Alexandre Heeren1,2,3, Emily E Bernstein1, Richard J McNally1. 1. a Department of Psychology , Harvard University , Cambridge , MA , USA. 2. b Psychological Science Research Institute , Université Catholique de Louvain , Louvain-la-Neuve , Belgium. 3. c Institute of Neuroscience , Université Catholique de Louvain , Brussels , Belgium.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: For decades, the dominant paradigm in trait anxiety research has regarded the construct as signifying the underlying cause of the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that supposedly reflect its presence. Recently, a network theory of personality has appeared. According to this perspective, trait anxiety is a formative construct emerging from interactions among its constitutive features (e.g., thought, feelings, behaviors); it is not a latent cause of these features. DESIGN: In this study, we characterized trait anxiety as a network system of interacting elements. METHODS: To do so, we estimated a graphical gaussian model via the computation of a regularized partial correlation network in an unselected sample (N = 611). We also implemented modularity-based community detection analysis to test whether the features of trait anxiety cohere as a single network system. RESULTS: We find that trait anxiety can indeed be conceptualized as a single, coherent network system of interacting elements. CONCLUSIONS: This radically new approach to visualizing trait anxiety may offer an especially informative view of the interplay between its constitutive features. As prior research has implicated trait anxiety as a risk factor for the development of anxiety-related psychopathology, our findings also set the scene for novel research directions.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: For decades, the dominant paradigm in trait anxiety research has regarded the construct as signifying the underlying cause of the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that supposedly reflect its presence. Recently, a network theory of personality has appeared. According to this perspective, trait anxiety is a formative construct emerging from interactions among its constitutive features (e.g., thought, feelings, behaviors); it is not a latent cause of these features. DESIGN: In this study, we characterized trait anxiety as a network system of interacting elements. METHODS: To do so, we estimated a graphical gaussian model via the computation of a regularized partial correlation network in an unselected sample (N = 611). We also implemented modularity-based community detection analysis to test whether the features of trait anxiety cohere as a single network system. RESULTS: We find that trait anxiety can indeed be conceptualized as a single, coherent network system of interacting elements. CONCLUSIONS: This radically new approach to visualizing trait anxiety may offer an especially informative view of the interplay between its constitutive features. As prior research has implicated trait anxiety as a risk factor for the development of anxiety-related psychopathology, our findings also set the scene for novel research directions.
Entities:
Keywords:
Trait anxiety; anxiety; graph theory; graphical gaussian model; network analysis; network theory of personality
Authors: C O'Driscoll; J E J Buckman; E I Fried; R Saunders; Z D Cohen; G Ambler; R J DeRubeis; S Gilbody; S D Hollon; T Kendrick; D Kessler; G Lewis; E Watkins; N Wiles; S Pilling Journal: BMC Med Date: 2021-05-06 Impact factor: 8.775
Authors: Rany Abend; Mira A Bajaj; Daniel D L Coppersmith; Katharina Kircanski; Simone P Haller; Elise M Cardinale; Giovanni A Salum; Reinout W Wiers; Elske Salemink; Jeremy W Pettit; Koraly Pérez-Edgar; Eli R Lebowitz; Wendy K Silverman; Yair Bar-Haim; Melissa A Brotman; Ellen Leibenluft; Eiko I Fried; Daniel S Pine Journal: Psychol Med Date: 2020-08-13 Impact factor: 10.592