A Hierarchical Model of the Symptom-Level Structure of Psychopathology in Youth

More comprehensive modelling of psychopathology in youth is needed to facilitate a developmentally informed expansion of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) model. This study examined a symptom-level model of the structure of psychopathology in youth-most aged 11-17 years-bringing together data from large clinical, community, and representative samples (N = 18,290) and with coverage of nearly all major forms of mental disorders and related content domains (e.g., aggression). The resulting hierarchical and dimensional model was based on the points of convergence among three statistical approaches and included fifteen narrow dimensions nested under four broad dimensions of Internalizing; Externalizing; Eating Pathology; and Uncontrollable Worry, Obsessions, and Compulsions. We position these findings within the context of the existing literature, and articulate implications for future research. Ultimately, these findings add to the rapidly growing literature on the structure of psychopathology in youth and take us a step closer towards understanding (dis-)continuities in psychopathology's structure across the lifespan.