Rethinking trauma-related psychopathology in the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP).

Research on trauma exposure and its consequences has made tremendous progress in elucidating the role of traumatic life events in the development and maintenance of psychopathology as well as in evaluating interventions aimed at addressing the personal and public burden of trauma-related psychopathology. However, there is growing concern that problems with predominant definitions of posttraumatic syndrome (e.g., content coverage and scope, within-category heterogeneity, excessive diagnostic comorbidity) limit further efforts to fully conceptualize trauma-related psychopathology and deliver appropriate, personalized interventions. As demonstrated by an impressive body of research over the past several years, the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) presents a compelling alternative to traditional nosologies in terms of empirically based characterizations of psychopathology phenotypes, with evidence of strong utility for research and clinical applications. However, HiTOP's primary focus on descriptive psychopathology has resulted in an unacceptable gap regarding the conceptualization of trauma-related psychopathology from a dimensional, transdiagnostic perspective. We see an important opportunity to clarify what HiTOP can offer the field of traumatic stress research and articulate a future for trauma-related psychopathology within HiTOP. We argue for disaggregating psychopathology symptoms from their purported causes and, instead, developing a detailed taxonomy of traumatic events alongside an ever-evolving HiTOP model. Doing so will help identify empirically based phenotypes of trauma-related psychopathology that (a) go beyond the traditional PTSD criterion sets and (b) allow for the possibility that different features of traumatic experiences (e.g., type, duration, subjective meaning) may be associated with different symptom sequelae across different psychopathology spectra.

Validation of hierarchical taxonomy in a clinical sample.

BACKGROUND: Quantitatively derived dimensional models of psychopathology enjoy overwhelming empirical support, and a large and active community of psychopathology researchers has been establishing an empirically based dimensional hierarchical taxonomy of psychopathology (or HiTOP) as a strong candidate replacement for the current categorical classification system. The hierarchical nature of this taxonomy implies that different levels of resolution are likely to be optimal for different purposes. Our aim was to identify which level of detail is likely to provide optimal validity and explanatory power with regard to relevant clinical variables. METHODS: In the present report from the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services project, we used data from a sample of 2900 psychiatric outpatients to compare different levels from a bass-ackwards model of psychopathology in relation to psychosocial impairment across different domains (global functioning, inability to work, social functioning, suicidal ideation, history of suicide attempts, history of psychiatric hospitalization). RESULTS: All functioning indices were significantly associated with general psychopathology, but more complex levels provided significant incremental validity. The optimal level of complexity varied across functioning indices, suggesting that there is no single 'best' level for understanding relations between psychopathology and functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the hierarchical organization of psychopathology dimensions with regard to validity considerations and downstream implications for applied assessment. It would be fruitful to develop and implement measurement of these dimensions at the appropriate level for the purpose at hand. These findings can be used to guide HiTOP-consistent assessment in other research and clinical settings.

Levels of Anger Severity in Psychiatric Patients.

ABSTRACT: Given anger's clinical relevance and adverse impact on functioning, there is a need to examine diagnostically heterogeneous individuals at different levels of anger severity to provide a basis for considering anger severity in clinical research and practice. In the present report from the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services project, we examined the validity of severity classifications based on the Clinically Useful Anger Outcome Scale (CUANGOS) in 1738 clinically heterogeneous psychiatric outpatients. We compared patients reporting no, mild, moderate, or severe anger with regard to demographics, psychosocial morbidity, functioning, and life satisfaction. Increasing anger severity was associated with elevated clinician-rated psychosocial morbidity and poorer self-rated functioning and life satisfaction. Results demonstrate that assessing anger severity yields crucial information about psychosocial functioning and morbidity. This provides additional validity evidence for self-reported anger in general and the CUANGOS in particular, in that the CUANGOS can validly distinguish among meaningfully different anger severity levels.

Focusing Narrowly on Model Fit in Factor Analysis Can Mask Construct Heterogeneity and Model Misspecification: Applied Demonstrations across Sample and Assessment Types.

