Moving psychopathology forward: combining a transdiagnostic and dimensional approach to clinical anxiety, depressive, and substance use constructs

The National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative calls for systemic efforts to integrate neurobehavioral traits into dimensional models of psychopathology (Nelson et al., 2016). Examples are needed of how RDoC constructs can be linked to clinical symptoms. Thus, researchers evaluate two domains proposed by the RDoC model, Positive and Negative Valence System. Relevant MMPI-2-RF subscales, RC2 (Low Positive Emotion), RC7 (Negative Emotionality), and DISC-r (Disconstraint) are used to examined the extent to which depressive, anxiety, and substance use disorders share underlying neurobehavioral constructs in 2,873 inpatients and outpatients from the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center and the Hennepin County Medical Center. Predictions were partially supported, clinical symptoms of depression and substance use overlap on neurobehavioral domains of positive valance, anxiety and substance use overlap on neurobehavioral domains of anxiety and substance use, however depression and anxiety did not overlap with cognitive systems. Results partially provide support for building a bridge between neurobehavioral constructs derived from neurophysiologic research (i.e., RDoC model) with core features of co-occurring psychopathology using a dimensional approach (MMPI-2-RF). With regards to inhibitory control (Cognitive Systems Domain), more research is needed to conceptualize INH as transdiagnostic