Investigating the Spectra constellations of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) model for personality disorders based on empirical data from a community sample

Braz J Psychiatry. 2019 Mar-Apr;41(2):148-152. doi: 10.1590/1516-4446-2018-0015. Epub 2019 Feb 7.

Abstract

Objective: The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) posits that psychopathology is hierarchically structured. For personality disorder (PD) traits, there are five spectra: internalizing, thought disorder, disinhibited externalizing, antagonistic externalizing, and detachment. Empirical findings suggest a sixth group, compulsivity. In this research, we tried to recover the five HiTOP spectra, plus compulsivity, specifically for PD traits.

Methods: The sample was composed of 4,868 Brazilians (54.9% women, age ranging from 18 to 70; mean = 25.7; SD = 9.64). All participants answered the Dimensional Clinical Personality Inventory 2 (IDCP-2), a self-report inventory for adults, developed in Brazil, for assessment of pathological personality traits.

Results: Parallel analysis yielded up to nine factors. On exploratory structural equation modeling (E-SEM), the balance between interpretability and fit index suggested the six-factor solution as the best solution. The fit indexes for the confirmatory factor analysis were slightly less adjusted in comparison to the empirical model.

Conclusion: The hypothesis was confirmed, as we did find the groups proposed at the spectrum level of the HiTOP. We also found a compulsivity factor, encompassing the main traits from the conscientiousness dimension of IDCP-2, which is related to obsessive-compulsive PD. Finding the six groupings of traits in the HiTOP model contributes to the validity of this model, and confirms the existence of proposed spectra.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Models, Psychological
  • Personality Disorders / classification*
  • Personality Disorders / diagnosis
  • Personality Inventory*
  • Psychopathology
  • Young Adult