A Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology Can Transform Mental Health Research

Perspect Psychol Sci. 2019 May;14(3):419-436. doi: 10.1177/1745691618810696. Epub 2019 Mar 7.

Abstract

For more than a century, research on psychopathology has focused on categorical diagnoses. Although this work has produced major discoveries, growing evidence points to the superiority of a dimensional approach to the science of mental illness. Here we outline one such dimensional system-the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP)-that is based on empirical patterns of co-occurrence among psychological symptoms. We highlight key ways in which this framework can advance mental-health research, and we provide some heuristics for using HiTOP to test theories of psychopathology. We then review emerging evidence that supports the value of a hierarchical, dimensional model of mental illness across diverse research areas in psychological science. These new data suggest that the HiTOP system has the potential to accelerate and improve research on mental-health problems as well as efforts to more effectively assess, prevent, and treat mental illness.

Keywords: DSM; HiTOP; Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology; ICD; RDoC; individual differences; mental illness; nosology; transdiagnostic.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Heuristics
  • Humans
  • Mental Disorders / classification*
  • Mental Disorders / diagnosis
  • Mental Disorders / prevention & control
  • Mental Disorders / therapy
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Research Design*
  • Terminology as Topic