD061298) and the Jacobs Foundation. D. W. Belsky was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the NIA (T32 AG000029). S. J. Goldman-Mellor was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the NICHD (T32 HD07376). S. Israel was supported by a Rothschild Fellowship from the Yad Hanadiv Rothschild Foundation. M. H. Meier was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (P30 DA023026). The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit is supported by the New Zealand Health Research Council.
PY - 2014/3
Y1 - 2014/3
N2 - Mental disorders traditionally have been viewed as distinct, episodic, and categorical conditions. This view has been challenged by evidence that many disorders are sequentially comorbid, recurrent/chronic, and exist on a continuum. Using the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, we examined the structure of psychopathology, taking into account dimensionality, persistence, co-occurrence, and sequential comorbidity of mental disorders across 20 years, from adolescence to midlife. Psychiatric disorders were initially explained by three higher-order factors (Internalizing, Externalizing, and Thought Disorder) but explained even better with one General Psychopathology dimension. We have called this dimension the p factor because it conceptually parallels a familiar dimension in psychological science: the g factor of general intelligence. Higher p scores are associated with more life impairment, greater familiality, worse developmental histories, and more compromised early-life brain function. The p factor explains why it is challenging to find causes, consequences, biomarkers, and treatments with specificity to individual mental disorders. Transdiagnostic approaches may improve research.
AB - Mental disorders traditionally have been viewed as distinct, episodic, and categorical conditions. This view has been challenged by evidence that many disorders are sequentially comorbid, recurrent/chronic, and exist on a continuum. Using the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, we examined the structure of psychopathology, taking into account dimensionality, persistence, co-occurrence, and sequential comorbidity of mental disorders across 20 years, from adolescence to midlife. Psychiatric disorders were initially explained by three higher-order factors (Internalizing, Externalizing, and Thought Disorder) but explained even better with one General Psychopathology dimension. We have called this dimension the p factor because it conceptually parallels a familiar dimension in psychological science: the g factor of general intelligence. Higher p scores are associated with more life impairment, greater familiality, worse developmental histories, and more compromised early-life brain function. The p factor explains why it is challenging to find causes, consequences, biomarkers, and treatments with specificity to individual mental disorders. Transdiagnostic approaches may improve research.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84899952101
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84899952101#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1177/2167702613497473
DO - 10.1177/2167702613497473
M3 - Article
C2 - 25360393
AN - SCOPUS:84899952101
SN - 2167-7026
VL - 2
SP - 119
EP - 137
JO - Clinical Psychological Science
JF - Clinical Psychological Science
IS - 2
ER -