This study builds upon research indicating that focusing narrowly on model fit when evaluating factor analytic models can lead to problematic inferences regarding the nature of item sets, as well as how models should be applied to inform measure development and validation. To advance research in this area, we present concrete examples relevant to researchers in clinical, personality, and related subfields highlighting two specific scenarios when an overreliance on model fit may be problematic. Specifically, we present data analytic examples showing that focusing narrowly on model fit may lead to (a) incorrect conclusions that heterogeneous item sets reflect narrower homogeneous constructs and (b) the retention of potentially problematic items when developing assessment measures. We use both interview data from adult outpatients (N = 2,149) and self-report data from adults recruited online (N = 547) to demonstrate the importance of these issues across sample types and assessment methods. Following demonstrations with these data, we make recommendations focusing on how other model characteristics (e.g., factor loading patterns; carefully considering the content and nature of factor indicators) should be considered in addition to information provided by model fit indices when evaluating factor analytic models.

Sudden gains and treatment outcomes among depressed individuals in a partial hospitalization programme.

Sudden gains commonly occur among patients receiving psychotherapy for depression and have been found to consistently predict better treatment outcomes. However, the majority of prior research has examined sudden gains primarily in weekly or biweekly treatment settings. Individuals were divided into two groups: those who experienced at least one sudden gain and those who did not. Rates of sudden gain occurrence, pretreatment factors and posttreatment outcomes were examined between the two groups. Over 60% of this sample experienced at least one sudden gain, the majority of which occurred during the first 3 days of treatment. Sudden gains were associated with significantly lower baseline depression and anxiety severity. Patients who experienced sudden gains reported significantly greater improvement in depressive and anxiety symptoms, coping skills, functioning, positive mental health and well-being at treatment termination. This study was conducted in a single location with a relatively homogeneous sample. Due to a lack of follow-up data, we were unable to determine if treatment outcomes were sustained after treatment termination. The assessment timeline of the depressive symptoms differs between baseline and daily scales, which may have affected the number of observed sudden gains after the initial treatment day. The proportion of sudden gains in this study is higher than those found in outpatient settings, demonstrating that this phenomenon may commonly occur among depressed patients in acute treatment. These results suggest that the mechanisms by which sudden gains occur may be reinforced by daily, intensive treatment.

Negative Mood Dysregulation Loads Strongly Onto Common Factors With Many Forms of Psychopathology: Considerations for Assessing Nonspecific Symptoms.

There have been proposals to expand definitions for categorical disorders and dimensionally conceptualized syndromes (e.g., psychopathy) to include negative mood lability and dysregulation (NMD). Factor analytic results are often presented in support of these proposals, and we provide factor analytic demonstrations across clinically oriented samples showing that NMD indicators load strongly onto factors with a range of psychopathology. This is unsurprising from a transdiagnostic perspective but shows that factor analysis could potentially be used to justify expanding definitions for specific constructs even though NMD indicators show strong, nonspecific loadings on psychopathology factors ranging widely in nature. Expanding construct definitions and assessment approaches to emphasize NMD also may negatively impact discriminant validity. We agree that targeting NMD is essential for comprehensive assessment, but our demonstrative analyses highlight a need for using factor analysis and other statistical methods in a careful, theoretically driven manner when evaluating psychopathology structure and developing measures.

A framework for assessment of adverse events occurring in psychedelic-assisted therapies.

OBJECTIVE: Despite considerable research examining the efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapies (PATs) for treating psychiatric disorders, assessment of adverse events (AEs) in PAT research has lagged. Current AE reporting standards in PAT trials are poorly calibrated to features of PAT that distinguish it from other treatments, leaving many potential AEs unassessed. METHODS: A multidisciplinary working group of experts involved in PAT pooled formally and informally documented AEs observed through research experience and published literature. This information was integrated with (a) current standards and practices for AE reporting in pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy trials and (b) published findings documenting post-acute dosing impacts of psychedelics on subjective states, meaning, and psychosocial health variables, to produce a set of AE constructs important to evaluate in PAT as well as recommended methods and time frames for their assessment and monitoring. Correspondence between identified potential AEs and current standards for AE assessment was examined, including the extent of coverage of identified AE constructs by 25 existing measures used in relevant research. RESULTS: Fifty-four potential AE terms warranting systematized assessment in PAT were identified, defined, and categorized. Existing measures demonstrated substantial gaps in their coverage of identified AE constructs. Recommendations were developed for how to assess PAT AEs (including patient, clinician, and informant reports), and when to assess over preparation, dosing session, integration, and follow-up. Application of this framework is demonstrated in a preliminary assessment protocol (available in the supplement). CONCLUSIONS: This assessment framework addresses the need to capture post-acute dosing AEs in PAT, accounting for its pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy components, as well as documented impacts of psychedelics on worldviews and spirituality.

