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The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology consortium aims to develop a comprehensive self-report measure to assess psychopathology dimensionally. The current research describes the initial conceptualization, development, and item selection for the thought disorder spectrum and related constructs from other spectra. The thought disorder spectrum is defined primarily by the positive and disorganized traits and symptoms of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. The Thought Disorder Sub-Workgroup identified and defined 16 relevant constructs and wrote 10 to 15 items per each construct. These items were administered, along with detachment and mania items, to undergraduates and people with serious mental illness. Three hundred and sixty-five items across 25 scales were administered. An exploratory factor analysis of the scale scores suggested a two-factor structure corresponding to positive and negative symptoms for two samples. The mania scales loaded with the positive factor, while the detachment scales loaded with the negative factor. Item-level analyses resulted in 19 preliminary scales, including 215 items that cover the range of thought disorder pathology, and will be carried forward for the next phase of data collection/analysis.

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is an empirical structural model of psychological symptoms formulated to improve the reliability and validity of clinical assessment. Neurobiology can inform assessments of early risk and intervention strategies, and the HiTOP model has greater potential to interface with neurobiological measures than traditional categorical diagnoses given its enhanced reliability. However, one complication is that observed biological correlates of clinical symptoms can reflect various factors, ranging from dispositional risk to consequences of psychopathology. In this paper, we argue that the HiTOP model provides an optimized framework for conducting research on the biological correlates of psychopathology from an ontogenetic perspective that distinguishes among indicators of liability, current symptoms, and consequences of illness. Through this approach, neurobiological research can contribute more effectively to identifying individuals at high dispositional risk, indexing treatment-related gains, and monitoring the consequences of mental illness, consistent with the aims of the HiTOP framework.
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ObjectiveDiagnosis is a cornerstone of clinical practice for mental health care providers, yet traditional diagnostic systems have well-known shortcomings, including inadequate reliability, high comorbidity, and marked within-diagnosis heterogeneity. The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is a data-driven, hierarchically based alternative to traditional classifications that conceptualizes psychopathology as a set of dimensions organized into increasingly broad, transdiagnostic spectra. Prior work has shown that using a dimensional approach improves reliability and validity, but translating a model like HiTOP into a workable system that is useful for health care providers remains a major challenge.MethodThe present work outlines the HiTOP model and describes the core principles to guide its integration into clinical practice.ResultsPotential advantages and limitations of the HiTOP model for clinical utility are reviewed, including with respect to case conceptualization and treatment planning. A HiTOP approach to practice is illustrated and contrasted with an approach based on traditional nosology. Common barriers to using HiTOP in real-world health care settings and solutions to these barriers are discussed.ConclusionsHiTOP represents a viable alternative to classifying mental illness that can be integrated into practice today, although research is needed to further establish its utility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The role of early child care experiences on the development of the mother--child attachment relationship has been studied extensively. However, no prospective studies of early child care have addressed how these experiences might be reflected in the content of attachment representations during adolescence and beyond. The goal of this study was to estimate relatively precise associations between child care quality, child care quantity, and type of care in the first 54 months of life and the content of adolescents' attachment representations around age 18 years (N = 857; 51% female; 78% White, non-Hispanic; mean income-to-needs ratio = 4.13), leveraging data from the longitudinal National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. We identified a small positive association between the observed quality of early child care (but not quantity or type of care) and secure attachment states of mind as measured by the Adult Attachment Interview (but not the Attachment Script Assessment) at age 18 years that was robust to demographic covariates and observations of maternal and paternal sensitivity during childhood. We observed no significant interactions among child care variables. Associations between early child care experiences and indicators of adolescent attachment were likewise not moderated by maternal sensitivity from infancy to midadolescence or by maternal reports of child temperament in early childhood.

