Liu R T
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior,Alpert Medical School of Brown University,Bradley Hospital,East Providence,RI,USA.
Psychol Med. 2016 Apr;46(6):1265-75. doi: 10.1017/S0033291715002792. Epub 2016 Jan 8.
A basic phenomenological question of much theoretical and empirical interest is whether the latent structure of depression is dimensional or categorical in nature. Prior taxometric studies of youth depression have yielded mixed findings. In a step towards resolving these contradictory findings, the current taxometric investigation is the first to utilize a recently developed objective index, the comparison curve fit index, to evaluate the latent structure of major depression in an epidemiological sample of children and adolescents.
Data were derived from Mental Health of Children and Young People in Great Britain surveys. Participants were administered a structured diagnostic interview to assess for current depression. Parents (n = 683) were interviewed for children aged 5-16 years, and child interviews (n = 605) were conducted for those aged 11-16 years.
MAMBAC (mean above minus below a cut), MAXEIG (maximum eigenvalue) and L-Mode (latent mode) analyses provided convergent support for a dimensional latent structure.
The current findings suggest that depression in youth is more accurately conceptualized as a continuous syndrome rather than a discrete diagnostic entity.
一个具有诸多理论和实证意义的基本现象学问题是，抑郁症的潜在结构本质上是维度性的还是类别性的。先前对青少年抑郁症的分类分析研究结果不一。为了解决这些相互矛盾的发现，当前的分类分析调查首次使用了一种最近开发的客观指标——比较曲线拟合指数，来评估儿童和青少年流行病学样本中重度抑郁症的潜在结构。
数据来源于英国儿童和青少年心理健康调查。参与者接受了结构化诊断访谈以评估当前的抑郁情况。对5至16岁儿童的父母（n = 683）进行了访谈，对11至16岁的儿童（n = 605）进行了儿童访谈。
MAMBAC（均值高于减去低于切点值）、MAXEIG（最大特征值）和L模式（潜在模式）分析为维度性潜在结构提供了趋同支持。
当前研究结果表明，青少年抑郁症更准确地被概念化为一种连续综合征，而非离散的诊断实体。