To fully leverage fine-grained clinical phenomena, we have to think beyond DSM-based concepts and the presumption of diagnostic kinds.

In light of the limitations of dominant psychiatric classification systems such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), this special section positions fine-grained clinical phenomena as key to the future of psychopathology research. This shift is necessary given the constraints DSM-based diagnoses place on (a) the specificity of theories and models of psychopathology and (b) efforts to develop alternative paradigms. Fine-grained clinical phenomena offer comparative advantages, but transitioning to their study involves significant challenges. Chief among these challenges is the need to move beyond DSM as a source of concepts. Implicit assumptions that DSM-based disorders provide valid, circumscribed, and explanatory definitions of clinical phenomena perpetuate existing reification of diagnostic categories rather than reimagining psychopathology nosology beyond DSM, thus needlessly restricting and even undermining research efforts. Moving forward requires careful attention to consensual operationalization. Otherwise, we will continue to struggle to develop valid compositional explanations of clinical phenomena and to organize them into explanatory conceptual taxonomies. Scientific progress here depends on coordinated pluralism that incorporates different lenses into psychopathology and different approaches to data collection and analysis, with a firm grounding in construct validity and a corresponding commitment to continually reimagine rather than reify our concepts and objects of study. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A Bridge Between DSM-5 Section II Personality Disorder Criteria and ICD-11 Personality Disorder Trait Domains.

The organization of personality pathology into trait domains (vs. specific disorders) in ICD-11 represents an important shift in personality disorder (PD) nosology. However, to facilitate clinical implementation, a bridge is needed between this system and the DSM-5 Section II system familiar to many researchers and clinicians. In this study, individual DSM-5 PD criteria were assigned to ICD-11 trait domains based on the published Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Requirements. This scoring scheme was examined empirically alongside DSM-5 PD dimensions (using SIDP ratings from the MIDAS project; N = 2,147 outpatients) in terms of descriptive properties and relations with psychosocial morbidity and functioning. Most PD criteria could be matched to at least one ICD-11 trait domain, indicating considerable cross-system continuity. However, points of incongruity are noteworthy for research and clinical applications. Results provide key information for bridging categorical and dimensional frameworks, indicating that the shift toward trait-based PD models need not be as disruptive as feared.

Fluctuations in anger, depressive symptoms, and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors throughout partial hospitalization treatment.

Self-injurious thoughts and behavior (SITB), including passive and active suicidal ideation (SI) and self-harm (SH) urges and behavior, are critical phenomena to predict and target during treatment. Partial hospital programs (PHP) provide unique opportunities to understand how negative affect (e.g., depression and anger) and SITB fluctuate daily. The current study aimed to explore associations between aspects of negative affect (depression and anger) and types of SITB throughout PHP treatment. PHP patients (N = 1625) who attend at least five days of treatment were included in the current sample. Anger-related symptoms, depressive symptoms, SH urges, SH occurrence, passive SI, and active SI were measured daily. A series of generalized linear mixed models were conducted to examine whether depressive and anger-related symptoms predicted SITB across patients (between-person) and throughout PHP treatment (within-person). At the between-person level, higher average depressive symptoms predicted greater severity of all forms of SITB, whereas higher average anger-related symptoms predicted greater severity SH urges and occurrence. At the within-person level, increases in depressive symptoms were associated with increases in all aspects of SITB, whereas increases in anger-related symptoms predicted increases in passive and active SI. The current study suggests that monitoring changes in negative affect throughout treatment can provide possible targets to reduce SITB.

Factor analysis in personality disorders research: Modern issues and illustrations of practical recommendations.

The development of factor analysis is uniquely situated within psychology, and the development of many psychological theories and measures are likewise tethered to the common use of factor analysis. In this article, we review modern methodological controversies and developments of factor analytic techniques through concrete demonstrations that span the exploratory-confirmatory continuum. Also, we provide recommendations for working through common challenges in personality disorders research. To help researchers conduct riskier tests of their theory-implied models, we review what factor analysis is and is not, as well as some dos and don'ts for engaging in the process of model evaluation and selection. Throughout, we also emphasize the need for closer alignment between factor models and our theories, as well as clearer statements about which criteria would support or refute the theories being tested. Consideration of these themes appears promising in terms of advances in theory, research, and treatment surrounding the nature and impact of personality disorders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Development of Preliminary HiTOP Internalizing Spectrum Scales.

