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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to radical disruptions to the routines of individuals and families, but there are few psychometrically assessed measures for indexing behavioural responses associated with a modern pandemic. Given the likelihood of future pandemics, valid tools for assessing pandemic-related behavioral responses relevant to mental health are needed. This need may be especially salient for studies involving families, as they may experience higher levels of stress and maladjustment related to school and business closures. We therefore created the Pandemic Avoidance and Concern Scales (PACS) to assess caregivers' and youths' adjustment to COVID-19 and future pandemics.

The Prolific platform offers a potentially useful and efficient crowdsourcing option for repeated assessment substance use research, including for psychometric research requiring large samples. We present both (a) a series of practical recommendations for using Prolific and (b) data from multiple samples demonstrating Prolific's potential for efficiently collected repeated measures data. First, we present data from a 5-day daily diary protocol. We recruited a large sample (

Consensual facet structures help to unify a highly fractured personality literature, but mask information obtained from unique personality facets assessed by individual personality inventories. The current study identifies the consensual and unique facets of neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness based on analyses of five widely used personality inventories (Disinhibition Inventory-I [DIS-I], Faceted Inventory for the Five-Factor model [FI-FFM], HEXACO Personality Inventory—Revised [HEXACO-PI-R], NEO Personality Inventory-3 [NEO-PI-3], and Temperament and Affectivity Inventory [TAI]) in a community sample ( N = 440). Factor analyses revealed that neuroticism consisted of three consensual facets (distress/depression, anger, and sentimental anxiety) and four unique facets (shyness, regret/self-doubt, lassitude, and distractibility); conscientiousness consisted solely of four consensual facets (achievement striving, order, attentiveness, and responsibility); and agreeableness consisted solely of four consensual facets (prosociality, anger, venturesomeness, and trust). Regression analyses indicated that unique neuroticism facets predicted significant incremental variance across a range of psychological disorders. These results have significant implications for how neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness should be modeled at the lower order level in psychopathology research.

Mania and bipolar spectrum disorders (or BSDs) are serious and recurrent psychological disorders with significant occupational, social, and mortality costs. BSDs are characterized by episodic and prolonged mood episodes that range between abnormally and persistently elevated mood phases (mania) and frequently periods of dysphoria mood (depression). This first part of this chapter aims to provide an overview of the phenomenology and assessment of BSDs, review associated psychobiological processes across cognitive, affective, neural, and circadian rhythm dimensions, and consider the influence of context and social environment on BSDs. The second part of this chapter synthesizes empirically supported interventions to prevent and treat BSDs and highlights future directions that focus on increasing diversity and representation of marginalized communities and addressing stigma about BSDs and related psychiatric disorders.

This study builds upon research indicating that focusing narrowly on model fit when evaluating factor analytic models can lead to problematic inferences regarding the nature of item sets, as well as how models should be applied to inform measure development and validation. To advance research in this area, we present concrete examples relevant to researchers in clinical, personality, and related subfields highlighting two specific scenarios when an overreliance on model fit may be problematic. Specifically, we present data analytic examples showing that focusing narrowly on model fit may lead to (a) incorrect conclusions that heterogeneous item sets reflect narrower homogeneous constructs and (b) the retention of potentially problematic items when developing assessment measures. We use both interview data from adult outpatients (

Quantitative, empirical approaches to establishing the structure of psychopathology hold promise to improve on traditional psychiatric classification systems. The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is a framework that summarizes the substantial and growing body of quantitative evidence on the structure of psychopathology. To achieve its aims, HiTOP must incorporate emerging research in a systematic, ongoing fashion. In this paper, we introduce the conceptual background, organizing principles, core assumptions, and procedures for revising the HiTOP framework. Informed by strengths and shortcomings of previous classification systems, the proposed revisions protocol is a formalized system focused around three pillars: 1) prioritizing systematic evaluation of quantitative evidence by a set of transparent criteria and processes, 2) balancing stability with flexibility, and 3) promoting inclusion over gatekeeping in all aspects of the process. We detail how the revisions protocol will be applied in practice, including the scientific and administrative aspects of the process. Additionally, we describe areas of the HiTOP structure that will be a focus of early revisions and outline challenges for the revisions protocol moving forward. The proposed revisions protocol will ensure that the HiTOP framework reflects the current state of scientific knowledge on the structure of psychopathology and fulfills its potential to advance clinical research and practice.

We examined hierarchical structural models of psychopathology in samples of (a) adults recruited online and screened based on psychopathology history ( N = 429) and (b) undergraduates ( N = 529) to inform classification of neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD)- and hypomania-relevant dimensions within the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). Results differed across samples in some ways, but converged to indicate that some NDD- and hypomania-relevant dimensions aligned closely with different HiTOP spectra. For example, some hypomania-relevant dimensions (e.g., affective lability) overlapped strongly with the internalizing spectrum, whereas others (e.g., self-perceived charisma) were reverse-indicators of detachment. Examination of cross-sectional and prospective correlates for emergent factors also was informative in some ways. This included NDD-relevant and disinhibited externalizing dimensions associating robustly with treatment seeking history and recent experiences of distress. These results provide initial insights into classifying NDD- and hypomania-relevant dimensions within the HiTOP and indicate a need for future research in this area.

The optimal classification of mania symptoms within dimensional models of psychopathology remains unclear, due in part to most prior research using composite, categorical ratings of mania/bipolar disorder rather than ratings of specific symptoms. We addressed this gap by examining the structure of self-reported symptom-level ratings of mania, internalizing, and thought disorder in adults recruited online who self-identified as having significant mental health histories (N = 1,112). Although prior research suggests that mania symptoms overlap strongly with both internalizing and thought disorder, our results indicated much closer alignment with thought disorder than internalizing when examining a two-factor structure. When examining a three-factor structure, ratings of manic symptoms such as grandiosity continued to load strongly onto a common factor with thought disorder symptoms, whereas symptoms such as racing thoughts and excessive energy loaded strongly onto a separate Agitation factor. Agitation showed some distinctive external associations with personality and medication use (e.g., with disinhibition, stimulant medication use), but was still strongly correlated with thought disorder. Future research informing the dimensional classification and assessment of mania symptoms can extend our findings by incorporating assessment of other psychopathology (e.g., externalizing), examining the cross-method consistency of results, and determining symptom interrelations using intensive longitudinal designs.

