# Studying Development of Psychopathology Using Changing Measures to Account for Heterotypic Continuity

## TL;DR

This study shows that using different measures and scaling methods improves tracking of children's behavioral health problems as they age.

## Contribution

The study introduces a method combining age-differing measures and developmental scaling to better assess psychopathology development.

## Key findings

- Using age-differing measures was more accurate for assessing behavioral health problems than common or extended items.
- Developmental scaling outperformed average scoring in linking scores from different measures.
- The approach enables better tracking of psychopathology dimensions across childhood.

## Abstract

Psychopathology shows changes in behavioral manifestation across development, that is, heterotypic continuity. However, research has paid little attention to how to account for heterotypic continuity when examining the development of psychopathology. This longitudinal study accounted for heterotypic continuity of multiple psychopathology dimensions by using developmental scaling to place multi-informant ratings of children’s behavior problems onto the same scale to chart children’s trajectories.

The study examined children’s (N = 231) development of 3 psychopathology dimensions—externalizing, internalizing, and thought-disordered—using different measures across 7 timepoints from 3 to 7.5 years of age. Psychopathology dimensions were assessed by mother-, father-, and teacher/caregiver-report. We compared 3 assessment approaches: the common items, upward/downward extension, and construct-valid items approaches. We compared 2 scoring approaches: mean scoring and developmental scaling. Developmental scaling aims to place scores from age-differing measures onto the same scale. We compared their accuracy, for externalizing problems, in terms of criterion validity with respect to observations of compliance and attention to task.

Using different measures across ages (ie, construct-valid items approach) was the most accurate assessment approach—modestly more accurate than using the common items or upward/downward extension—in terms of criterion validity with respect to observations of compliance and attention to task (rdiff = 0.07-0.13). Developmental scaling was the most accurate scoring approach, modestly more accurate than average scores (rdiff = 0.03-0.17).

Using (1) age-differing measures to account for heterotypic continuity and (2) developmental scaling to link scores from the different measures onto the same scale may enable studying development of psychopathology across the lifespan.

We worked to ensure sex and gender balance in the recruitment of human participants. We worked to ensure race, ethnic, and/or other types of diversity in the recruitment of human participants. We worked to ensure that the study questionnaires were prepared in an inclusive way.

School readiness study: https://osf.io/jzxb8

Behavioral health problems manifest differently as children age. This study examined manifestations of 3 dimensions of behavioral health problems from ages 3 to 7.5 years (N = 231). The authors found that using different measures and scaling across ages was the most accurate way to assess behavioral health problems as children age.