Cause Of Psychopathology Research Articles

Reification of the p factor draws attention away from external causes of psychopathology.

Summarizing specific psychopathology symptoms into higher order factors has a long tradition in mental health science. More recently, the general psychopathology factor (p factor) has gained much interest and currently reflects the highest level of the psychopathology hierarchy. The p factor is modeled from covariance of transdiagnostic psychopathology symptoms. Because such covariance is robust (persons who score higher on symptom X compared to others also tend to score higher on symptom Y), there have been many factor-analytic studies that claim the discovery of-and/or empirical support for-a general psychopathology factor. The reification of the p factor has put person-internal common causes of psychopathology high on the research agenda, while person-external common causes are overlooked. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Points of contact between network psychometrics and experimental psychopathology

Experimental psychology has long embodied the quest to identify the causes of psychopathology. This venerable tradition has been joined in this quest by network theory, a novel approach to conceptualizing episodes of disorder as emerging from complex systems characterized by dynamic interactions of symptoms. Although issuing from the correlational, psychometric tradition rather than the experimental one, it nevertheless offers methods for identifying symptom targets for clinical experimental intervention. The purpose of this article is to sketch the points of contact between network psychometrics and experimental psychopathology.

The prevalence and risk factors of death anxiety and fear of COVID-19 in an Iranian community: A cross-sectional study.

Background and AimsCOVID‐19 has adversely impacted the public's mental health. One of the causes of psychopathology during the present pandemic is death anxiety and fear of COVID‐19. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of death anxiety and fear of COVID‐19 in Shiraz city, south of Iran.MethodsThis cross‐sectional study was conducted among 982 participants in Shiraz from October to November 2021. Data were collected using Templer's Death Anxiety Scale and the Fear of COVID‐19 Scale. Trained interviewers collected data throughout different city districts. A data‐driven approach (latent class analysis) was applied to categorize the participants and determine the risk factors.ResultsAmong the participants, 507 (51.6%) were female, and 475 (48.4%) were male. The participants’ mean age was 38.26 ± 15.16 years. Based on the analysis, 259 (26.4%), 512 (52.1%), and 211 (21.5%) participants had low, moderate, and severe levels of death anxiety. Also, 393 (40.06%) and 588 (59.94%) of the participants had low and high levels of fear, respectively. Higher death anxiety was significantly associated with being female, having an associate degree, being retired, share of medical expenditure from total expenditure of more than 10%, having a history of hospital admission due to COVID‐19, history of COVID‐19 in relatives, and having fear of COVID‐19. Also, being female, expenses equal to income, history of hospital admission due to COVID‐19, death in relatives, and higher death anxiety were linked to higher levels of fear of COVID‐19.ConclusionsDeath anxiety and fear of COVID‐19 are closely associated with each other and affected by various sociodemographic and economic factors. Given this pandemic's unpredictable nature and chronicity, interventions at the community level to support high‐risk groups are crucial.

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) in psychiatric practice and research.

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) has emerged out of the quantitative approach to psychiatric nosology. This approach identifies psychopathology constructs based on patterns of co-variation among signs and symptoms. The initial HiTOP model, which was published in 2017, is based on a large literature that spans decades of research. HiTOP is a living model that undergoes revision as new data become available. Here we discuss advantages and practical considerations of using this system in psychiatric practice and research. We especially highlight limitations of HiTOP and ongoing efforts to address them. We describe differences and similarities between HiTOP and existing diagnostic systems. Next, we review the types of evidence that informed development of HiTOP, including populations in which it has been studied and data on its validity. The paper also describes how HiTOP can facilitate research on genetic and environmental causes of psychopathology as well as the search for neurobiologic mechanisms and novel treatments. Furthermore, we consider implications for public health programs and prevention of mental disorders. We also review data on clinical utility and illustrate clinical application of HiTOP. Importantly, the model is based on measures and practices that are already used widely in clinical settings. HiTOP offers a way to organize and formalize these techniques. This model already can contribute to progress in psychiatry and complement traditional nosologies. Moreover, HiTOP seeks to facilitate research on linkages between phenotypes and biological processes, which may enable construction of a system that encompasses both biomarkers and precise clinical description.