This study investigated the extent to which specific facets of positive affectivity (PA) demonstrate differential relationships with social anxiety symptomatology as well as social functioning. Following the conceptual framework of the Broaden and Build theory, as well as prior work demonstrating reward-based linkages to specific PA subdomains, we hypothesized that motivationally-valenced PA facets would show distinct associations with social anxiety and social functioning measures. Two samples (N = 446 and N = 375) completed self-report measures of PA, social anxiety, internalizing symptoms, and social functioning. Correlational, multiple and logistic regression, and contrast analyses of correlated correlation coefficients were used to identify the presence and magnitude of relationships between PA facets and symptom measures. Relationships between social anxiety and specific subdomains of PA appeared to depend on the motivational relevance of each facet. Specifically, self-assurance was associated with social anxiety symptoms above and beyond other PA facets and negative affect. Additionally, contrast analyses indicated that motivationally-valenced (versus non-motivationally-valenced) PA facets were stronger negative predictors of social anxiety symptoms. These results demonstrate a statistically significant divergence between motivationally-valenced subdomains of PA and non-motivationally-valenced subdomains of PA, as they relate to social anxiety symptom severity.

Although caregiver characteristics such as personality and psychopathology strongly relate to parenting, little is known about how a caregiver’s own autistic or broader autism phenotype (BAP) traits relate to parenting practices. This is a significant gap in our understanding of individual differences in parenting given the rising prevalence of autism diagnoses among adults, with higher levels of the population reporting subclinical traits related to autism (i.e., BAP traits of aloofness, pragmatic language difficulties, and rigidity). To further our understanding of families wherein caregivers identify as autistic or as having autistic traits, we examined (1) whether caregiver BAP traits, considered both categorically and continuously, were associated with parenting practices; (2) how the three distinct BAP traits differentially related to parenting, and (3) whether BAP traits were associated with parenting over and above other mental health symptoms. Caregivers (n = 138) reported on BAP traits, multiple domains of parenting using the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire and the Parental Emotion Style Questionnaire, and co-occurring attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traits and internalizing symptoms. BAP traits were associated with parenting both categorically and continuously, with the three BAP subscales showing differential associations with parenting outcomes, even when controlling for internalizing symptoms and ADHD traits. Aloofness was associated with lower scores on measures of emotion dismissing, positive parenting, and involvement, whereas pragmatic language difficulties were associated with lower scores on emotion coaching and higher scores on poor monitoring. Rigidity was uniquely associated with higher scores on emotion dismissing. Implications for advancing understanding of individual differences in parenting, considering systemic and contextual influences on parenting, and supporting parenting in the general population and for autistic adults are discussed.

Background Research suggests that re-experiencing and avoidance are “core” PTSD symptoms, but there has been little research explicating their unique connections to psychopathology other than internalizing conditions such as depression and anxiety. We aim to unpack symptom heterogeneity within PTSD by exploring associations between re-experiencing and avoidance clusters and major psychopathology domains in a dimensional metastructural framework (e.g., the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology, or HiTOP). Method We used a trauma-exposed community sample (n = 233, 66.1% female, mean age = 45 years) to compare re-experiencing and avoidance's associations with factor-analytically derived dimensions generally corresponding to HiTOP structure: Distress, Fear, Detachment, Antagonism, Disinhibition, Thought Disorder, and Compulsivity. Results Both re-experiencing and avoidance were robustly related to Fear. Re-experiencing was particularly related to Distress and Thought Disorder, whereas avoidance was related to domains involving overinhibition (e.g., Compulsivity). Relative to avoidance, re-experiencing had broader and more substantial associations with psychopathology, partly as a function of its greater saturation with dysphoria. Limitations Coverage of PTSD symptoms was limited to questionnaire measurement of re-experiencing and avoidance clusters. Results need to be replicated in samples selected for posttraumatic psychopathology. Conclusion Although they are strongly intercorrelated and both are robustly related to Fear, re-experiencing and avoidance differ substantially in their unique relations with other forms of psychopathology, and re-experiencing may be less specific to PTSD than previously thought. These differences can be used to understand the etiology and phenomenology of re-experiencing and avoidance in greater depth to inform more targeted and effective interventions for posttraumatic psychopathology.

There have been proposals to expand definitions for categorical disorders and dimensionally-conceptualized syndromes (e.g., psychopathy) to include negative mood lability and dysregulation (NMD). Factor analytic results are often presented in support of these proposals, and we provide factor analytic demonstrations across clinically-oriented samples showing that NMD indicators load strongly onto factors with a range of psychopathology. This is unsurprising from a transdiagnostic perspective but shows that factor analysis could potentially be used to justify expanding definitions for specific constructs even though NMD indicators show strong, nonspecific loadings on psychopathology factors ranging widely in nature. Expanding construct definitions and assessment approaches to emphasize NMD also may negatively impact discriminant validity. We agree that targeting NMD is essential for comprehensive assessment, but our demonstrative analyses highlight a need for using factor analysis and other statistical methods in a careful, theoretically-driven manner when evaluating psychopathology structure and developing measures.

