title: The structure of psychopathological symptoms and the associations with DSM-diagnoses in treatment seeking individuals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Research on comorbidity of psychiatric disorders identifies broad superordinate dimensions as underlying structure of psychopathology. While a syndrome-level approach informs diagnostic systems, a symptom-level approach is more likely to represent the dimensional components within existing diagnostic categories. It may capture general emotional, cognitive or physiological processes as underlying liabilities of different disorders and thus further develop dimensional-spectrum models of psychopathology.
  
  
  METHODS
  Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine the structure of psychopathological symptoms assessed with the Brief Symptom Inventory in two outpatient samples (n=3171), including several correlated-factors and bifactor models. The preferred models were correlated with DSM-diagnoses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A model containing eight correlated factors for depressed mood, phobic fear, aggression, suicidal ideation, nervous tension, somatic symptoms, information processing deficits, and interpersonal insecurity, as well a bifactor model fit the data best. Distinct patterns of correlations with DSM-diagnoses identified a) distress-related disorders, i.e., mood disorders, PTSD, and personality disorders, which were associated with all correlated factors as well as the underlying general distress factor; b) anxiety disorders with more specific patterns of correlations; and c) disorders defined by behavioural or somatic dysfunctions, which were characterised by non-significant or negative correlations with most factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study identified emotional, somatic, cognitive, and interpersonal components of psychopathology as transdiagnostic psychopathological liabilities. These components can contribute to a more accurate description and taxonomy of psychopathology, may serve as phenotypic constructs for further aetiological research, and can inform the development of tailored general and specific interventions to treat mental disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Berne, Switzerland. Electronic address: jeannette.brodbeck@psy.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Jeannette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brodbeck
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Niklaus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stulz
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Itten
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Regli
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hansjoerg
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Znoj
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caspar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D055815:Young Adult