Mapping Research Domain Criteria using a transdiagnostic mini-RDoC assessment in mental disorders: a confirmatory factor analysis

• Published in: European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience 2023-04, Vol.273 (3), p.527-539
• Main Authors: Förstner, Bernd R., Tschorn, Mira, Reinoso-Schiller, Nicolas, Maričić, Lea Mascarell, Röcher, Erik, Kalman, Janos L., Stroth, Sanna, Mayer, Annalina V., Schwarz, Kristina, Kaiser, Anna, Pfennig, Andrea, Manook, André, Ising, Marcus, Heinig, Ingmar, Pittig, Andre, Heinz, Andreas, Mathiak, Klaus, Schulze, Thomas G., Schneider, Frank, Kamp-Becker, Inge, Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas, Padberg, Frank, Banaschewski, Tobias, Bauer, Michael, Rupprecht, Rainer, Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich, Rapp, Michael A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Autism; Behandlung und Prävention; Cognitive ability; confrmatory factor analysis CFA; Deutsche Version der Positive and Negative Affect Schedule PANAS (GESIS Panel) (ZIS 242); diagnosis and classifcation; Factor analysis; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Germany; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Neurosciences; Original Paper; PD-CAN; Psychiatry; psychische Störungen; Psychologie; RDoC; research domain criteria; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - diagnosis; transdiagnostic; Verhalten
• ISSN: 0940-1334; 1433-8491; 1433-8491
• DOI: 10.1007/s00406-022-01440-6

This study aimed to build on the relationship of well-established self-report and behavioral assessments to the latent constructs positive (PVS) and negative valence systems (NVS), cognitive systems (CS), and social processes (SP) of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework in a large transnosological population which cuts across DSM/ICD-10 disorder criteria categories. One thousand four hundred and thirty one participants (42.1% suffering from anxiety/fear-related, 18.2% from depressive, 7.9% from schizophrenia spectrum, 7.5% from bipolar, 3.4% from autism spectrum, 2.2% from other disorders, 18.4% healthy controls, and 0.2% with no diagnosis specified) recruited in studies within the German research network for mental disorders for the Phenotypic, Diagnostic and Clinical Domain Assessment Network Germany (PD-CAN) were examined with a Mini-RDoC-Assessment including behavioral and self-report measures. The respective data was analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to delineate the underlying latent RDoC-structure. A revised four-factor model reflecting the core domains positive and negative valence systems as well as cognitive systems and social processes showed a good fit across this sample and showed significantly better fit compared to a one factor solution. The connections between the domains PVS, NVS and SP could be substantiated, indicating a universal latent structure spanning across known nosological entities. This study is the first to give an impression on the latent structure and intercorrelations between four core Research Domain Criteria in a transnosological sample. We emphasize the possibility of using already existing and well validated self-report and behavioral measurements to capture aspects of the latent structure informed by the RDoC matrix.