Adolescents of mothers with a history of depression are at two-to-five-fold increased risk for developing depression themselves. These adolescents may be especially vulnerable to depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. To better understand the complex vulnerability processes involved in the transmission of maternal depression risk to adolescent offspring in the context of the pandemic-related stress, we examined potential mediating and moderating factors that link maternal depression history and offspring depressive symptoms, including resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) and mothers’ depressive symptoms, in 85 adolescents during the pandemic. Adolescents’ pre-pandemic rs-FC between posterior and anterior cingulate cortex (PCC-ACC) moderated the association between maternal depression history and adolescents’ depressive symptoms during the pandemic, such that maternal depression history predicted adolescents’ symptoms only in youths with heightened pre-pandemic PCC-ACC rs-FC. Mothers’ depressive symptoms during pandemic mediated and moderated the link between maternal depression history and adolescents’ depressive symptoms; specifically, mothers with a history of depression had greater depressive symptoms during pandemic outbreak, which were, in turn, associated with offspring depressive symptoms. Additionally, maternal depression history predicted depressive symptoms in adolescents whose mothers had relatively lower depressive symptoms during the pandemic. Findings speak to the complex mediating and moderating processes involved in the transmission of maternal depression risk to adolescent offspring in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research on personality and psychopathology associations has informed the classification of many symptom dimensions within the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). However, classification of symptom dimensions defining autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) within the HiTOP framework remains unclear in many ways. To address this issue, we examined the joint factor structure of (a) measures assessing characteristics relevant to ADHD and autism and (b) normal range personality traits in a sample of 547 adults recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk, many of whom reported elevated autism-relevant and ADHD-relevant characteristics. We also examined how factors identified in these analyses correlated with measures of internalizing symptoms and select externalizing traits. Our results indicated that some measures assessing autism-relevant and ADHD-relevant characteristics (e.g. communication issues, hyperactivity/impulsivity) defined a distinct Attention and Communication Difficulties factor, with scores on this factor correlating strongly with internalizing symptom ratings. However, other relevant characteristics such as aloofness may be indicators of existing HiTOP spectra such as detachment. We discuss how these findings inform classification of autism-relevant and ADHD-relevant characteristics within the HiTOP, as well as key future directions for extending the limited research in this area.

Many studies have examined the correlates and factor structure of the conduct disorder (CD) criteria in child and adolescent samples, finding that the set of behaviors defining CD are heterogeneous in nature. However, the factor structure of the CD criteria has not been examined in adults, even though the CD criteria often must be assessed retrospectively when diagnosing antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) in adulthood. To advance understanding of assessing CD behaviors retrospectively in adults, we present factor analytic and correlational results from a large sample of adult outpatients (N = 1793). Our results indicate that CD ratings are defined by at least two latent factors of Rule Violation (e.g., curfew violations) and Aggression (e.g., using a weapon). Ratings of aggressive behaviors tended to show somewhat stronger associations with other externalizing psychopathology than did rule violation ratings. Furthermore, CD dimensions identified in our factor analyses correlated robustly with ASPD but correlated just as strongly with diagnostic ratings of other externalizing psychopathology such as substance use history. We discuss how these findings from a large adult sample parallel results from child and adolescent samples indicating that the CD criteria are defined by distinct dimensions. Furthermore, we interpret these findings within the context of other recent studies suggesting that a CD history may not be a specific precursor to ASPD in adulthood.

Maladaptive experiences of negative mood states and difficulties regulating them, collectively referred to here as negative affective dysfunction, are linked robustly to many disorders. Despite negative affective dysfunction being a nonspecific psychopathology feature, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM–5) introduced new (a) disorders and (b) features to existing disorders intended to capture manifestations of negative affective dysfunction. This theoretical article highlights why these additions may exacerbate issues concerning disorder overlap and differential diagnosis. Specific examples are provided to support this viewpoint, including potential consequences of emphasizing negative affective dysfunction within the diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Although researchers likely will continue to disagree about how to best classify negative affective dysfunction (e.g., using dimensions vs. categories), I argue that we can reach common ground as a field by recognizing that caution is needed when proposing new DSM–5 additions to capture nonspecific psychopathology features.

There have been proposals to expand definitions for categorical disorders and dimensionally conceptualized syndromes (e.g., psychopathy) to include negative mood lability and dysregulation (NMD). Factor analytic results are often presented in support of these proposals, and we provide factor analytic demonstrations across clinically oriented samples showing that NMD indicators load strongly onto factors with a range of psychopathology. This is unsurprising from a transdiagnostic perspective but shows that factor analysis could potentially be used to justify expanding definitions for specific constructs even though NMD indicators show strong, nonspecific loadings on psychopathology factors ranging widely in nature. Expanding construct definitions and assessment approaches to emphasize NMD also may negatively impact discriminant validity. We agree that targeting NMD is essential for comprehensive assessment, but our demonstrative analyses highlight a need for using factor analysis and other statistical methods in a careful, theoretically driven manner when evaluating psychopathology structure and developing measures.

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) traditionally has been administered using 40 pairs of items with a forced-choice response format. However, recent NPI research indicates that it may be advantageous to administer only the item from each pair that is in the narcissistic, keyed direction (i.e., using a “single-stimulus” format) in conjunction with a Likert style response rating scale (Ackerman et al. 2016). This same research and other prior studies also suggest that the NPI items assess distinct grandiose narcissistic traits (e.g., manipulativeness, leadership), such that focusing solely on total scores for analyses may be problematic. We extend this previous work by examining the NPI’s factor structure and correlates in both clinically-oriented community (N = 700) and undergraduate (N = 527) samples when this measure is administered using a single-stimulus format and a Likert style rating scale. Our results indicated that five replicable NPI factors (i.e., Manipulativeness, Grandiose Fantasies, Vanity, Leadership/Authority, Superiority) could be identified across samples. Subscales modeling these factors showed distinctive patterns of personality and psychopathology relations. For example, some subscales (e.g., Leadership/Authority, Superiority) showed strong positive relations with agentic aspects of extraversion and robust negative relations with neuroticism, but other subscales (e.g., Manipulativeness, Grandiose Fantasies) showed comparatively weaker associations with these personality traits. These results highlight a potentially more useful administration format for the NPI, and also underscore need to consider the distinctive nature of NPI subscales in future research using this measure.