Etiology of Psychiatric Disorders: Lay Beliefs and the Role of Gender, Field of Study and Personality Traits.

In the present study, we recruited a large sample (N = 595) of highly educated participants to assess which causal variables they considered as more important in the etiology of two diagnostically unlabeled cases of psychiatric disorders. The first clinical case described a patient with early schizophrenia whereas the second clinical case described a patient with conversion disorder. We aimed at ascertaining if participants’ gender, field of study (scientific vs. humanistic), and personality traits influenced their causal beliefs. Based on the scores assigned to both the clinical cases, participants believed that current life stressors were the most important etiological variable and that adverse early experiences were not an important causal factor in anyone of the two clinical cases. Regardless of their field of study, women perceived the loss of a loved one as a relevant variable in the etiology of conversion disorder. Participants’ beliefs about the etiology of early schizophrenia varied with their field of study. Compared to participants studying humanities, those studying scientific disciplines attributed more importance to organic causes and less importance to unconscious conflict and early traumatic experiences. Overall, the role of personality traits in influencing causal beliefs was negligible. Public education about the causes of psychopathology is necessary to optimize actual usage of mental health services and treatment choice for psychiatric disorders.

Using an Attachment-Informed Framework in the Clinical Care of Children and Adolescents: A Review of Attachment Theory and Its Impact on Developmental Psychopathology

This article provides an overview of attachment and its impact on the developmental psychopathology in children and adolescents. Attachment plays a crucial role in providing the foundation for healthy acquisition of social, cognitive, and emotional development starting in early childhood. In this article, we also provide a brief overview of psychopathology from an attachment perspective. Secure attachments confer protective factors that can lead to stable, fulfilling relationships. In contrast, insecure attachments can lead to risk for a wide variety of pathogenic states and psychiatric disorders. Attachment can be conceptualized within a vulnerability model, rather than as a direct cause of psychopathology. Given that attachment is an essential building block of healthy development, clinicians treating children and adolescents should adopt an attachment-informed framework in understanding child and adolescent psychopathology, both in terms of protective factors and risk factors. This article will allow the clinician to more accurately formulate the basis of a child's mental health disturbance and define adequate treatment strategies. [ Psychiatr Ann . 2021;51(7):300–315.]

Child psychopathology and power abuse in selected classics of Nigerian children’s fiction

The classics of Nigerian children’s novels identify various sources of child psychopathology. This article focalises the adult role in the etiology of child psychopathology. Viewed from the critical lens of postcolonialism as enunciated by Edward Said, the article avers that the abuse of power by adults is a major cause of psychopathology in children. And from textual exhibits, it proves that child psychopathology may be remediated through a reorientation and conscientisation of the adult on the centrality of the child. This is achieved through a juxtaposition of the ideal and the flawed in the adult-child relationship.

Demographic and Clinical Differences Between Bipolar Disorder Patients With and Without Alcohol Use Disorders.

BackgroundBipolar disorder (BD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are two major independent causes of psychopathology in the general population. The prevalence of AUD in BD is high. Identifying the clinical and demographic features of patients with BD who may develop AUD could help with early identification and intervention.MethodsData from 238 patients diagnosed with BD were gathered on alcohol use, social demographics, longitudinal course of BD, clinical features of the most severe lifetime manic and depressive episodes, comorbid physical diseases, anxiety disorders, and other substance use disorders.ResultsWe found that 74 of 238 BD patients had AUD (67 with alcohol dependence and 7 with alcohol abuse). Bivariate logistic regression analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis found that the best predictors of AUD in patients with BD were being male (OR = 2.086, 95% CI = 1.094–3.979, p = 0.001), younger (OR = 0.965, 95% CI = 0.935–0.996, p = 0.026), and comorbidity with other unclassified substance dependence (OR = 10.817, 95% CI = 1.238–94.550, p = 0.031).ConclusionsMale, younger current age, and having other substance use disorders were independently associated with AUD.

