LATENT STRUCTURE OF ANXIETY--EVALUATION AND APPLICATION

拟议的研究项目旨在开始测试焦虑在本质上是分类的还是维度的。在研究计划的第一年和第二年，一系列的调查将实证评估三种焦虑障碍的结构性质：广泛性焦虑障碍，创伤后应激障碍和社交恐惧症。每种疾病都将在大型临床和模拟样本中进行检查，使用复杂的分类测量程序来测试潜在的结构。后续分析将检查三种疾病之间的重叠，以增加对其常见合并症的理解。在第3年和第4年，治疗结果调查将评估从广泛性焦虑障碍的分类分析中得出的分类方案（分类或维度）的有效性。该研究将比较该分类方案与传统的DSM-IV诊断在预测预后、治疗反应和慢性焦虑简短临床干预后的功能结果的相对能力。本研究的结果有望提高对焦虑本质的科学认识，对焦虑障碍的概念化、评估、调查和治疗具有重要意义。

The proposed research program aims to begin to test whether anxiety is categorical or dimensional in nature. In years 1 and 2 of the research program, a series of investigations will empirically evaluate the structural nature of three anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and social phobia. Each disorder will he examined in large clinical and analogue samples using sophisticated taxometric procedures designed to test latent structures. Follow-up analyses will inspect the overlap between the three disorders to increase understanding of their frequent comorbidity. In years 3 and 4, a therapy outcome investigation will assess the efficacy of a classification scheme (either categorical or dimensional) derived from taxometric analysis of generalized anxiety disorder. The investigation will compare this classification scheme to traditional DSM-IV diagnosis on the relative ability to predict prognosis, treatment response, and functional outcome following a brief clinical intervention for chronic worry. Results of the proposed research are expected to enhance scientific understanding of the nature of anxiety, with important implications for the conceptualization, assessment, investigation, and treatment of the anxiety disorders.