Extraversion shows both negative and positive associations with psychopathology. Previous work in this area has focused largely on either a broad higher order extraversion domain score or on specific lower-order extraversion facets. The goal of this study was to explicate how two intermediate aspects of the trait-communal extraversion and agentic extraversion-relate to psychopathology. We examined these relations using the Communal Extraversion (e.g., enjoy spending time with people, would describe myself as cheerful, like places that are crowded and exciting) and Agentic Extraversion (e.g., speak my mind, take charge in a group of people, like the sensation of going really fast) scales from the Faceted Inventory of the Five-Factor Model (FI-FFM; Watson, Nus, & Wu, 2019). As expected, Communal Extraversion generally showed negative associations with psychopathology; it had particularly strong links to indicators of internalizing, including depression symptoms (correlations generally ranged from -.40 to -.60) and various forms of social dysfunction (most correlations ranged from -.35 to -.60). In marked contrast, Agentic Extraversion tended to have positive associations with psychopathology; it displayed particularly substantial links to indicators of mania, narcissism/narcissistic personality disorder, and traits related to externalizing (correlations generally ranged from .25 to .50). Regression results demonstrated that aspect-level analyses generated substantial increases in predictive power over the FI-FFM Extraversion domain score. This basic pattern of results replicated over time, across gender, and across both self-rated and interview-based indicators of psychopathology. These findings establish the value of examining relations with extraversion at the aspect level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The validity of self-ratings of personality pathology often is questioned because personality disorders (PD) historically have been viewed as being characterized by poor insight. However, recent research indicates that PD self-ratings are valid in many ways and have significant clinical utility. Building upon this growing literature, our goal here is to provide practical discussion of how incorporating dimensional PD ratings into assessment protocols can benefit diagnosis and treatment. We first review evidence suggesting that PD self-ratings are particularly useful for assessing constructs related to individuals’ own subjective experiences (e.g., propensities for experiencing negative mood states). We then highlight research indicating that PD self-ratings (a) change positively with intervention and (b) meaningfully inform diagnosis, treatment planning, and treatment outcome. Finally, we illustrate how freely available, well-validated self-report PD measures can be used to efficiently obtain clinically useful information in a manner comprehensible to both practitioners and patients. Self-ratings of personality pathology are valid and useful in many ways and can be efficiently incorporated into assessment protocols. Key future directions for advancing knowledge of self-report PD assessment include examining the extent to which self-ratings of antagonism—a core PD trait—are accurate across contexts.

We examine relations between extraversion and psychopathology, using a four-level hierarchical structure in which the general domain is divided into two aspects (Communal Extraversion, Agentic Extraversion), four consensual facets (Sociability, Liveliness, Venturesomeness, Dominance), and six NEO facets (Gregariousness, Warmth, Positive Emotions, Activity, Excitement-Seeking, Assertiveness). Our review indicates that extraversion’s negative correlations with depression primarily reflect the aspect of Communal Extraversion, the consensual facet of Liveliness, and NEO Positive Emotions. Its negative associations with social dysfunction largely are due to the aspect of Communal Extraversion, the consensual facet of Sociability, and NEO Warmth, Gregariousness, and Positive Emotions. Finally, externalizing and mania are positively related to the aspect of Agentic Extraversion, the consensual facets of Venturesomeness and Dominance, and NEO Excitement-Seeking.

The Prolific platform offers a potentially useful and efficient crowdsourcing option for repeated assessment substance use research, including for psychometric research requiring large samples. We present both (a) a series of practical recommendations for using Prolific and (b) data from multiple samples demonstrating Prolific’s potential for efficiently collected repeated measures data. First, we present data from a 5-day daily diary protocol. We recruited a large sample (N = 321 at Day 1) screened for a history of self-identified mental health issues and weekly alcohol use. Participant adherence was good (82%) even without in-person contact. Alcohol use patterns conformed to theoretical expectations: Participants were more likely to drink on Fridays and Saturdays than other days, men drank more than women, and higher Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT; Saunders et al., 1993) scores were associated with an increased likelihood of use and more overall drinking on a given day. Second, we present data from 429 Prolific participants screened for a history of mental health issues who completed assessments 2 weeks apart with strong retention (N = 377; 88%). We compare these data with data from undergraduates (N = 529) to demonstrate Prolific’s utility for conducting psychometrically-oriented substance use research. Internal consistency estimates for measures from the Prolific data matched or exceeded those from the undergraduate data. Furthermore, measure scores showed strong temporal stability, and factor structures (e.g., AUDIT item-level structures) conformed to theoretical expectations. Collectively, these findings indicate that Prolific can be used successfully for repeated measures data collection.

