Are Biased and Inflexible Updating of Interpretations Broad or Narrow Transdiagnostic Risk Markers for Psychopathology? A Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) Lens

Previous research has highlighted links between biased and inflexible interpretations of ambiguity and various forms of psychopathology. However, these studies have largely focused on individual disorders, neglecting the overlap and comorbidity that exists across different disorders. As a result, the broader, transdiagnostic relevance of interpretation biases and inflexibility remains underexplored. To address this gap, the present study investigated transdiagnostic associations between biased and inflexible interpretation processes and dimensions of psychopathology using the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). HiTOP is a data-driven framework designed to integrate psychopathology symptoms across traditional diagnostic boundaries. A crowdsourced community sample of adults (N = 383) completed a HiTOP self-report battery and the emotional Bias Against Disconfirmatory Evidence task, which measures biased and inflexible interpretations of social situations. Bi-factor latent regression was used to capture the general p-factor of psychopathology (an overarching dimension representing shared variance across disorders) alongside five HiTOP spectra (internalizing, thought disorder, disinhibited externalizing, antagonistic externalizing, detachment) and their relations with negative interpretation bias, positive interpretation bias, and inflexible negative interpretations. The p-factor was significantly associated with negative interpretation bias and negative interpretation inflexibility. Reduced positive interpretation bias was specifically linked to the detachment spectrum, which includes conditions characterized by emotional detachment, social disinterest, and avoidance of social relationships. These findings suggest that negatively biased and inflexible interpretations are broad transdiagnostic risk markers for psychopathology. In addition, reduced positive interpretation bias may serve as a specific risk factor for disorders within the detachment spectrum. Future research could explore the mechanisms through which inflexible interpretations contribute to generalized and cluster-specific psychopathological risk.