Proposals for a transdiagnostic perspective of mental and behavioural disorders: Evidence, usefulness, and limitations

Abstract

The high rates of comorbidity and cross-sectional covariation between disorders are oneof the main limitations of current psychiatric diagnostic approaches, which moreover are based oncategories defined by clinical features rather than assumptions about etiology. These limitations areespecially manifest as regards anxiety and depressive disorders, and also are evident in eating disorders.The accumulating evidence on symptom overlap has led several authors to suggest the existenceof common and shared pathology dimensions across anxiety and depressive disorders,postulating a transdiagnostic approach to these disorders. At the same time, transdiagnostic treatmentsfor emotional disorders have been proposed focusing on the observed commonalities insteadof the differences. This article examines some of the empirically supported common dimensions ofemotional disorders, their usefulness and limitations in further understanding the psychopathologyof those disorders, and the implications of a transdiagnostic treatment.