Despite being multifaceted in nature, positive emotional (PE) experiences often are studied using only global PE ratings, and measures assessing more specific PE facets do not converge in their assessment approaches. To address these issues, we examined hierarchical factor structures of ratings of positive emotionality, which reflect propensities toward experiencing PE, in both online community adult (N = 375) and undergraduate (N = 447) samples. Preregistered analyses indicated (a) a broad distinction between tendencies to experience social affection and other PE types, and that (b) PE ratings can be differentiated by as many as four replicable factors of Joviality, Social Affection, Serenity, and Attentiveness. These PE dimensions were associated with distinct personality and psychopathology profiles. Examples of these distinctive associations included Joviality displaying robust positive associations with grandiosity and exhibitionism; conversely, although Social Affection and Joviality were strongly correlated, Social Affection showed associations in the opposite direction with grandiosity and exhibitionism. Other notable results include Serenity (e.g., feeling relaxed) showing negative associations with negative emotionality at a magnitude indicating that Serenity may reflect low levels of negative emotionality to a considerable degree. Collectively, these results highlight the need to consider distinct PE facets in addition to global PE ratings when assessing PE, as important nuance may be lost otherwise. Furthermore, our results indicate the need for additional research clarifying PE structure at different levels of abstraction to inform future measure development efforts and assessment approaches. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

This study builds upon research indicating that focusing narrowly on model fit when evaluating factor analytic models can lead to problematic inferences regarding the nature of item sets, as well as how models should be applied to inform measure development and validation. To advance research in this area, we present concrete examples relevant to researchers in clinical, personality, and related subfields highlighting two specific scenarios when an overreliance on model fit may be problematic. Specifically, we present data analytic examples showing that focusing narrowly on model fit may lead to (a) incorrect conclusions that heterogeneous item sets reflect narrower homogeneous constructs and (b) the retention of potentially problematic items when developing assessment measures. We use both interview data from adult outpatients (N = 2,149) and self-report data from adults recruited online (N = 547) to demonstrate the importance of these issues across sample types and assessment methods. Following demonstrations with these data, we make recommendations focusing on how other model characteristics (e.g., factor loading patterns; carefully considering the content and nature of factor indicators) should be considered in addition to information provided by model fit indices when evaluating factor analytic models.

We examined hierarchical structural models of psychopathology in samples of (a) adults recruited online and screened based on psychopathology history (N = 429) and (b) undergraduates (N = 529) to inform classification of neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD)- and hypomania-relevant dimensions within the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). Results differed across samples in some ways, but converged to indicate that some NDD- and hypomania-relevant dimensions aligned closely with different HiTOP spectra. For example, some hypomania-relevant dimensions (e.g., lability) overlapped strongly with the internalizing spectrum, whereas others (e.g., self-perceived charisma) were reverse-indicators of detachment. Examination of cross-sectional and prospective correlates for emergent factors also was informative in some ways. This included NDD-relevant and disinhibited externalizing dimensions associating robustly with treatment seeking history and recent experiences of distress. These results provide initial insights into classifying NDD- and hypomania-relevant dimensions within the HiTOP and indicate a need for future research in this area.

Fluctuations in mood and activity levels are defining features of bipolar disorder, but the temporal stability of measures used to assess symptoms and traits relevant to bipolar disorder is unclear. This study examined the short-term stability of several widely used, contemporary bipolar disorder measures (e.g., Altman Self-Rating Mania Scale, General Behavior Inventory, Hypomanic Personality Scale, Mood Disorder Questionnaire) over a period of roughly 2 weeks (M Retest Interval = 15.17 days) in an undergraduate sample. The stability correlations varied widely, ranging from .49 to .83. As would be expected, measures that were designed to assess traits related to bipolar disorder tended to show stronger stability than scales purporting to assess more transient symptoms of bipolar disorder. Other analyses revealed that—consistent with previous research—some bipolar disorder scales demonstrated moderate to strong positive relations with neuroticism/negative affect and other psychopathology, whereas others related weakly to such measures but showed more robust positive relations with extraversion/positive affect. Taken together, our findings suggest that it is important to consider administration instructions (e.g., trait vs. symptom ratings), subscale properties, and item format when selecting study measures in bipolar disorder research.

Background: This study investigated the extent to which specific facets of positive affectivity (PA) demonstrate differential relationships with social anxiety symptomatology as well as social functioning. Following the conceptual framework of the Broaden and Build theory, as well as prior work demonstrating reward-based linkages to specific PA subdomains, we hypothesized that motivationally-valenced PA facets would show distinct associations with social anxiety and social functioning measures. Methods: Two samples (N = 446 and N = 375) completed self-report measures of PA, social anxiety, internalizing symptoms, and social functioning. Correlational, multiple and logistic regression, and contrast analyses of correlated correlation coefficients were used to identify the presence and magnitude of relationships between PA facets and symptom measures.Results: Relationships between social anxiety and specific subdomains of PA appeared to depend on the motivational relevance of each facet. Specifically, self-assurance was associated with social anxiety symptoms above and beyond other PA facets and negative affect. Additionally, contrast analyses indicated that motivationally-valenced PA facets were stronger predictors than non-motivationally-valenced PA facets for social anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: These results demonstrate a statistically significant divergence between motivationally-valenced subdomains of PA and non-motivationally-valenced subdomains of PA, as they relate to social anxiety symptom severity.

Despite being multifaceted in nature, positive emotional (PE) experiences often are studied using only global PE ratings, and measures assessing more specific PE facets do not converge in their assessment approaches. To address these issues, we examined hierarchical factor structures of ratings of positive emotionality, which reflect propensities toward experiencing PE, in both online community adult (N = 375) and undergraduate (N = 447) samples. Preregistered analyses indicated (a) a broad distinction between tendencies to experience social affection and other PE types, and that (b) PE ratings can be differentiated by as many as four replicable factors of Joviality, Social Affection, Serenity, and Attentiveness. These PE dimensions were associated with distinct personality and psychopathology profiles. Examples of these distinctive associations included Joviality displaying robust positive associations with grandiosity and exhibitionism; conversely, although Social Affection and Joviality were strongly correlated, Social Affection showed associations in the opposite direction with grandiosity and exhibitionism. Other notable results include Serenity (e.g., feeling relaxed) showing negative associations with negative emotionality at a magnitude indicating that Serenity may reflect low levels of negative emotionality to a considerable degree. Collectively, these results highlight the need to consider distinct PE facets in addition to global PE ratings when assessing PE, as important nuance may be lost otherwise. Furthermore, our results indicate the need for additional research clarifying PE structure at different levels of abstraction to inform future measure development efforts and assessment approaches.

The Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) has emerged as a widely used measure for assessing a three-trait model of disinhibition, meanness, and boldness. Building on recent psychometric work, we examined the TriPM’s item-level factor structure and correlates in both a clinically oriented community sample ( n = 700) and in undergraduates ( n = 527). Our results indicated a replicable three-factor structure generally corresponding with disinhibition, meanness, and boldness, although many items were not clear indicators of their assigned TriPM domain scales. Consequently, these dimensions may be better represented by Alternate Disinhibition (14 items), Boldness (13 items), and Meanness (8 items) domain scales. Additionally, we identified sets of items defining distinct Self-Assurance and Fearlessness dimensions within Boldness and Irresponsibility and Impulsivity dimensions within Disinhibition. We discuss these findings in the context of other recent studies examining the TriPM’s item-level structure, highlighting key future directions for sharpening measurement of the externalizing spectrum.

We examined the validity of self-report measures of narcissism and mania by relating them to interview-based ratings of psychopathology. Narcissism scales were taken from the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire–4+, and the Short Dark Triad. Mania measures included the Altman Self-Rated Mania Scale (ASRM) and scales taken from the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS) and Expanded Version of the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms. Our analyses addressed two key issues. The first issue was whether these scales demonstrated significant criterion validity (e.g., whether the HPS scales correlated significantly with interview ratings of mania). The second issue was whether they displayed specificity to their target constructs (e.g., whether the NPI scales correlated more strongly with ratings of narcissistic personality disorder than with other forms of psychopathology). All of the narcissism scales—including all three NPI subscales—correlated significantly with interview ratings of narcissistic personality disorder and showed considerable evidence of diagnostic specificity. Most of the mania scales also displayed good criterion validity and diagnostic specificity. However, two measures—the ASRM and the HPS Social Vitality subscale—had weak, nonsignificant associations with interview ratings of manic episodes; these findings raise concerns regarding their validity as specific indicators of mania.

Extensive research has been conducted to isolate features that distinguish bipolar spectrum disorders from unipolar depression. Therefore, we identified latent symptom dimensions that are unique versus shared across these disorders by examining the joint structure of hypomanic/manic and depressive symptoms in two large samples (i.e., 647 community adults; 1,370 outpatients with unipolar depression or bipolar disorder history). Results across studies suggested that (a) many hypomanic/manic and depressive symptoms (e.g., irritability) are transdiagnostic, but also that (b) symptoms such as increased energy and euphoric mood define a latent specific positive activation dimension that appears more specific to bipolar disorder. We discuss how these results indicate that some symptoms may be more optimal to target than others when trying to distinguish bipolar disorder from unipolar depression, as well as how the identification of relatively disorder-specific symptom types may optimally guide future research on key mechanisms linked to hypomania/mania and depression.

Objectives We aimed to determine which, if any, features distinguish antisocial and narcissistic personality disorders (ASPD and NPD), two overlapping externalizing disorders. Methods A large sample of outpatients (N = 2,149) completed interview measures assessing personality pathology, other psychopathology, and impairment. The structure of antisocial and narcissistic traits was examined using both exploratory bifactor and traditional exploratory factor analytic approaches, and we examined relations for our emergent factors. Results Factor analytic results indicated that most narcissistic and antisocial traits were strongly overlapping, although some features emerged as relatively distinct (e.g., arrogance defining NPD). Factors modeling our specific bifactor dimensions showed very weak psychopathology and impairment relations. Conclusions The structure of ASPD and NPD traits does not align neatly with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) Section II conceptualizations, Regardless of the factor analytic approach used. Our findings also indicate that specific dimensions defining these PDs show modest predictive power after accounting for a general externalizing dimension.

The issue of the severity of psychiatric disorders has great clinical importance. For example, severity influences decisions about level of care, and affects decisions to seek government assistance due to psychiatric disability. Controversy exists as to the efficacy of antidepressants across the spectrum of depression severity, and whether patients with severe depression should be preferentially treated with medication rather than psychotherapy. Measures of severity are used to evaluate outcome in treatment studies and may be used as meaningful endpoints in clinical practice. But, what does it mean to say that someone has a severe illness? Does severity refer to the number of symptoms a patient is experiencing? To the intensity of the symptoms? To symptom frequency or persistence? To the impact of symptoms on functioning or on quality of life? To the likelihood of the illness resulting in permanent disability or death? Putting aside the issue of how severity should be operationalized, another consideration is whether severity should be conceptualized similarly for all illnesses or be disorder specific. In this paper, we examine how severity is characterized in research and contemporary psychiatric diagnostic systems, with a special focus on depression and personality disorders. Our review shows that the DSM-5 has defined the severity of various disorders in different ways, and that researchers have adopted a myriad of ways of defining severity for both depression and personality disorders, although the severity of the former was predominantly defined according to scores on symptom rating scales, whereas the severity of the latter was often linked with impairments in functioning. Because the functional impact of symptom-defined disorders depends on factors extrinsic to those disorders, such as self-efficacy, resilience, coping ability, social support, cultural and social expectations, as well as the responsibilities related to one's primary role function and the availability of others to assume those responsibilities, we argue that the severity of such disorders should be defined independently from functional impairment.

