Structure of Current Psychopathology and its Associations with Daily Life Experiences using the HiTOP-SR in a Mixed Clinical/Community Sample

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is a dimensional nosological system that addresses key limitations with categorical frameworks, including heterogeneity, boundary, and comorbidity issues. The HiTOP consortium recently developed a new self-report instrument, the HiTOP-Self-Report Measure (HiTOP-SR), designed to operationalize the HiTOP model for use in research and clinical practice. In a set of preregistered analyses with a sample of clinical/community participants (75% female, 81% white), we explored the hierarchical structure of the HiTOP-SR scales using exploratory factor analysis (n = 637) and examined their associations with behaviors and experiences assessed in daily life (n = 531), such as affect, stress, impulsivity, energy, sleep quality, and social interactions. Findings indicate a nine-factor model, closely aligned with the HiTOP’s current structure, best represented the measure. The hierarchical structure of the HiTOP-SR generally converges with the HiTOP model, with several key departures, particularly for historically understudied constructs. Furthermore, the HiTOP-SR facet scales and domains associated with individual differences in daily behavior and experiences as anticipated, highlighting the construct validity and the potential clinical utility of this new measure. Our results have implications not only for the structure, validity, and clinical utility of the HiTOP-SR but also raise broader questions about the underlying nature of psychopathology as represented by the HiTOP.