A crucial challenge in efforts to link psychological disorders to neural systems, with the aim of developing biologically informed conceptions of such disorders, is the problem of method variance (Campbell & Fiske, 1959). Since even measures of the same construct in differing domains correlate only moderately, it is unsurprising that large sample studies of diagnostic biomarkers yield only modest associations. To address this challenge, a construct-network approach is proposed in which psychometric operationalizations of key neurobehavioral constructs serve as anchors for identifying neural indicators of psychopathology-relevant dispositions, and as vehicles for bridging between domains of clinical problems and neurophysiology. An empirical illustration is provided for the construct of inhibition-disinhibition, which is of central relevance to problems entailing deficient impulse control. Findings demonstrate that: (1) a well-designed psychometric index of trait disinhibition effectively predicts externalizing problems of multiple types, (2) this psychometric measure of disinhibition shows reliable brain response correlates, and (3) psychometric and brain-response indicators can be combined to form a joint psychoneurometric factor that predicts effectively across clinical and physiological domains. As a methodology for bridging between clinical problems and neural systems, the construct-network approach provides a concrete means by which existing conceptions of psychological disorders can accommodate and be reshaped by neurobiological insights.

The NIMH RDoC initiative calls for the incorporation of neurobiological approaches and findings into conceptions of mental health problems through a focus on biobehavioral constructs investigated across multiple domains of measurement (units of analysis). Though the constructs in the RDoC system are characterized in ‘process terms’ (i.e., as functional concepts with brain and behavioral referents), these constructs can also be framed as dispositions (i.e., as dimensions of variation in biobehavioral functioning across individuals). Focusing on one key RDoC construct, acute threat or ‘fear’, the current paper illustrates a construct-oriented psychoneurometric strategy to operationalizing this construct in individual-difference terms—as threat sensitivity (THT+). Utilizing data from 454 adult participants, we demonstrate empirically that: 1) a scale measure of THT+ design to tap general fear/fearlessness predicts effectively to relevant clinical problems (i.e., fear disorder symptoms), 2) this scale measure shows reliable associations with physiological indices of acute reactivity to aversive visual stimuli, and 3) a cross-domain factor reflecting the intersection of scale and physiological indicators of THT+ predicts effectively to both clinical and neurophysiological criterion measures. Results illustrate how the psychoneurometric approach can be used to create a dimensional index of a biobehavioral trait construct, in this case THT+, which can serve as a bridge between phenomena in domains of psychopathology and neurobiology. Implications and future directions are discussed with reference to the RDoC initiative and existing report-based conceptions of psycholological traits.

Purpose Classic criminological theories emphasize the role of impaired self-control in behavioral deviancy. Reduced amplitude of the P300 brain response is reliably observed in individuals with antisocial and substance-related problems, suggesting it may serve as a neurophysiological indicator of deficiencies in self-control that confer liability to deviancy. Methods The current study evaluated the role of self-control capacity — operationalized by scores on a scale measure of trait disinhibition — in mediating the relationship between P300 brain response and behavioral deviancy in a sample of adult twins (N=419) assessed for symptoms of antisocial/addictive disorders and P300 brain response. Results As predicted, greater disorder symptoms and higher trait disinhibition scores each predicted smaller P300 amplitude, and trait disinhibition mediated observed relations between antisocial/addictive disorders and P300 response. Further, twin modeling analyses revealed that trait disinhibition scores and disorder symptoms reflected a common genetic liability, and this genetic liability largely accounted for the observed phenotypic relationship between antisocial-addictive problems and P300 brain response. Conclusions These results provide further evidence that heritable weaknesses in self-control capacity confer liability to antisocial/addictive outcomes and that P300 brain response indexes this dispositional liability.

The investigation of callous-unemotional (CU) traits has been central to contemporary research on child behavior problems, and served as the impetus for inclusion of a specifier for conduct disorder in the latest edition of the official psychiatric diagnostic system. Here, we report results from 2 studies that evaluated the construct validity of callousness as assessed in adults, by testing for affiliated deficits in behavioral and neural processing of fearful faces, as have been shown in youthful samples. We hypothesized that scores on an established measure of callousness would predict reduced recognition accuracy and diminished electocortical reactivity for fearful faces in adult participants. In Study 1, 66 undergraduate participants performed an emotion recognition task in which they viewed affective faces of different types and indicated the emotion expressed by each. In Study 2, electrocortical data were collected from 254 adult twins during viewing of fearful and neutral face stimuli, and scored for event-related response components. Analyses of Study 1 data revealed that higher callousness was associated with decreased recognition accuracy for fearful faces specifically. In Study 2, callousness was associated with reduced amplitude of both N170 and P200 responses to fearful faces. Current findings demonstrate for the first time that callousness in adults is associated with both behavioral and physiological deficits in the processing of fearful faces. These findings support the validity of the CU construct with adults and highlight the possibility of a multidomain measurement framework for continued study of this important clinical construct. (PsycINFO Database Record

