Abstract
BackgroundUnderstanding complex associations between psychopathology and chronic illness is instrumental in facilitating both research and treatment progress. The current study is the first and only network-based study to provide such an encompassing view of unique associations between a multitude of mental and physical health-related domains.MethodsThe current analyses were based on the Singapore Mental Health Study, a cross-sectional study of adult Singapore residents. The study sample consisted of 6616 respondents, of which 49.8% were male and 50.2% female. A network structure was constructed to examine associations between psychopathology, alcohol use, gambling, major chronic conditions, and functioning.ResultsThe network structure identified what we have labeled a Cartesian graph: a network visibly split into a psychopathological domain and a physical health domain. The borders between these domains were fuzzy and bridged by various cross-domain associations, with functioning items playing an important role in bridging chronic conditions to psychopathology.ConclusionsCurrent results deliver a comprehensive overview of the complex relation between psychopathology, functioning, and chronic illness, highlighting potential pathways to comorbidity.
Highlights
Understanding complex associations between psychopathology and chronic illness is instrumental in facilitating both research and treatment progress
After treating “don’t know” and “refused answers” as missing data, there were overall less than 0.5% missing data on the general psychopathology, psychosis, OCD, gambling, and chronic conditions variables
We identified what we have labeled a Cartesian graph: a network graph split into two visible domains: a psychopathological domain, and a functioning and chronic conditions domain
Summary
Understanding complex associations between psychopathology and chronic illness is instrumental in facilitating both research and treatment progress. Common mental disorders within the general population remain a major concern, with reports as high as 28.8% for anxiety disorders, 20.8% for mood disorders, and 14.6% for substance use disorders [1], as well as rates of up to 40% for subjects with a mental disorder to meet criteria for another class of lifetime disorder [2]. Robust associations between immunological/ inflammatory conditions and mood disorders [4] have been identified, with depressed patients being 60% more likely to develop diabetes than their non-depressed counterparts and prevalence rates of diabetes as high as three times greater in subjects with bipolar disorder [3].
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