Conceptualizations of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) have been criticized for focusing too exclusively on grandiose narcissistic traits (e.g., exploitativeness and entitlement) and failing to capture vulnerable narcissistic features (e.g., feelings of inadequacy). We extended prior grandiose and vulnerable narcissism research by examining the degree to which clinician ratings of traits related to grandiosity overlapped with traits related to vulnerability in a large sample of adult outpatients (N = 2,149). We also examined relations with other psychopathology and psychosocial impairment for both (a) narcissistic trait configurations including both vulnerable and grandiose features and (b) configurations focusing on grandiose narcissistic traits. Structural results indicated that some personality features related to vulnerability (e.g., perfectionism and inadequacy) were unrelated to ratings of grandiose narcissistic personality features. Additionally, our results suggest that emphasizing vulnerable features within narcissism trait configurations may increase NPD's overlap with other disorders (e.g., borderline personality disorder and social anxiety) and does not appear to discriminate pathological narcissism from antisocial personality disorder, a disorder with which NPD is highly comorbid. Finally, scores on configurations defined only by grandiose narcissistic traits related positively to all psychosocial impairment indicators, although configurations also including vulnerable features generally showed stronger relations with psychosocial impairment. The implications of these findings in regard to future conceptualizations of NPD are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

We examined the dispositional component of the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs) in a large adult sample. Our battery included two hierarchical measures of personality, which allowed us to examine relations with both higher-order domains and lower-order facets of the five-factor model. In addition, our study included multiple indicators of each OCRD, which enabled us to model them as latent factors. Principal factor analyses of these indicators revealed six dimensions: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Hoarding, Excoriation, Body Dissatisfaction, Trichotillomania, and Body Preoccupation. Body Dissatisfaction, OCD, and Hoarding showed the strongest links to personality, with the other symptoms displaying more moderate associations. Neuroticism was the strongest and broadest predictor of the OCRDs at the domain level, exhibiting significant positive relations with every symptom dimension except Body Preoccupation in both bivariate and multivariate analyses. Conscientiousness showed negative associations with Body Dissatisfaction and Hoarding, and was positively related to Body Preoccupation. Finally, openness was negatively linked to OCD at both the bivariate and multivariate level. In comparison to domain-level analyses, the lower-order facets jointly contributed an additional 11.8% (Excoriation) to 17.6% (OCD) of the criterion variance, with a mean increment of 14.2%. Three neuroticism facets—anger, self-consciousness, and impulsiveness—displayed robust positive associations with two or more OCRD symptom factors, but no lower-order trait contributed significantly in every analysis. Overall, our results indicate that—similar to most other forms of psychopathology—OCRD symptoms have a common component of elevated neuroticism.

This study advances research on interpersonal perceptions of narcissism by examining the degree to which overt displays of narcissism (e.g. being boastful and arrogant) are viewed by lay raters as resulting from covert insecurity. We wrote a brief set of items to assess this view and collected responses from a large sample of community adults (n = 5 528). We present results both for participants reporting (n = 617; patient subsample) and not reporting (n = 4 911; non-patient subsample) current psychiatric treatment. Results revealed that (1) overt grandiose narcissistic traits generally are viewed as being linked to covert insecurity and vulnerability and (2) items intended to assess this link define a meaningful construct, referred to here as Belief in Narcissistic Insecurity. Patient subsample participants also completed measures of personality and psychopathology. Belief in Narcissistic Insecurity showed modest positive relations with self-rated narcissism and with favourable views of one's personality (i.e. seeing oneself as extraverted and conscientious). These findings contribute to research aimed at explicating how perceptions of narcissism are related to self-views and interpersonal functioning. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Background The Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ; Hirschfeld et al., 2000) is a widely used screening measure in bipolar disorder research. Although this measure assesses a heterogeneous range of content, only limited prior research utilizing relatively small sample sizes has examined its factor structure. Methods The MDQ's structure was examined in 700 participants reporting current psychiatric treatment. We extended prior structural work on the MDQ by explicating relations between factors and a wide range of psychopathology and personality measures. Results The MDQ items were best captured by a two-factor structure consisting of dimensions labeled Positive Activation and Negative Activation. These two factors showed very different patterns of associations with personality, other psychopathology, and ratings of significant impairment, the last of which is a requirement for a positive MDQ screen using traditional scoring methods. Limitations Our study did not include clinician or informant ratings of bipolar disorder, preventing us from examining associations with such scores. Conclusions Our findings indicate that although the MDQ items cohere to define a total score, their structure is best modeled by meaningful Positive Activation and Negative Activation factors. Researchers and clinicians should be aware of these distinct sets of MDQ content, as high scorers on Positive Activation are less likely to identify past symptoms as problematic and show distinct clinical profiles from high scorers on Negative Activation.

Considerable research has used the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS) to assess traits conferring risk for hypomanic and manic episodes. Although the HPS has been shown to be defined by several distinct sets of content, most research has continued to rely exclusively on HPS total scores, due to (a) little research having examined its structure and (b) the discrepant structural results obtained in the few available studies. Therefore, we examined the structure and relations of the HPS in a large sample of community adults ( N = 737) receiving psychiatric treatment. Our structural results indicated a five-factor structure of Activation, Charisma, Intellectual Confidence, Lability, and Modesty. Subscales modeling these emergent factors showed divergent patterns of relations with personality and other forms of psychopathology. These findings underscore the importance of examining HPS subscale relations in addition to HPS total scores in future research.

Background In 2010, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) created the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), a research framework for integrating multiple units of information to explicate basic dimensions of functioning underlying both adaptive and maladaptive behavior. Our goal in this review is to evaluate self-report indicators of negative valence systems constructs within RDoC. Methods We review the content and correlates of several of the most popular self-report measures currently classified within the negative valence systems in the RDoC matrix, using both our own data and previously published results. We use these data to evaluate whether these measures are appropriately placed; in addition, wherever possible, we recommend better alternatives to assess key RDoC constructs. Results Our findings indicate that many of the currently listed self-report measures are misplaced. Specifically, our data reveal that some of the purported fear scales are better conceptualized as measures of anxiety and/or anxious arousal. In addition, none of the currently listed measures of frustrative nonreward is a clear, unambiguous indicator of that construct. Limitations The RDoC matrix currently does not list any specific measures of either loss or sustained threat, which makes it difficult to identify appropriate measures of these constructs. In many cases, the specificity/discriminant validity of proposed measures remains uncertain. Conclusions Researchers wanting to include self-report measures of negative valence constructs currently receive little guidance from the RDoC matrix. Future assessment work should be oriented toward the development of measures that are explicitly designed to assess these RDoC constructs.

