Transdiagnostic psychological processes underlying anxiety, depression, alcohol use disorder, and problematic social...

Area of Science:

• Clinical Psychology
• Psychopathology Research
• Mental Health Science

Background:

• Identifying transdiagnostic psychological processes is crucial for understanding internalizing and behavioral conditions.
• Previous research has not simultaneously examined multiple theoretically grounded transdiagnostic domains across these outcomes within a unified framework.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the contribution of key transdiagnostic psychological processes to symptoms of anxiety, depression, alcohol use disorder (AUD), and problematic social media use (PSMU).
• To examine emotion regulation, self-regulation, psychological flexibility, mentalization, attachment, and maltreatment within a Bayesian RDoC-informed framework.

Main Methods:

• A large community sample (N=1997) of adults completed self-report measures.
• Bayesian model averaging was used to identify relevant predictors across multiple outcomes while accounting for model uncertainty.

Main Results:

• Initiatory self-control consistently predicted all outcomes (anxiety, depression, AUD, PSMU).
• Emotional abuse and anxious attachment predicted anxiety, depression, and PSMU; sexual abuse predicted depression and AUD.
• Mentalization dimensions (certainty/uncertainty) and psychological flexibility showed specific associations with internalizing symptoms.

Conclusions:

• Initiatory self-control is a core transdiagnostic process supporting process-based models of psychopathology.
• Integrated psychological assessments capturing transdiagnostic and condition-specific dimensions can aid early identification of at-risk individuals.