A Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) Primer for Mental Health Researchers

Mental health research is at an important crossroads as the field seeks more reliable and valid phenotypes to study. Dimensional approaches to quantifying mental illness operate outside the confines of traditional categorical diagnoses, and they are gaining traction as a way to advance research on the causes and consequences of mental illness. The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is a leading dimensional research paradigm that synthesizes decades of data on the major dimensions of psychological disorders. In this article, we demonstrate how to use the HiTOP model to formulate and test research questions through a series of tutorials. To boost accessibility, data and annotated code for each tutorial are included at OSF ( https://osf.io/8myzw ). After presenting the tutorials, we outline how investigators can use these ideas and tools to generate new insights in their own substantive research programs

Daily stress reactivity and serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) variation: internalizing responses to everyday stress as a possible transdiagnostic phenotype

BACKGROUND: Recent studies examining the interaction between the 5-HTTLPR locus in the serotonin transporter gene and life stress in predicting depression have yielded equivocal results, leading some researchers to question whether 5-HTTLPR variation indeed regulates depressive responses to stress. Two possible sources of inconsistent data in this literature are imprecise stress assessment methodologies and a restricted focus on depression phenotypes as the outcome of interest, as opposed to transdiagnostic emotional symptoms such as internalizing and externalizing dimensions. The present study aimed to address these critical limitations in prior research by examining how 5-HTTLPR acts in concert with idiographically assessed daily life stress to predict transdiagnostic emotional outcomes. RESULTS: One hundred and four healthy young adults genotyped for 5-HTTLPR reported on their life stress exposure and internalizing and externalizing experiences for 14 consecutive days. As hypothesized, daily stress levels were associated with severity of internalizing symptoms, but only for 5-HTTLPR S allele carriers. Additional analyses revealed that these interactive effects of 5-HTTLPR and daily life stress on internalizing symptoms extended to both the distress and fear subdomains of internalizing symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Considered together, these results support the validity of the 5-HTTLPR stress sensitivity hypothesis and suggest for the first time that variation at 5-HTTLPR moderates the effects of daily life stress on broadband symptom profiles

Chronic Environmental Stress and the Temporal Course of Depression and Panic Disorder: A Trait-State-Occasion Modeling Approach

Both acute stressful life events and ongoing strains are thought to confer vulnerability to emotional disorders. Unremitting stressful conditions may be particularly pathogenic, but prior research has struggled to delimit chronic versus transient stressful experiences. We aimed to isolate stable stressors-theorized to be indicators of a latent stress proneness trait-and to examine their effects on the temporal course of depression and panic disorder. We recruited 677 patients diagnosed with an emotional disorder and administered interviews for psychopathology and life stress 3 times over 12-month intervals. Trait-state-occasion modeling revealed that 74% of the variance in life stress was stable over the follow-up period. These stable stressors were associated with a more refractory course of depression and, to a smaller degree, panic disorder over time. In addition, neither gender nor participation in cognitive-behavioral therapy affected the persistence of environmental stress over the study time frame. We discuss implications of these findings for explaining depression recurrence, improving psychological interventions for emotional disorders, and the measurement and evaluation of stress proneness

Core Dimensions of Anxiety and Depression Change Independently During Adolescence

The developmental trajectories of emotional disorder symptoms during adolescence remain elusive, owing in part to a shortage of intensive longitudinal data. In the present study, we charted the temporal course of the tripartite model of anxiety and depression-which posits an overarching negative affect dimension and specific anhedonia and anxious arousal dimensions-over adolescence and emerging adulthood to construct a developmental map of the core dimensions of emotional disorders. We recruited 604 high school juniors, overselecting those at high risk for emotional disorders, and assessed the tripartite symptom domains 5 times annually. Latent curve modeling revealed that negative affect and anxious arousal declined over follow up, whereas anhedonia did not. Moreover, the correlation in rate of change varied across pairs of symptom domains. Change in negative affect was moderately correlated with change in anxious arousal, but change in anhedonia was not significantly related to change in any other domain. Symptom trajectories, and the pattern of covariation among trajectories, were equivalent across gender and comorbidity status. We discuss implications of these findings for developmental models of anxiety and depression, as well as transdiagnostic frameworks for emotional disorders

