Development and validation of the Symptomatic Transdiagnostic Test (S2T)

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychology
• Mental Health Research

Background:

• Traditional categorical approaches in psychiatry face criticism.
• Modern research trends favor transdiagnostic approaches but lack comprehensive understanding.
• Existing transdiagnostic research often focuses narrowly on anxiety and depression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an easy-to-use tool for evaluating multiple psychopathological dimensions.
• To facilitate further research in the transdiagnostic approach.
• To enable rapid assessment of psychotherapeutic intervention efficacy across various psychopathological domains.

Main Methods:

• Identification of key psychopathological symptoms in mental healthcare workers.
• Development of the Symptomatic Transdiagnostic Test (S2T) for symptom assessment.
• Evaluation of S2T psychometric properties (factor analysis, internal consistency) in clinical and non-clinical samples.

Main Results:

• The 66-item S2T comprises eleven factors, including negative thoughts, trauma, addiction, eating behavior, perception, panic, emotional lability, dejection, neurodevelopmental, anxiety, and hyperactivity.
• The S2T demonstrated high internal consistency (α=0.96) and good concurrent validity.
• Clinical samples showed higher symptom levels than non-clinical samples, except for addiction and eating behaviors. Symptomatic dimensions negatively correlated with psychological skills.

Conclusions:

• The S2T is a valuable tool for assessing psychopathological profiles in clinical and research settings.
• The study highlights a negative relationship between main psychopathological symptoms and psychological skills.