Transdiagnostic psychiatry: Symptom profiles and their direct and indirect relationship with well-being

Heterogeneity and comorbidity in psychiatric disorders are common, however, little is known about the impact on well-being and the role of functional limitations. We aimed to identify transdiagnostic psychiatric symptom profiles and to study their association with well-being and the mediating role of functional limitations in a naturalistic psychiatric patient group.

We used four disorder-specific questionnaires to assess symptom severity within a sample of 448 psychiatric patients with stress-related and/or neurodevelopmental disorders and 101 healthy controls. Using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses we identified transdiagnostic symptom profiles, which we entered into a linear regression analysis to assess their association with well-being and the mediating role of functional limitations in this association.

We identified eight transdiagnostic symptom profiles, covering mood, self-image, anxiety, agitation, empathy, non-social interest, hyperactivity and cognitive focus. Mood and self-image showed the strongest association with well-being in both patients and controls, while self-image also showed the highest transdiagnostic value. Functional limitations were significantly associated with well-being and fully mediated the relationship between cognitive focus and well-being.

The participant sample consisted of a naturalistic group of out-patients. While this strengthens the ecological validity and transdiagnostic perspective of this study, the patients with a single neurodevelopmental disorder were underrepresented.

Transdiagnostic symptom profiles are valuable in understanding what reduces well-being in psychiatric populations, thereby opening new avenues for functionally meaningful interventions.