As part of a broader project to create a comprehensive self-report measure for the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology consortium, we developed preliminary scales to assess internalizing symptoms. The item pool was created in four steps: (a) clarifying the range of content to be assessed, (b) identifying target constructs to guide item writing, (c) developing formal definitions for each construct, and (d) writing multiple items for each construct. This yielded 430 items assessing 57 target constructs. Responses from a heterogeneous scale development sample (N = 1,870) were subjected to item-level factor analyses based on polychoric correlations. This resulted in 39 scales representing a total of 213 items. The psychometric properties of these scales replicated well across the development sample and an independent validation sample (N = 496 adults). Internal consistency analyses established that most scales assess relatively narrow forms of psychopathology. Structural analyses demonstrated the presence of a strong general factor. Additional analyses of the 35 nonsexual dysfunction scales revealed a replicable four-factor structure with dimensions we labeled Distress, Fear, Body Dysmorphia, and Mania. A final set of analyses established that the internalizing scales varied widely-and consistently-in the strength of their associations with neuroticism and extraversion.

Validity and utility of Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP): III. Emotional dysfunction superspectrum.

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is a quantitative nosological system that addresses shortcomings of traditional mental disorder diagnoses, including arbitrary boundaries between psychopathology and normality, frequent disorder co-occurrence, substantial heterogeneity within disorders, and diagnostic unreliability over time and across clinicians. This paper reviews evidence on the validity and utility of the internalizing and somatoform spectra of HiTOP, which together provide support for an emotional dysfunction superspectrum. These spectra are composed of homogeneous symptom and maladaptive trait dimensions currently subsumed within multiple diagnostic classes, including depressive, anxiety, trauma-related, eating, bipolar, and somatic symptom disorders, as well as sexual dysfunction and aspects of personality disorders. Dimensions falling within the emotional dysfunction superspectrum are broadly linked to individual differences in negative affect/neuroticism. Extensive evidence establishes that dimensions falling within the superspectrum share genetic diatheses, environmental risk factors, cognitive and affective difficulties, neural substrates and biomarkers, childhood temperamental antecedents, and treatment response. The structure of these validators mirrors the quantitative structure of the superspectrum, with some correlates more specific to internalizing or somatoform conditions, and others common to both, thereby underlining the hierarchical structure of the domain. Compared to traditional diagnoses, the internalizing and somatoform spectra demonstrated substantially improved utility: greater reliability, larger explanatory and predictive power, and greater clinical applicability. Validated measures are currently available to implement the HiTOP system in practice, which can make diagnostic classification more useful, both in research and in the clinic.

What Is the General Factor of Psychopathology? Consistency of the p Factor Across Samples.

Bifactor analyses have become a popular way to model a general psychopathology factor (or p factor) that accounts for correlations among higher order internalizing, externalizing, and thought-disorder dimensions. However, to advance dimensional nosology and construct validation of the p factor, this body of research needs to be synthesized. This study focuses on the p factor as a substantive construct by testing its consistency across samples and models. Bifactor analyses were run for three large epidemiological and clinical data sets: National Comorbidity Survey, Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys, and Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services. Despite generally good model fit and strong factor congruence, interpretation of the p factor varied across samples and methods. This limited consistency suggests a lack of clear, generalizable operationalization of the p factor for applications such as measure development. Results are interpreted in terms of implications for the p factor as a substantive construct.

Examining the Criterion Validity and Diagnostic Specificity of Self-Report Measures of Narcissism and Mania.

