LATENT STRUCTURE OF ANXIETY--EVALUATION AND APPLICATION

这项拟议的研究计划旨在开始测试焦虑是绝对的还是次要的。在研究计划的第一年和第二年，一系列调查将经验性地评估三种焦虑症的结构性质：广泛性焦虑症、创伤后应激障碍和社交恐惧症。每一种疾病都将在大的临床和模拟样本中进行检查，使用旨在测试潜在结构的复杂的计量学程序。后续分析将检查这三种疾病之间的重叠，以增加对它们频繁共病的了解。在第三年和第四年，一项治疗结果调查将评估根据广泛性焦虑症的分类分析得出的分类方案(分类或维度)的有效性。这项研究将在对慢性焦虑进行短暂的临床干预后，在预测预后、治疗反应和功能结果的相对能力方面，将该分类方案与传统的DSM-IV诊断进行比较。本研究的结果有望提高对焦虑症本质的科学认识，对焦虑症的概念化、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.