Hyland, Philip and Murphy, Jamie and Shevlin, Mark and Bentall, Richard and Karatzias, Thanos and Ho, Grace Wing Ka and Boduszek, Daniel and McElroy, Eoin (2021) On top or underneath: where does the general factor of psychopathology fit within a dimensional model of psychopathology? Psychological Medicine, 51 (14). pp. 2422-2432. ISSN 0033-2917

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Abstract

Background: Dimensional models of psychopathology are increasingly common and there is evidence for the existence of a general dimension of psychopathology (‘p’). The existing literature presents two ways to model p: as a bifactor or as a higher-order dimension. Bifactor models typically fit sample data better than higher-order models, and are often selected as better fitting alternatives but there are reasons to be cautious of such an approach to model selection. In this study the bifactor and higher-order models of p were compared in relation to associations with established risk variables for mental illness. Methods: A trauma exposed community sample from the United Kingdom (N = 1051) completed self-report measures of 49 symptoms of psychopathology. Results: A higher-order model with four first-order dimensions (Fear, Distress, Externalising and Thought Disorder) and a higher-order p dimension provided satisfactory model fit, and a bifactor representation provided superior model fit. Bifactor p and higher-order p were highly correlated (r = 0.97) indicating that both parametrisations produce near equivalent general dimensions of psychopathology. Latent variable models including predictor variables showed that the risk variables explained more variance in higher-order p than bifactor p. The higher-order model produced more interpretable associations for the first-order/specific dimensions compared to the bifactor model. Conclusions: The higher-order representation of p, as described in the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology, appears to be a more appropriate way to conceptualise the general dimension of psychopathology than the bifactor approach. The research and clinical implications of these discrepant ways of modelling p are discussed.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is the preprint version of the published article, which is available at: Hyland, P., Murphy, J., Shevlin, M., Bentall, R. P., Karatzias, T., Ho, G. W. K., . . . McElroy, E. (2021). On top or underneath: Where does the general factor of psychopathology fit within a dimensional model of psychopathology? Psychological Medicine, 51(14), 2422-2432. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S003329172000104X
Keywords:	psychopathology; HiTOP; childhood trauma; trauma; mental illness;
Academic Unit:	Assisting Living & Learning,ALL institute Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
Item ID:	15153
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1017/S003329172000104X
Depositing User:	Philip Hyland
Date Deposited:	17 Dec 2021 16:37
Journal or Publication Title:	Psychological Medicine
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Refereed:	No
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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