TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychopathology and Neurocognition in the Era of the p-Factor
T2 - The Current Landscape and the Road Forward
AU - Haywood, Darren
AU - Baughman, Frank D.
AU - Mullan, Barbara A.
AU - Heslop, Karen R.
PY - 2021/6/23
Y1 - 2021/6/23
N2 - Neurocognitive abilities have frequently been claimed to be involved in the aetiology of psychopathology. Neurocognitive deficits have been reported across many disorders, and theoretical perspectives associate these deficits to the onset and maintenance of the symptomology. Recently, the heterogeneity of symptoms, and comorbidity of disorders, have motivated the development of structural models of psychopathology. Structural models indicate that factors such as internalising, externalising, thought disorder and the p-factor account for a wide variety of symptomology. It is unclear how neurocognitive abilities are best examined within these structures to advance our understanding of psychopathology. In this paper, we use Caspi et al.’s seminal writings as a framework to describe how neurocognitive abilities have been previously associated with categorical disorders and recently associated, and claimed to drive, the factors of psychopathology. We discuss the implications of the p-factor as a substantive construct or statistical artefact, and how this impacts the exploration of neurocognitive abilities and psychopathology. Further, we provide the case for alternative structural approaches, describe an innovative hypothesis of neurocognitive functioning, the multidimensional hypothesis, and explain how this may further our understanding of the heterogeneity of neurocognitive performance and psychopathology at the individual level. Finally, we provide a road forward for the future examination of neurocognitive abilities in psychopathology.
AB - Neurocognitive abilities have frequently been claimed to be involved in the aetiology of psychopathology. Neurocognitive deficits have been reported across many disorders, and theoretical perspectives associate these deficits to the onset and maintenance of the symptomology. Recently, the heterogeneity of symptoms, and comorbidity of disorders, have motivated the development of structural models of psychopathology. Structural models indicate that factors such as internalising, externalising, thought disorder and the p-factor account for a wide variety of symptomology. It is unclear how neurocognitive abilities are best examined within these structures to advance our understanding of psychopathology. In this paper, we use Caspi et al.’s seminal writings as a framework to describe how neurocognitive abilities have been previously associated with categorical disorders and recently associated, and claimed to drive, the factors of psychopathology. We discuss the implications of the p-factor as a substantive construct or statistical artefact, and how this impacts the exploration of neurocognitive abilities and psychopathology. Further, we provide the case for alternative structural approaches, describe an innovative hypothesis of neurocognitive functioning, the multidimensional hypothesis, and explain how this may further our understanding of the heterogeneity of neurocognitive performance and psychopathology at the individual level. Finally, we provide a road forward for the future examination of neurocognitive abilities in psychopathology.
U2 - 10.3390/psychiatryint2030018
DO - 10.3390/psychiatryint2030018
M3 - Article
SN - 2673-5318
VL - 2
SP - 223
EP - 249
JO - Psychiatry International
JF - Psychiatry International
IS - 3
ER -