Testing a hierarchical model of anxiety and depression in adolescents: A tri-level model

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Abstract

The present study examined the structural relationships among anxiety and depressive symptoms in a sample of high school juniors. The best-fitting structural representation was a tri-level hierarchical arrangement with a broad general factor (general distress), two factors of intermediate breadth (anxious-misery and fears), and five conceptually meaningful, narrow group factors. In accord with the integrative hierarchical model of anxiety and depression, the results supported a structure with a symptom factor central to major depression, and other symptom factors specific to particular anxiety disorders. These group factors displayed significant, unique associations with clinician severity ratings (CSRs) for their respective DSM diagnoses. The hierarchical arrangement demonstrated temporal invariance over a one-year period and configural and partial metric invariance in females and males. Implications for DSM classification and arrangement of anxiety and depressive disorders are discussed as is how present findings help bridge existing research conducted at symptom and diagnostic levels.

Section snippets

Participants and procedure

Participants were recruited as part of the NU/UCLA Youth Emotion Project (YEP), a longitudinal study examining vulnerability factors for depression and anxiety disorders. The YEP study employed a high-risk design to over-sample students at elevated risk for developing mood and anxiety disorders. Over three academic years beginning in the Fall of 2002, junior high school students were recruited from one school in the greater Los Angeles area and one school in suburban Chicago. Interested juniors

Exploratory factor analysis

Although parallel analysis (Horn, 1965) of data for those participants who completed all 156 questionnaire items (n = 399) indicated ten reliable factors, extraction beyond six factors resulted in at least one factor that was not well defined: no items had their highest loadings on it and often no items had salient loadings on it. Based on a six-factor extraction, items were assigned to a primary factor if their largest loading was on that factor and the loading both exceeded an absolute value of

Discussion

The present study examined the structural relations among anxiety and depressive symptoms in an adolescent population. Of the models considered, the best-fitting structural representation was a tri-level hierarchical arrangement with a broad general factor (general distress), two factors of intermediate breadth (anxious-misery and fears), and five conceptually meaningful narrow group factors: depression, fears of specific stimuli, anxious arousal/somatic tension, social fears, and

Acknowledgement

The research reported and the preparation of this article was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grants R01 MH65651 and R01 MH65652 to Michelle G. Craske, Susan Mineka, and Richard E. Zinbarg.

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    The research reported and the preparation of this article was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grants R01 MH65651 and R01 MH65652 to Michelle G. Craske, Susan Mineka, and Richard E. Zinbarg.

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