A construct-network approach to bridging diagnostic and physiological domains: application to assessment of externalizing psychopathology. J Abnorm Psychol 2013 Aug;122(3):902-16
Date
09/11/2013Pubmed ID
24016026Pubmed Central ID
PMC6573023DOI
10.1037/a0032807Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84882937134 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 183 CitationsAbstract
A crucial challenge in efforts to link psychological disorders to neural systems, with the aim of developing biologically informed conceptions of such disorders, is the problem of method variance (Campbell & Fiske, 1959). Since even measures of the same construct in differing domains correlate only moderately, it is unsurprising that large sample studies of diagnostic biomarkers yield only modest associations. To address this challenge, a construct-network approach is proposed in which psychometric operationalizations of key neurobehavioral constructs serve as anchors for identifying neural indicators of psychopathology-relevant dispositions, and as vehicles for bridging between domains of clinical problems and neurophysiology. An empirical illustration is provided for the construct of inhibition-disinhibition, which is of central relevance to problems entailing deficient impulse control. Findings demonstrate that: (1) a well-designed psychometric index of trait disinhibition effectively predicts externalizing problems of multiple types, (2) this psychometric measure of disinhibition shows reliable brain response correlates, and (3) psychometric and brain-response indicators can be combined to form a joint psychoneurometric factor that predicts effectively across clinical and physiological domains. As a methodology for bridging between clinical problems and neural systems, the construct-network approach provides a concrete means by which existing conceptions of psychological disorders can accommodate and be reshaped by neurobiological insights.
Author List
Patrick CJ, Venables NC, Yancey JR, Hicks BM, Nelson LD, Kramer MDAuthor
Lindsay D. Nelson PhD Associate Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Antisocial Personality DisorderBrain
Empirical Research
Humans
Internal-External Control
Models, Psychological
Neurophysiology
Psychometrics
