Effects of Dimensional and Categorical Classification on the Clinical Manifestation of Major Depressive Disorder

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study was to combine the dimensional concept with the categorical system in major depressive disorder (MDD) to reduce the complexity of the diagnosis. Furthermore, it was aimed to match categorical and dimensional approaches in a clear and simple manner.

METHOD

The study included a patient group of 131 consecutive outpatients diagnosed with MDD according to the DSM-IV diagnosis criteria, and a control group of 99 people that is matched with the patient group by gender, age and education level. All subjects completed the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS).

RESULTS

Cronbach's alpha values for the analysis of the internal consistency of the scale for the patients group, control group and the total participants were determined as .94-.97, .87-.92 and .93-.96, respectively. Nine factors were obtained from the results of exploratory factor analysis. According to the Scree-plot, it was decided that the two-factor structure represents best. Although depression and anxiety are two distinct dimensions, the relationship between them was found to be significantly significant. This was valid for both patient and control groups. When the relationship between the DSM-IV diagnosis criteria and all variables (depression and its sub-dimensions, anxiety and its sub-dimensions and the number of symptoms) was evaluated, the number of symptoms was found to be significantly related with all of the criteria.

CONCLUSION

The number of symptoms and the severity of illness are found to be important in the clinical manifestation of MDD. The relationship of the severity of the illness with sleep and appetite seems weaker. While loss of interest was mainly predicting the disorder, weight changes, psychomotor changes, difficulty in concentration, fatigue, and worthlessness were determined not to be predictors of the manifestations. According to dimensional approach, somatic anxiety and deterioration in performance predict the presence of the disorder. According to categorical and dimensional approaches, some of the DSM-IV criteria (#2, #1, #9, #4, number of symptoms, severity of symptoms, somatic anxiety, performance deterioration) are seen to contribute to the matchability between the approaches.

Features of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and antisocial behaviour in a general population-based sample of adults

BACKGROUND

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is known to be a risk factor for antisocial and delinquent behaviour, but there is still a lack of information on how features of ADHD relate to offending behaviour among adults not already defined by their offending.

AIMS

Our aim was to add to knowledge about relationships between ADHD and antisocial behaviour among adults in the general population by answering the following questions: (A) Does the level of self-reported ADHD features relate to criminal and non-criminal antisocial behaviour? (B) To what extent are self-ratings of ADHD features independent of socio-demographic features previously identified as predictors of antisocial behaviour?

METHODS

A sample of adults was originally recruited to study public response to the COVID-19 outbreak through an online panel to be representative of the Israeli population. Among other scales, the 2025 participants completed an ADHD self-report scale, an antisocial behaviour self-report scale and a socio-demographic questionnaire probing for age, gender, urbanity, place of birth, socioeconomic status (education and income), family status (being in a relationship and having children) and religiosity.

RESULTS

Higher mean totals for the inattention and hyperactivity ADHD scale scores were associated with higher mean antisocial behaviour scores. These relationships were only slightly affected by socio-demographic variables, including sex, age, education and income.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that not only may features of ADHD, even below a diagnostic threshold, constitute a risk factor for antisocial behaviour, but also that the self-rated levels of these problems covary. These findings are important for informing the early detection of risk of antisocial behaviour in the general population and its prevention.

Perception of stigma across diagnostic models of personality pathology

Stigmatizing views surrounding mental illness are widespread. Personality disorders (PDs) are among the most stigmatized mental illnesses, as individuals with PDs are often described using pejorative terms, which might impact clinicians' a priori expectations and increase the likelihood of stigmatization, discrimination, or early termination from treatment. The degree to which the terms used in any diagnostic classification systems are stigmatizing has never been examined. The current study aims to explore the level of stigma perceived in diagnostic terms used and to compare which systems of classification (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition [DSM-5] Section II, DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorder, and Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology [HiTOP]) are reported as less stigmatizing. The current study consisted of three samples. Individuals with lived experience of personality pathology (n = 218) completed an online survey examining the level of stigma perceived in diagnostic terms; mental health care providers (n = 75) and undergraduate psychology students (n = 732) also completed online surveys examining their perceptions of stigma within diagnostic terms. We examined differences in perceived stigma between the three classification systems across the three samples. Among mental health care providers, the HiTOP was rated as the least stigmatizing while DSM-5 categorical labels were rated as the most stigmatizing. There were no significant differences found among individuals with lived experience or undergraduate students. Understanding the degree to which the terms used to describe personality pathology contributes to reducing stigma has potentially important repercussions for research and clinical practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).