Abstract
For more than a century, research on psychopathology has focused on categorical diagnoses. Although this work has produced major discoveries, growing evidence points to the superiority of a dimensional approach to the science of mental illness. Here we outline one such dimensional system-the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP)-that is based on empirical patterns of co-occurrence among psychological symptoms. We highlight key ways in which this framework can advance mental-health research, and we provide some heuristics for using HiTOP to test theories of psychopathology. We then review emerging evidence that supports the value of a hierarchical, dimensional model of mental illness across diverse research areas in psychological science. These new data suggest that the HiTOP system has the potential to accelerate and improve research on mental-health problems as well as efforts to more effectively assess, prevent, and treat mental illness.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 419-436 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | Perspectives on Psychological Science |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - May 2019 |
Keywords
- mental illness
- nosology
- individual differences
- transdiagnostic
- Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology
- HiTOP
- ICD
- DSM
- RDoC
- DSM-IV CRITERIA
- EMOTIONAL DISORDERS
- GENERAL FACTOR
- INTERNALIZING PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
- TRANSDIAGNOSTIC TREATMENT
- CHILDHOOD MALTREATMENT
- PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDERS
- PERSONALITY-DISORDER
- STRESS GENERATION
- COGNITIVE CONTROL