Set shifting involves the capacity to effectively and efficiently direct mental resources in the service of dynamically changing goal representations. This capacity is important in everyday life and may be vital in situations where processing resources needed for adaptive action may be diverted by cues for external danger or threat (e.g., first responding, military combat, trauma surgery). Although considerable research has investigated performance in set-shifting tasks, little work exists on how the presence of external threats may affect the capacity to flexibly deploy cognitive resources. Even less is known about individual difference factors that might moderate such effects. The current study addressed these gaps in the literature through use of a novel task-switching procedure in which participants (N ϭ 77) performed two tasks in alternation under shock-threat and no-shock ("safe") conditions. Results indicated that behavioral performance was impacted by the presence of threat. However, these effects were moderated by individual differences in threat reactivity as indexed by both self-report and physiological measures. Our findings serve to clarify the impact of explicit threat on set-shifting performance. In addition, they encourage further use of the threat/task-switching paradigm as a laboratory model for studying individual differences in performance under conditions of pressure or peril. Public Significance StatementThe current study examined factors related to cognitive performance in the context of an external threat, in this case threat of electric shock. Analyses revealed evidence for effects of threat on performance of a task calling for flexible shifting of cognitive set. We also found that individuals who reported more fearless personality traits were more resilient to the effects of threat on cognitive performance. These findings have implications for identifying individuals who may be particularly well-suited to tasks requiring cognitive control under stressful conditions (e.g., first responding, military operations).

Threat sensitivity (THT) and weak inhibitory control (or disinhibition; DIS) are trait constructs that relate to multiple types of psychopathology and can be assessed psychoneurometrically (i.e., using self-report and physiological indicators combined). However, to establish that psychoneurometric assessments of THT and DIS index biologically-based liabilities, it is first important to clarify the etiologic bases of these variables and their associations with clinical problems. The current work addressed this important issue using data from a sample of identical and fraternal adult twins (N = 454). THT was quantified using a scale measure and three physiological indicators of emotional reactivity to visual aversive stimuli. DIS was operationalized using scores on two scale measures combined with two brain indicators from cognitive processing tasks. THT and DIS operationalized in these ways both showed appreciable heritability (.45, .68), and genetic variance in these traits accounted for most of their phenotypic associations with fear, distress, and substance use disorder symptoms. Our findings suggest that, as indices of basic dispositional liabilities for multiple forms of psychopathology with direct links to neurophysiology, psychoneurometric assessments of THT and DIS represent novel and important targets for biologically-oriented research on psychopathology.

Reward-deficit models of addiction posit weaknesses in reward sensitivity to be promotive of substance dependence, whereas the externalizing spectrum model views substance problems as arising in large part from a general disinhibitory liability. In the current study we sought to integrate these perspectives by testing for separate and interactive associations of disinhibition and reward dysfunction with interview-assessed substance use disorders (SUDs). Community and college adults ( N = 199) completed a scale measure of trait disinhibition and performed a gambling-feedback task yielding a neural index of reward sensitivity, the “Reward Positivity” (RewP). Disinhibition and blunted RewP independently predicted SUDs and also operated synergistically, such that participants—in particular, men—with high levels of disinhibition together with blunted RewP exhibited especially severe substance problems. Though limited by its cross-sectional design, this work provides new information about the interplay of disinhibition, reward processing, and gender in SUDs and suggests important directions for future research.

The Two-Process theory of psychopathy posits distinct etiological mechanisms contribute to the disorder: 1) a weakness in defensive (fear) reactivity related to affective-interpersonal features, and 2) impaired cognitive-executive functioning, marked by reductions in brain responses such as P3, related to impulsive-antisocial features. The current study examined relations between psychopathy factors and electrocortical response to emotional and neutral pictures in male offenders (N=139) assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Impulsive-antisocial features of the PCL-R (Factor 2) were associated with reduced amplitude of earlier P3 brain response to pictures regardless of valence, whereas the affective-interpersonal dimension (Factor 1) was associated specifically with reductions in late positive potential response to aversive pictures. Findings provide further support for the Two-Process theory and add to a growing body of evidence linking the impulsive-antisocial facet of psychopathy to the broader construct of externalizing proneness. Findings are discussed in terms of current initiatives directed at incorporating neuroscientific concepts into psychopathology classification.