Mechanistic Science: A New Approach to Comprehensive Psychopathology Research That Relates Psychological and Biological Phenomena

Efforts to understand the causes of psychopathology have remained stifled in part because current practices do not clearly describe how psychological constructs differ from biological phenomena and how to integrate them in unified explanations. The present article extends recent work in philosophy of science by proposing a framework called mechanistic science as a promising way forward. This approach maintains that integrating psychological and biological phenomena involves demonstrating how psychological functions are implemented in biological structures. Successful early attempts to advance mechanistic explanations of psychological phenomena are reviewed, and lessons are derived to show how the framework can be applied to a range of clinical psychological phenomena, including gene by environment findings, computational models of reward processing in schizophrenia, and self-related processes in personality pathology. Pursuing a mechanistic approach can ultimately facilitate more productive and successful collaborations across a range of disciplines.

Network models can help focus research on the role of culture and context in psychopathology, but don't discount latent variable models.

Borsboom et al. correctly note that the use of latent variable models in cross-cultural research has resulted in a futile search for universal, biological causes of psychopathology; however, this is not an inevitable outcome of such models. While network analytic approaches require further development, network models have the potential to better elucidate the role of cultural and contextual variables related to psychopathology.

Autonomic and Brain Morphological Predictors of Stress Resilience.

Stressful life events are an important cause of psychopathology. Humans exposed to aversive or stressful experiences show considerable inter-individual heterogeneity in their responses. However, the majority does not develop stress-related psychiatric disorders. The dynamic processes encompassing positive and functional adaptation in the face of significant adversity have been broadly defined as resilience. Traditionally, the assessment of resilience has been confined to self-report measures, both within the general community and putative high-risk populations. Although this approach has value, it is highly susceptible to subjective bias and may not capture the dynamic nature of resilience, as underlying construct. Recognizing the obvious benefits of more objective measures of resilience, research in the field has just started investigating the predictive value of several potential biological markers. This review provides an overview of theoretical views and empirical evidence suggesting that individual differences in heart rate variability (HRV), a surrogate index of resting cardiac vagal outflow, may underlie different levels of resilience toward the development of stress-related psychiatric disorders. Following this line of thought, recent studies describing associations between regional brain morphometric characteristics and resting state vagally-mediated HRV are summarized. Existing studies suggest that the structural morphology of the anterior cingulated cortex (ACC), particularly its cortical thickness, is implicated in the expression of individual differences in HRV. These findings are discussed in light of emerging structural neuroimaging research, linking morphological characteristics of the ACC to psychological traits ascribed to a high-resilient profile and abnormal structural integrity of the ACC to the psychophysiological expression of stress-related mental health consequences. We conclude that a multidisciplinary approach integrating brain structural imaging with HRV monitoring could offer novel perspectives about brain-body pathways in resilience and adaptation to psychological stress.

Recommendations for Development of Botanical Polyphenols as "Natural Drugs" for Promotion of Resilience Against Stress-Induced Depression and Cognitive Impairment.

Extensive evidence has demonstrated that psychological stress has detrimental effects on psychological health, cognitive function, and ultimately well-being. While stressful events are a significant cause of psychopathology, most individuals exposed to adversity maintain normal psychological functioning. The mechanisms underlying such resilience are poorly understood, and there is an urgent need to identify and target these mechanisms to promote resilience under stressful events. Botanicals have been used throughout history to treat various medical conditions; however, the development of botanical compounds into potential preventative and therapeutic agents in studies promoting brain health is hindered by the fact that most orally consumed botanicals are extensively metabolized during absorption and/or by post-absorptive xenobiotic metabolism. Therefore, the primary objective of this review article is to provide recommendations for developing natural compounds as novel therapeutic strategies to promote resilience in susceptible subjects. The development of botanical polyphenols to ultimately attenuate mood disorders and cognitive impairment will rely on understanding (1) the absorption and bioavailability of botanical polyphenols with emphasis on flavan-3-ols, (2) the characterization of tissue-specific accumulation of biologically available polyphenols and their mechanisms of action in the brain, and eventually (3) the characterization of biologically available polyphenol metabolites in mechanisms associated with the promotion of resilience against mood disorders and cognitive impairment in response to stress. We also summarize exciting new lines of investigation about the role of botanicals such as polyphenols in the promotion of cognitive and psychological resilience. This information will provide a strategical framework for the future development of botanicals as therapeutic agents to promote resilience, ultimately preventing and/or therapeutically treating cognitive impairment and psychological dysfunction.