Pathological Personality Traits and the Naturalistic Course of Internalizing Disorders Among High-Risk Young Adults

BackgroundA personality disorder diagnosis signals a negative prognosis for depressive and anxiety disorders, but the precise abnormal personality traits that determine the temporal course of internalizing psychopathology are unknown. In the present study, we examined prospective associations between abnormal personality traits and the onset and recurrence of internalizing disorders. MethodsA sample of 371 young adults at high risk for internalizing problems completed the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality-Second Editiona measure of 12 abnormal personality traits and three temperament dimensions (i.e., Negative Temperament, Positive Temperament, Disinhibition vs. Control)and underwent annual diagnostic interviews over 4 years of follow-up. ResultsIn multivariate survival analyses, Negative Temperament was a robust predictor of both new onsets and recurrences of internalizing disorder. Further, the Dependency and Self-Harm abnormal personality dimensions emerged as independent predictors of new onsets and recurrences, respectively, of internalizing disorders after statistically adjusting for variation in temperament. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that abnormal personality traits and temperament dimensions have complementary effects on the trajectory of internalizing pathology during young adulthood. In assessment and treatment settings, targeting the abnormal personality and temperament dimensions with the greatest prognostic value stands to improve the early detection of enduring internalizing psychopathology

Core Dimensions of Anxiety and Depression Change Independently During Adolescence

The developmental trajectories of emotional disorder symptoms during adolescence remain elusive, owing in part to a shortage of intensive longitudinal data. In the present study, we charted the temporal course of the tripartite model of anxiety and depression-which posits an overarching negative affect dimension and specific anhedonia and anxious arousal dimensions-over adolescence and emerging adulthood to construct a developmental map of the core dimensions of emotional disorders. We recruited 604 high school juniors, overselecting those at high risk for emotional disorders, and assessed the tripartite symptom domains 5 times annually. Latent curve modeling revealed that negative affect and anxious arousal declined over follow up, whereas anhedonia did not. Moreover, the correlation in rate of change varied across pairs of symptom domains. Change in negative affect was moderately correlated with change in anxious arousal, but change in anhedonia was not significantly related to change in any other domain. Symptom trajectories, and the pattern of covariation among trajectories, were equivalent across gender and comorbidity status. We discuss implications of these findings for developmental models of anxiety and depression, as well as transdiagnostic frameworks for emotional disorders

Pathogenicity of multiple Providencia species (Enterobacteriales: Morganellaceae) to the mass-reared Mexican fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens (Loew)) (Diptera: Tephritidae) represents a major threat to fruit production in the Western Hemisphere. Sterile insect technique is used to suppress and eradicate wild populations. Success of this control method necessitates weekly production of hundreds of millions of flies, their sterilization by irradiation, and their aerial release. Diet needed to produce large fly numbers are conducive to the spread of bacteria. Pathogenic bacteria were isolated from 3 rearing facilities and from multiple sources: eggs, larvae, pupae and spent diet, and were found to include some isolates identified to the genus Providencia (Enterobacteriales: Morganellaceae). We identified 41 Providencia isolates and tested their pathogenicity to A. ludens. Based on 16s rRNA sequences, 3 groups were clustered into several species of Providencia with varying capacities to affect the Mexican fruit fly production. Isolates putatively identified as P. alcalifaciens/P. rustigianii were all pathogenic causing larval and pupal yield reduction of 46–64% and 37–57%, respectively. Among them, Providencia isolate 3006 was the most pathogenic reducing larval and pupae yield by 73 and 81%, respectively. Isolates identified as P. sneebia were not pathogenic. The final cluster, P. rettgeri/P. vermicola, were variable in pathogenicity with 3 isolates yielding like the control and the rest causing larval and pupal yield reduction of 26–53% and 23–51%, respectively. Isolates putatively identified as P. alcalifaciens/P. rustigianii were more virulent than P. rettgeri/P. vermicola. Accurate identification of species is needed to diagnose and monitor pathogenic versus nonpathogenic Providencia strains