Background: Due to limitations of categorical definitions of mental illness, there is a need for quantitative empirical investigations of the dimensional structure of psychopathology. Using exploratory bifactor methods, this study investigated a comprehensive and representative structure of psychopathology in children to better understand how psychotic‐like experiences (PLEs), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms, impulsivity, and sensitivity to reward and punishment, may be integrated into extant general factor models of psychopathology. Methods: We used seven child‐report and three parent‐report instruments capturing diverse mental health symptoms in 11,185 children aged 9–10 from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM (ABCD) Study. We built on previous modeling frameworks by conducting both split sample and full sample factor analytic approaches that harnessed recent methodological advances in bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling (B‐ESEM) to examine a wide range of psychopathology measures not previously integrated into a single analysis. Validity of psychopathology dimensions was examined by investigating associations with sex, age, cognition, imaging measures, and medical service usage. Results: All four factor analytic models showed excellent fit and similar structure within informant. PLEs loaded most highly onto a general psychopathology factor, suggesting that they may reflect non‐specific risk for mental illness. ASD symptoms loaded separately from attention/hyperactivity symptoms. Symptoms of impulsivity and sensitivity to reward and punishment loaded onto specific factors, distinct from externalizing and internalizing factors. All identified factors were associated with clinically relevant risk factors, providing preliminary evidence for their construct validity. Conclusion: By integrating diverse child‐report and parent‐report psychopathology measures for children in the ABCD sample, we deliver data on the quantitative structure of psychopathology for an exceptionally large set of measurements and discuss implications for the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parenting can protect against the development of, or increase risk for, child psychopathology; however, it is unclear if parenting is related to psychopathology symptoms in a specific domain, or to broad liability for psychopathology. Parenting differs between and within families, and both overall family-level parenting and the child-specific parenting a child receives may be important in estimating transdiagnostic associations with psychopathology. Data come from a cross-sectional epidemiological sample (N = 10,605 children ages 4–17, 6434 households). Parents rated child internalizing and externalizing symptoms and their parenting toward each child. General and specific (internalizing, externalizing) psychopathology factors, derived with bifactor modeling, were regressed on parenting using multilevel modeling. Less warmth and more aversive/inconsistent parenting in the family, and toward an individual child relative to family average, were associated with higher general psychopathology and specific externalizing problems. Unexpectedly, more warmth in the family, and toward an individual child relative to family average, was associated with higher specific internalizing problems in 4–11 (not 12–17) year-olds. Less warmth and more aversive/inconsistent parenting are broad correlates of child psychopathology. Aversive/inconsistent parenting, is also related to specific externalizing problems. Parents may behave more warmly when their younger children have specific internalizing problems, net of overall psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The joint development of trajectories of bullying perpetration and peer victimization from Grade 5 to Grade 8 and concurrent and predictive associations with parent- and child-reported symptoms of psychopathology (anxiety, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and somatization) were examined in a large sample (N = 695) of Canadian children. Dual trajectory modeling revealed four distinct subgroups of children: (a) those low in both bullying perpetration and peer victimization (low/limited involvement); (b) those with moderately increasing levels of involvement in bullying perpetration and low levels of victimization (bullies); (c) those with low levels of bullying perpetration and moderate/decreasing levels of peer victimization (initial/declining victims); and (d) a victim-to-bully group characterized by increasing bullying perpetration and moderate decreasing victimization. Conditional probability results suggest that a pathway from peer victimization to involvement in bullying is more likely than a pathway from bullying perpetration to peer victimization. Children classified in the victim-to-bully and initial/declining victim groups showed more pervasive elevations in parent- and child-reported symptoms of psychopathology across elementary and middle school and in Grade 9 than individuals with limited involvement in bullying or peer victimization. Most associations with Grade 9 parent-and child-reported symptoms of psychopathology remained even after controlling for initial symptoms of psychopathology. Results are discussed in the context of extant taxonomies of involvement in bullying, the temporal relationship between bullying and victimization, and the increased mental health risk associated with both pure victims and bully-victims.