Two-Generation Psychiatric Intervention in the Prevention of Early Childhood Maltreatment Recidivism.

OBJECTIVE: This article describes experience and early outcomes of a two-generation approach to preventive psychiatric care in the common setting of foster care, in which young children in particular are at extreme high-risk for child maltreatment and its long-term consequences. Currently there exist few reimbursable mechanisms by which to implement what has been shown to offset risk for maltreatment recidivism among families in the child welfare system. This represents a missed opportunity for the prevention of psychopathology in childhood. METHODS: The manuscript briefly reviews the current literature on child maltreatment as a preventable cause of psychopathology, discusses current best practices for its prevention in the setting of foster care, and describes the experience and early outcomes of a two-generation clinical psychiatric service, the SYNCHRONY Project, developed at Washington University and based on the Tulane model described by Zeanah et al. (2001). RESULTS: In comparison to an historic cohort of 247 young children in foster care in St. Louis County whose cases were closed prior to the launch of the SYNCHRONY Project, we observed among program participants significant reductions in time in foster care, despite the fact that the referred cases were at substantially higher risk than an average historic case. Serial standardized observations of the children and families in the program revealed improved adaptive functioning of the children, improvement in parenting practices of the parents as a function of evidence-based parenting education (provided as a component of intervention), and extremely low rates of maltreatment recidivism. CONCLUSION: Two-generation psychiatric care, including evidence-based parenting education, can be successfully implemented among infants and young children at extreme high risk, was associated with steady improvement in adaptive and relational functioning of parent-child dyads, and represents a promising intervention for the prevention of child maltreatment recidivism in public health practice. Language: en

Poster Number: EI 67 - Alcohol and Marijuana Use to Self-Medicate Bipolar Disorder Symptoms in Later Life: A Case Study Approach

Introduction: The use of substances to self-medicate, that is to alleviate or treat various negative states, has been acknowledged as a common coping mechanism for various psychiatric conditions. Self-medication with substances is associated with various negative outcomes, including the development of substance use disorders. Extant literature shows that 60% of community samples with bipolar disorder (BD) have reported abusing one or more substances at some point in their lives. Aside from sharing a common cause of psychopathology, self-medication may be one contributing factor to the high co-occurrence of BD and substance use. Understanding people's interpretations and reasons for use could help inform interventions and assess readiness to change. Given the high prevalence of co-occurring BD and substance use and the complex unique trajectories of each person, we used a case study approach to highlight individual experiences during these types of co-occurrence in later life. The lens of a life course framework with a focus on personal theories on self medication allowed us to uncover how and when the use of different substances fit into the participant's lives over time and across mood states.

The Genetics of Stress-Related Disorders: PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety Disorders.

Research into the causes of psychopathology has largely focused on two broad etiologic factors: genetic vulnerability and environmental stressors. An important role for familial/heritable factors in the etiology of a broad range of psychiatric disorders was established well before the modern era of genomic research. This review focuses on the genetic basis of three disorder categories-posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and the anxiety disorders-for which environmental stressors and stress responses are understood to be central to pathogenesis. Each of these disorders aggregates in families and is moderately heritable. More recently, molecular genetic approaches, including genome-wide studies of genetic variation, have been applied to identify specific risk variants. In this review, I summarize evidence for genetic contributions to PTSD, MDD, and the anxiety disorders including genetic epidemiology, the role of common genetic variation, the role of rare and structural variation, and the role of gene-environment interaction. Available data suggest that stress-related disorders are highly complex and polygenic and, despite substantial progress in other areas of psychiatric genetics, few risk loci have been identified for these disorders. Progress in this area will likely require analysis of much larger sample sizes than have been reported to date. The phenotypic complexity and genetic overlap among these disorders present further challenges. The review concludes with a discussion of prospects for clinical translation of genetic findings and future directions for research.

