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Structural relationships among dimensions of the DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders and dimensions of negative affect, positive affect, and autonomic arousal.
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1998
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Affective VariableAffective NeuroscienceMental HealthStructural RelationshipsPsychologySocial SciencesEmotional ResponseEmotion RegulationMood SymptomPsychophysiologyNegative AffectDsm-iv AnxietyPsychiatryMood SpectrumEmotionMood DisordersMedicineAnxiety DisordersPsychopathologyAffect Regulation
The study is situated within the growing literature on higher‑order trait dimensions such as negative affect, which are believed to shape the development, course, and comorbidity of emotional disorders. The authors aimed to test multiple structural models linking symptom dimensions of anxiety and mood disorders with the tripartite model of anxiety and depression in 350 outpatients. They used structural equation modeling on data from 350 outpatients to evaluate the relationships among disorder symptom dimensions and the tripartite factors of negative affect, positive affect, and autonomic arousal. The analyses supported discriminant validity of five symptom domains and identified a best‑fitting tripartite model in which negative affect and positive affect influenced disorder factors as expected, and GAD predicted autonomic arousal consistent with laboratory findings of autonomic suppression.
Using outpatients with anxiety and mood disorders (N = 350), the authors tested several models of the structural relationships of dimensions of key features of selected emotional disorders and dimensions of the tripartite model of anxiety and depression. Results supported the discriminant validity of the 5 symptom domains examined (mood disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, GAD; panic disorder; obsessive-compulsive disorder; social phobia). Of various structural models evaluated, the best fitting involved a structure consistent with the tripartite model (e.g., the higher order factors, negative affect and positive affect, influenced emotional disorder factors in the expected manner). The latent factor, GAD, influenced the latent factor, autonomic arousal, in a direction consistent with recent laboratory findings (autonomic suppression). Findings are discussed in the context of the growing literature on higher order trait dimensions (e.g., negative affect) that may be of considerable importance to the understanding of the pathogenesis, course, and co-occurrence of emotional disorders.