This study examined the developmental significance of mothers' adult attachment representations assessed prenatally with the Adult Attachment Interview in relation to observed maternal sensitivity at 6 months postpartum in an ethnically diverse sample (N = 131 African American; N = 128 European American). Multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence for partial measurement invariance of a two-factor dismissing and preoccupied latent structure of adult attachment across the two ethnic groups of women. African American women showed modest elevations on the preoccupied factor relative to European American women. Although the dismissing factor showed an empirically equivalent negative association with maternal sensitivity in both ethnic groups, this effect was reduced to marginal significance when controlling for maternal socioeconomic status.

The still-face paradigm (SFP) was designed to assess infant expectations that parents will respond to infant communicative signals. During the still-face (SF) episode, the parent ceases interaction and maintains a neutral expression. Original, qualitative descriptions of infant behavior suggested changes within the SF episode: infants decrease bidding and disengage from their impassive parent. Research has documented changes in mean levels of infant behavior between episodes of the SFP. The hypothesis that infant behavior changes "within" the SF episode has not been empirically tested. In this study, hierarchical linear modeling indicated that infant gazing at the parent, smiling, and social bidding (smiling while gazing at the parent) decreased with time in the SF episode, while infant cry-face expressions increased. Changes in infant behaviors within the SF episode were associated with infant attachment and infant internalizing problems. The dynamic still-face effect quantifies infant initiation of interaction in the face of parental unresponsiveness and is a potential predictor of individual differences in development. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

Psychologists have long debated the role of early experience in social and cognitive development. However, traditional approaches to studying this issue are not well positioned to address this debate. The authors present simulations that indicate that the associations between early experiences and later outcomes should approach different asymptotic values across time, given alternative assumptions about the developmental significance of early experience. To test the predictions of alternative developmental models, the authors examine data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) on maternal sensitivity in the first 3 years of life and its association with social competence and academic skills through age 15. Across multimethod, multi-informant outcome data, results suggest that there may be enduring effects of early caregiving experiences in both of these domains. (Contains 8 tables, 5 figures and 3 footnotes.)

Background and methods: In two birth cohort studies with genetic, sensitive parenting, and attachment data of more than 1,000 infants in total, we tested main and interaction effects of candidate genes involved in the dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin systems ("DRD4", "DRD2", "COMT", "5-HTT", "OXTR") on attachment security and disorganization. Parenting was assessed using observational rating scales for parental sensitivity (Ainsworth, Bell, & Stayton, 1974), and infant attachment was assessed with the Strange Situation Procedure. Results: We found no consistent additive genetic associations for attachment security and attachment disorganization. However, specific tests revealed evidence for a codominant risk model for "COMT" Val158Met, consistent across both samples. Children with the Val/Met genotype showed higher disorganization scores (combined effect size d = 0.22, CI = 0.10-0.34, p less than 0.001). Gene-by-environment interaction effects were not replicable across the two samples. Conclusions: This unexpected finding might be explained by a broader range of plasticity in heterozygotes, which may increase susceptibility to environmental influences or to dysregulation of emotional arousal. This study is unique in combining the two largest attachment cohorts with molecular genetic and observed rearing environment data to date.

Little is known about attachment security and disorganization in children who are at genetic risk for an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) prior to a possible diagnosis. The present study examined distributions of attachment security and disorganization at 15-months of age in a sample of infant siblings of older children with (ASD-sibs; n = 51) or without (COMP-sibs; n = 34) an ASD. ASD-sibs were not more or less likely to evince attachment insecurity or disorganization than COMP-sibs. However, relative to COMP-sibs, the rate of B1-B2 secure subclassifications was disproportionately larger in the ASD-sib group. Results suggest that ASD-sibs are not less likely to form secure affectional bonds with their caregivers than COMP-sibs, but may differ from COMP-sibs in their expression of attachment security.