The persistence and stability of psychiatric problems in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

Psychiatric problems are common in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), but the reasons are poorly understood. We use a longitudinal population-representative cohort to examine for the first time the persistence of psychiatric problems and to identify risk factors for their occurrence and stability. Eighty-one 16-year olds (75 male, six female), initially seen at 12 years, were re-assessed using the parent-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Child, family and contextual characteristics from age 12 were tested as risk factors for psychopathology. Prevalence rates varied depending on whether general population or ASD-specific SDQ cut-offs were used. While the former suggested a decrease in psychiatric problems over time, the ASD-specific cut-offs showed no significant differences. With the exception of ADHD, the ASD-specific cut-offs identified a smaller proportion of individuals as 'affected' than did the general population cut-offs. There was longitudinal domain specificity, with parent correlations ranging from 0.50 to 0.58 and teacher SDQ reports at age 12 correlating 0.33-0.53 with parent reports at 16 years. In examining the role of risk factors, lower IQ and adaptive functioning predicted higher hyperactivity and total difficulties scores. Greater emotional problems at 16 were predicted by poorer maternal mental health, family-based deprivation and lower social class. Improvement from 12 to 16 years in conduct problems was predicted by greater neighbourhood deprivation and special school attendance. This is the first longitudinal study of other psychiatric symptoms in ASD. Additional psychiatric problems in ASD are persistent and domain-specific from childhood to adolescence. The finding that age-related reduction in SDQ symptoms does not apply when ASD-specific cut-offs are used requires further evaluation using diagnostic measures. Only a few of the expected risk factor-psychopathology predictions expected from general population studies were found, raising the possibility that the causes of psychopathology in ASD differ from those in the general population.

Match fitness: Development, evolution, and behavior: Comment on Frankenhuis and Del Giudice (2012).

The application of evolutionary thinking to human physical and psychological medicine suggests several pathways through which evolutionary processes affect risk of disease. Among these is the concept of mismatch between an individual and its environment, either because the environment has changed for the whole species (evolutionary novelty) or because the environment has changed for an individual during its lifetime (developmental mismatch). Here we set a discussion of maladaptation and mismatch as a cause of psychopathology (Frankenhuis & Del Giudice, 2012) in the broader framework of developmental plasticity and life history trade-offs.

Introduction to Special Issue on Traumatically Induced Pain: Assessing and Addressing Controversies

