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The general factor of psychopathology (p): Choosing among competing models and interpreting p.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Caspi, A; Houts, RM; Fisher, HL; Danese, A; Moffitt, TE
Published in: Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science
January 2024

Over the past 10 years, the general factor of psychopathology, p, has attracted interest and scrutiny. We review the history of the idea that all mental disorders share something in common, p; how we arrived at this idea; and how it became conflated with a statistical representation, the Bi-Factor Model. We then leverage the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) longitudinal twin study to examine the properties and nomological network of different statistical representations of p. We find that p performed similarly regardless of how it was modelled, suggesting that if the sample and content are the same the resulting p factor will be similar. We suggest that the meaning of p is not to be found by dueling over statistical models but by conducting well-specified criterion-validation studies and developing new measurement approaches. We outline new directions to refresh research efforts to uncover what all mental disorders have in common.

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Published In

Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science

DOI

EISSN

2167-7034

ISSN

2167-7026

Publication Date

January 2024

Volume

12

Issue

1

Start / End Page

53 / 82

Related Subject Headings

  • 5205 Social and personality psychology
  • 5203 Clinical and health psychology
  • 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
  • 1701 Psychology
 

Citation

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Chicago
ICMJE
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Caspi, A., Houts, R. M., Fisher, H. L., Danese, A., & Moffitt, T. E. (2024). The general factor of psychopathology (p): Choosing among competing models and interpreting p. Clinical Psychological Science : A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 12(1), 53–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026221147872
Caspi, Avshalom, Renate M. Houts, Helen L. Fisher, Andrea Danese, and Terrie E. Moffitt. “The general factor of psychopathology (p): Choosing among competing models and interpreting p.Clinical Psychological Science : A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science 12, no. 1 (January 2024): 53–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026221147872.
Caspi A, Houts RM, Fisher HL, Danese A, Moffitt TE. The general factor of psychopathology (p): Choosing among competing models and interpreting p. Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. 2024 Jan;12(1):53–82.
Caspi, Avshalom, et al. “The general factor of psychopathology (p): Choosing among competing models and interpreting p.Clinical Psychological Science : A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, vol. 12, no. 1, Jan. 2024, pp. 53–82. Epmc, doi:10.1177/21677026221147872.
Caspi A, Houts RM, Fisher HL, Danese A, Moffitt TE. The general factor of psychopathology (p): Choosing among competing models and interpreting p. Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. 2024 Jan;12(1):53–82.
Journal cover image

Published In

Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science

DOI

EISSN

2167-7034

ISSN

2167-7026

Publication Date

January 2024

Volume

12

Issue

1

Start / End Page

53 / 82

Related Subject Headings

  • 5205 Social and personality psychology
  • 5203 Clinical and health psychology
  • 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
  • 1701 Psychology