We examined the validity of self-report measures of narcissism and mania by relating them to interview-based ratings of psychopathology. Narcissism scales were taken from the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+, and the Short Dark Triad. Mania measures included the Altman Self-Rated Mania Scale (ASRM) and scales taken from the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS) and Expanded Version of the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms. Our analyses addressed two key issues. The first issue was whether these scales demonstrated significant criterion validity (e.g., whether the HPS scales correlated significantly with interview ratings of mania). The second issue was whether they displayed specificity to their target constructs (e.g., whether the NPI scales correlated more strongly with ratings of narcissistic personality disorder than with other forms of psychopathology). All of the narcissism scales-including all three NPI subscales-correlated significantly with interview ratings of narcissistic personality disorder and showed considerable evidence of diagnostic specificity. Most of the mania scales also displayed good criterion validity and diagnostic specificity. However, two measures-the ASRM and the HPS Social Vitality subscale-had weak, nonsignificant associations with interview ratings of manic episodes; these findings raise concerns regarding their validity as specific indicators of mania.

A Clinically Useful Anger Outcome Scale.

In the present report from the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services (MIDAS) project, we describe the development and validation of the Clinically Useful Anger Outcome Scale (CUANGOS). Current anger measures vary in their psychometric quality, clinical utility, and clinically relevant content coverage, and no one scale addresses all three of these key considerations. We aimed to develop a brief, clinically useful anger scale that (a) assesses clinically relevant aspects of anger, (b) performs well across different patient populations, and (c) is brief, accessible, and easy to use in routine clinical practice either as a stand-alone measure or as part of an assessment battery. Analyses included data from 2710 psychiatric outpatients and 1397 partial hospitalization patients. We used data from randomly drawn subsamples to select items with good psychometric properties and sufficient distinction from measurements of other emotional dysfunction, resulting in a 5-item scale. In reliability and validity analyses using the remaining participants, CUANGOS scores showed high internal consistency and appropriate test-retest reliability, as well as excellent discriminant validity from measurements of depression and anxiety. CUANGOS scores converged strongly with clinician ratings of subjective and overt anger and differentiated across all or almost all levels of clinician-rated anger severity. CUANGOS scores were also significantly higher in patients with anger-related disorders versus patients with other psychiatric disorders. Results provide promising evidence for the CUANGOS as a reliable and valid measurement of anger in clinical populations. Moreover, the CUANGOS is brief and feasible to incorporate into routine clinical practice.

Beyond Distress and Fear: Differential Psychopathology Correlates of PTSD Symptom Clusters.

BACKGROUND: Research suggests that re-experiencing and avoidance are "core" PTSD symptoms, but there has been little research explicating their unique connections to psychopathology other than internalizing conditions such as depression and anxiety. We aim to unpack symptom heterogeneity within PTSD by exploring associations between re-experiencing and avoidance clusters and major psychopathology domains in a dimensional metastructural framework (e.g., the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology, or HiTOP). METHOD: We used a trauma-exposed community sample (n = 233, 66.1% female, mean age = 45 years) to compare re-experiencing and avoidance's associations with factor-analytically derived dimensions generally corresponding to HiTOP structure: Distress, Fear, Detachment, Antagonism, Disinhibition, Thought Disorder, and Compulsivity. RESULTS: Both re-experiencing and avoidance were robustly related to Fear. Re-experiencing was particularly related to Distress and Thought Disorder, whereas avoidance was related to domains involving overinhibition (e.g., Compulsivity). Relative to avoidance, re-experiencing had broader and more substantial associations with psychopathology, partly as a function of its greater saturation with dysphoria. LIMITATIONS: Coverage of PTSD symptoms was limited to questionnaire measurement of re-experiencing and avoidance clusters. Results need to be replicated in samples selected for posttraumatic psychopathology. CONCLUSION: Although they are strongly intercorrelated and both are robustly related to Fear, re-experiencing and avoidance differ substantially in their unique relations with other forms of psychopathology, and re-experiencing may be less specific to PTSD than previously thought. These differences can be used to understand the etiology and phenomenology of re-experiencing and avoidance in greater depth to inform more targeted and effective interventions for posttraumatic psychopathology.

Preliminary Scales for ICD-11 Personality Disorder: Self and Interpersonal Dysfunction Plus Five Personality Disorder Trait Domains.