A growing body of research suggesting a negative association between basal levels of cortisol and persistent antisocial behavior has emerged. The present study examined relations between awakening cortisol levels and antisocial trajectories from ages 5 to 15 years among individuals in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Antisocial behavior was defined by semiparametric group modeling techniques, which revealed antisocial patterns parallel to Moffitt's (1993) taxonomy of antisocial trajectories. In contrast to the claim that biological diatheses are uniquely characteristic of individuals who demonstrate an early-onset pattern of antisocial behavior, our results suggest that individuals with elevated patterns of antisocial behavior between 5 and 15 years of age--irrespective of the timing of onset or desistance--are more likely to evidence lower awakening cortisol levels compared with individuals with persistently low levels of antisocial behavior. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 2 footnotes.)

This study investigated a novel approach to obtaining data on parent and infant emotion during the Face-to-Face/Still-Face paradigm, and examined these data in light of previous findings regarding early autism risk. One-hundred and eighty eight non-expert students rated 38 parents and infant siblings of children who did (20) or did not (18) have autism spectrum disorders. Ratings averaged across 10 non-experts exhibited high concordance with expert facial-action codes for infant emotion, and 20 non-experts were required for reliable parent ratings. Findings replicated the well-established still-face effect and identified subtle risk associations consonant with results from previous investigations. The unique information offered by intuitive non-expert ratings is discussed as an alternative to complex and costly behavioral coding systems. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Previous studies have provided preliminary evidence that disruptions in cry acoustics may be part of an atypical vocal signature of autism early in life. We examined the acoustic characteristics of cries extracted from the separation phase of the strange situation procedure in a sample of toddler of younger siblings of a child with autism spectrum disorder-autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (high risk, HR) and a low risk (LR) group. Cry samples derived from vocal recordings of 15-month-old HR (n = 13) and LR infants (n = 14) were subjected to acoustic analyses. HR toddlers, compared to those with LR, produced cries that were shorter and had a higher fundamental frequency (F0). Three HR toddlers later classified with an ASD at 36 months (autistic disorder in all cases) produced cries that had among the highest F0 and shortest durations. Taken together these results indicate that toddlers at high risk for ASD (and those with an ASD) express atypical patterns of distress in response a social stressor. Implications for early diagnosis and parenting are discussed. Keywords Cry * Autism spectrum disorders * Fundamental frequency * Strange situation * Behavior, Introduction To better understand social communication during early development, a growing literature is assessing the vocal production of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). ASD affects communicative and social skills, [...]

The field of psychopathology is in a transformative phase, and is witnessing a renewed surge of interest in theoretical models of mental disorders. While many interesting proposals are competing for attention in the literature, they tend to focus narrowly on the proximate level of analysis and lack a broader understanding of biological function. In this paper, we present an integrative framework for mental disorders built on concepts from life history theory, and describe a taxonomy of mental disorders based on its principles, the fast–slow–defense model (FSD). The FSD integrates psychopathology with normative individual differences in personality and behavior, and allows researchers to draw principled distinctions between broad clusters of disorders, as well as identify functional subtypes within current diagnostic categories. Simulation work demonstrates that the model can explain the large-scale structure of comorbidity, including the apparent emergence of a general "p factor" of psychopathology. A life history approach also provides novel integrative insights into the role of environmental risk/protective factors and the developmental trajectories of various disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about attachment security and disorganization in children who are at genetic risk for an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) prior to a possible diagnosis. The present study examined distributions of attachment security and disorganization at 15-months of age in a sample of infant siblings of older children with (ASD-sibs; n = 51) or without (COMP-sibs; n = 34) an ASD. ASD-sibs were not more or less likely to evince attachment insecurity or disorganization than COMP-sibs. However, relative to COMP-sibs, the rate of B1-B2 secure subclassifications was disproportionately larger in the ASD-sib group. Results suggest that ASD-sibs are not less likely to form secure affectional bonds with their caregivers than COMP-sibs, but may differ from COMP-sibs in their expression of attachment security. Keywords Attachment * Autism * Infant-sibling * Risk * Strange-situation procedure, Introduction Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders involving core impairments in social functioning and communication (Landa et al. 2007; Mundy and Hogan 1994; Sigman and Ruskin 1999). ASDs are [...]