This current Special Issue of Psychological Injury and Law focuses on traumatically induced pain and its medicolegal aspects. Because many individuals suffering from chronic pain have sustained their painful injuries as a result of trauma, it is common for them to become involved in litigation. As we know, chronic pain is a complex syndrome, characterized not only by persistent physical discomfort but also by a deleterious impact on numerous aspects of one’s life (potentially including vocational, financial, social, sexual, recreational, and emotional functioning). Clearly, chronic pain is not merely an affliction of a body; rather, it should be conceptualized as an illness of the person (Schatman 2010a, b). This is not to suggest, however, that psychosocial factors are necessarily at the root of chronic pain (Melzack and Katz 2006). In fact, there is as much empirical evidence supporting chronic pain as the cause of psychopathology as there is supporting the primacy of psychosocial factors in the etiology of chronic pain (Gureje 2007; van’t Land et al. 2010). Rejecting the unidirectionality argument as explanatory of the psychosocial factor-pain experience relationship, mutual maintenance models hold that physiological, affective, and behavioral components of emotional distress maintain or exacerbate symptoms of pain and, similarly, that cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of chronic musculoskeletal pain maintain or exacerbate symptoms of emotional distress. These models have been applied to, and empirically supported in, examinations of co-morbidities of chronic pain such as depression (Bair et al. 2003; Dworkin et al. 1992; von Korff and Simon 1996), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Asmundson and Taylor 2006; Otis et al. 2003; Sharp and Harvey 2001), as well as general quality of life among chronic pain patients (Wahl et al. 2009). Relatively recent research has identified a shared biologic process underlying chronic pain and depression, in which serotonin and norepinephrine are involved in the dorsal raphe nucleus and locus ceruleus (Jann and Slade 2007). The identification of this shared mechanism lends additional support to the hypothesis of a bidirectional interaction between chronic pain and psychosocial factors. Also to be considered is the diathesis-stress model of psychopathology and chronic pain, which has ultimately developed into the dominant overarching theoretical perspective. This model, initially articulated by Gatchel and colleagues (Dersh et al. 2006, 2001, 2002; Gatchel 1991, 1996), assumes the presence of premorbid yet semi-dormant characteristics of the patient that exist prior to the onset of pain, which are then activated in response to the stress of the painful condition and its psychiatric sequelae. Moreover, the wide-ranging impact of pain becomes even more complex when injured parties choose to pursue litigation relating to their pain-producing injuries. Results of an early meta-analysis (Rohling et al. 1995), for example, suggested that receiving financial compensation was associated with a greater experience of pain and reduced treatment efficacy, with the authors positing causal attribution. However, subsequent reviews have questioned this validity of the proposed causal relationship (Kolbinson et al. 1996; Scholten-Peeters et al. 2003; Sterner and Gerdle 2004) or have suggested that it has not been adequately studied to presume that litigation has an impact on prognosis (Carroll et al. 2008). M. E. Schatman (*) Pain and Addiction Study Foundation, 1215 120th Ave. NE, Suite 201, Bellevue, WA 98005, USA e-mail: headdock@comcast.net

Postpartum mental health after Hurricane Katrina: A cohort study

BackgroundNatural disaster is often a cause of psychopathology, and women are vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Depression is also common after a woman gives birth. However, no research has addressed postpartum women's mental health after natural disaster.MethodsInterviews were conducted in 2006–2007 with women who had been pregnant during or shortly after Hurricane Katrina. 292 New Orleans and Baton Rouge women were interviewed at delivery and 2 months postpartum. Depression was assessed using the Edinburgh Depression Scale and PTSD using the Post-Traumatic Stress Checklist. Women were asked about their experience of the hurricane with questions addressing threat, illness, loss, and damage. Chi-square tests and log-binomial/Poisson models were used to calculate associations and relative risks (RR).ResultsBlack women and women with less education were more likely to have had a serious experience of the hurricane. 18% of the sample met the criteria for depression and 13% for PTSD at two months postpartum. Feeling that one's life was in danger was associated with depression and PTSD, as were injury to a family member and severe impact on property. Overall, two or more severe experiences of the storm was associated with an increased risk for both depression (relative risk (RR) 1.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08–2.89) and PTSD (RR 3.68, 95% CI 1.80–7.52).ConclusionPostpartum women who experience natural disaster severely are at increased risk for mental health problems, but overall rates of depression and PTSD do not seem to be higher than in studies of the general population.

Substance Misuse and Early Psychosis

This paper sought to review current knowledge about the relationship between substance misuse and early psychosis. A literature search was conducted using Medline and restricting the search to articles after 1996. Additional articles were sourced from reference lists of relevant articles. There is a high prevalence of substance misuse among persons with early psychosis, with cannabis and alcohol featuring prominently. Substance misuse is associated with earlier onset and possibly more positive symptoms, although apparently not with greater cognitive impairment. Cannabis appears to confer an increased likelihood of developing schizophrenia in biologically vulnerable individuals. Amphetamines also cause psychosis which may become chronic, although specific vulnerability to this effect is less well established. Many cases of so-called 'drug-induced psychosis' become diagnosed as schizophrenia in later years. Specific intervention programs report positive outcomes with regard to substance misuse and the course of psychosis. Substance misuse should always be assessed in this patient group, bearing in mind the potential interactive causes of psychopathology. Intervention is of value in improving outcomes.