Mania, narcissism, antisocial personality disorder/psychopathy, and substance use (including alcohol use) disorders have been linked through the dominance behavioral system, a biologically based system guiding dominant behavior and responses to perceptions of power (Johnson et al. 2012). We examined the structure and correlates of measures of psychopathology linked to dominance in two studies utilizing student (N = 309) and mixed community/outpatient samples (N = 255), the latter of which incorporated multi-method assessment. Results indicated that grandiose narcissism and some mania-relevant measures are defined by overlapping positive emotionality content (e.g., seeking acclaim, feeling fearless) that shows strong relations with traits related to dominance (e.g., assertiveness, immodesty). Antisocial trait measures also were linked to dominance to some degree, although less strongly than indicators of mania and narcissism. Lastly, even though substance use indicators overlap with other measures of psychopathology showing more substantial relations to dominance, these measures were weakly related to dominance-related traits. These results establish an important and novel connection between grandiose narcissism and mania-relevant measures via their assessment of dominance. Furthermore, results indicate that substance use measures do not assess dominant attitudes and behaviors. However, the extent to which antisocial traits are defined by dominance is less clear, especially given that these studies did not incorporate assessment of social boldness, a construct central to some conceptualizations of psychopathy (Patrick et al. 2009).

Transdiagnostic frameworks such as the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) and Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) offer an exciting future for psychopathology research but may pose measurement and data analytic challenges because historically researchers have often relied on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) to guide psychopathology assessment. We address these challenges by providing recommendations for (a) measure selection, (b) data analysis, and (c) participant recruitment when conducting research from a transdiagnostic, dimensional perspective. Examples presented demonstrate how both broad psychopathology spectra and specific symptom dimensions can be assessed efficiently via interview, informant, and self-rated methods. Using these dimensional assessment approaches rather than DSM categories can enhance precision when examining symptom relations for RDoC mechanisms and in treatment contexts. Additionally, alternative strategies to using DSM diagnostic status for participant selection can expedite study recruitment and maximize sample sizes. Thus, incorporating these recommendations can streamline research and improve measurement in many ways. We hope that these guidelines will facilitate integration among different transdiagnostic frameworks that have emerged to address limitations of the DSM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Research on personality and psychopathology associations has informed the classification of many symptom dimensions within the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). However, classification of symptom dimensions defining autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) within the HiTOP framework remains unclear in many ways. To address this issue, we examined the joint factor structure of (a) measures assessing characteristics relevant to ADHD and autism and (b) normal range personality traits in a sample of 547 adults recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk, many of whom reported elevated autism- and ADHD-relevant characteristics. We also examined how factors identified in these analyses correlated with measures of internalizing symptoms and select externalizing traits. Our results indicated that some measures assessing autism- and ADHD-relevant characteristics (e.g., communication issues, hyperactivity/impulsivity) defined a distinct Attention and Communication Difficulties factor, with scores on this factor correlating strongly with internalizing symptom ratings. However, other relevant characteristics such as aloofness may be indicators of existing HiTOP spectra such as detachment. We discuss how these findings inform classification of autism- and ADHD-relevant characteristics within the HiTOP, as well as key future directions for extending the limited research in this area.

Positive mood scales are negatively associated with many symptoms and disorders, but display positive relations with other forms of psychopathology. The basic goal of this chapter is to explicate the nature of these complex associations. The data we present clearly established that the size and sign of these relations depended on the specific mood measure that was used. More specifically, our results indicated that there were two basic types of positive mood scales. The first type of scale was best exemplified by PANAS-X Joviality and IDAS-II Well-Being. High scorers on these scales report feeling happy, cheerful, lively, enthusiastic, and optimistic. These scales tap a very adaptive form of positive affect, as they tended to correlate negatively with psychopathology. They displayed substantial specificity in their relations, however, correlating most strongly with indicators of depression and anhedonia, and also with social aloofness and other negative symptoms of psychoticism. The second type of scale was exemplified by IDAS-II Euphoria and, to a lesser extent, PANAS-X Self-Assurance. High scorers on these scales report feeling elated, energetic, restless, grandiose, bold, and extremely confident. These scales clearly assess a more dysfunctional form of positive affect, as they tended to correlate positively with psychopathology. Again, however, they displayed considerable specificity in their relations, correlating most strongly with indicators of elevated positive mood within mania, various forms of externalizing, and positive symptoms of psychoticism. These findings demonstrate the importance of examining multiple types of positive mood in psychopathology research.

Purpose of Review: The validity of self-ratings of personality pathology often are questioned because personality disorders (PD) historically have been viewed as being characterized by poor insight. However, recent research indicates that PD self-ratings are valid in many ways and have significant clinical utility. Building upon this growing literature, our goal here is to provide practical discussion of how incorporating dimensional PD ratings into assessment protocols can benefit diagnosis and treatment. Recent findings: We first review evidence suggesting that PD self-ratings are particularly useful for assessing constructs related to individuals’ own subjective experiences (e.g., propensities for experiencing negative mood states). We then highlight research indicating that PD self-ratings (a) change positively with intervention and (b) meaningfully inform diagnosis, treatment planning, and treatment outcome. Finally, we illustrate how freely available, well-validated self-report PD measures can be used to efficiently obtain clinically useful information in a manner comprehensible to both practitioners and patients. Summary: Self-ratings of personality pathology are valid and useful in many ways and can be efficiently incorporated into assessment protocols. Key future directions for advancing knowledge of self-report PD assessment include examining the extent to which self-ratings of antagonism—a core PD trait—are accurate across contexts.