The ICD-11 personality disorder model is the first fully dimensional assessment of personality pathology. It consists of a personality disorder (PD) dysfunction-severity dimension, which encompasses both self- and interpersonal dysfunction, and six optional qualifiers for five prominent personality traits-Negative Affectivity (NA), Detachment (DET), Dissociality (DSL), Disinhibition (DSN), and Anankastia (ANK)-plus a borderline pattern that is defined by the criteria of DSM-IV borderline PD. This article reports on the development of a new self-report measure to assess self- and interpersonal dysfunction and the five trait qualifiers. It is the first comprehensive measure of the ICD-11 PD model in that (a) it is the only one to include both PD dysfunction-severity as well as trait scales and because (b) it is based on the Clinical Description and Diagnostic Guidelines, which are more detailed than the "statistical" model description that is currently on the ICD-11 website. The authors wrote 992 items and then reduced the pool to 300 items by eliminating redundancy and selecting the consensus best few items for each subconstruct. Data were collected using an online sample of 383 Prolific workers. Using exploratory factor analysis, seven domain scales were developed, each of which contained two to four scales assessing components of the domain. These preliminary scales' psychometrics were excellent, as were the domains' and their components' convergent and discriminant validity, with a few generally minor exceptions. Structural analyses at the component level revealed a three-factor structure consisting of two moderately correlated Internalizing factors, one centered on Self Dysfunction with two NA components and a DSN component (Distractibility) and the other on Interpersonal Dysfunction with DET and ANK components; as well as an Externalizing factor with DSL and a DSN component (Reckless Impulsivity) that was uncorrelated with the other two factors. Two aspects of the results in particular are striking: (1) ANK was not the opposite end of a DSN dimension, but rather contributed to an Internalizing Interpersonal Dysfunction dimension and (2) DSN had both an Internalizing and an Externalizing component. Implications of the findings and study limitations are discussed.

Three recommendations based on a comparison of the reliability and validity of the predominant models used in research on the empirical structure of psychopathology.

The present study compared the primary models used in research on the structure of psychopathology (i.e., correlated factor, higher-order, and bifactor models) in terms of structural validity (model fit and factor reliability), longitudinal measurement invariance, concurrent and prospective predictive validity in relation to important outcomes, and longitudinal consistency in individuals' factor score profiles. Two simpler operationalizations of a general factor of psychopathology were also examined-a single-factor model and a count of diagnoses. Models were estimated based on structured clinical interview diagnoses in two longitudinal waves of nationally representative data from the United States (n = 43,093 and n = 34,653). Models that included narrower factors (fear, distress, and externalizing) were needed to capture the observed multidimensionality of the data. In the correlated factor and higher-order models these narrower factors were reliable, largely invariant over time, had consistent associations with indicators of adaptive functioning, and had moderate stability within individuals over time. By contrast, the fear- and distress-specific factors in the bifactor model did not show good reliability or validity throughout the analyses. Notably, the general factor of psychopathology (p factor) performed similarly well across tests of reliability and validity regardless of whether the higher-order or bifactor model was used; the simplest (single factor) model was also comparable across most tests, with the exception of model fit. Given the limitations of categorical diagnoses, it will be important to repeat these analyses using dimensional measures. We conclude that when aiming to understand the structure and correlates of psychopathology it is important to (a) look beyond model fit indices to choose between different models, (b) examine the reliability of latent variables directly, and (c) be cautious when isolating and interpreting the unique effects of specific psychopathology factors, regardless of which model is used. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Anxious, but not depressive, symptoms are associated with poorer prospective memory performance in healthy college students: Preliminary evidence using the tripartite model of anxiety and depression.

Prospective memory (PM) - or memory for tasks to be completed in the future - is essential for daily functioning. Although depression and anxiety have been shown to impair PM performance, few studies have explored the relative contributions of different symptom domains. Here, we examined the relation between anxiety, depression, negative mood, and PM performance using the tripartite model. The tripartite model attributes the substantial overlap between anxiety and depression to general distress/negative affect. Twenty-seven non-diagnosed undergraduate participants first completed self-report measures of depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II), anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory [BAI], State Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI]), and affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule). They were then given an event-based PM instruction to be completed during three ongoing cognitive tasks. Depressive symptoms and positive affect were unrelated to PM performance. Higher anxiety symptoms (BAI, r = -0.62; STAI, r = -0.41) and negative affect (r = -0.45) were associated with poorer PM performance, with anxiety doubling the variance explained over-and-above negative affect ( Δ R2 = 0.20). These preliminary results suggest that anxiety symptoms may be uniquely related to impairments in PM function, and highlight the need for future studies to consider the individual contributions of symptoms to understand changes in cognition and behavior.