Longitudinal Assessment of Mental Health Disorders and Comorbidities Across 4 Decades Among Participants in the Dunedin Birth Cohort Study

Source:

Caspi A, Houts RM, Ambler A, et al. Longitudinal Assessment of Mental Health Disorders and Comorbidities Across 4 Decades Among Participants in the Dunedin Birth Cohort Study. JAMA Netw Open.2020;3(4):e203221. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.3221

Key Points

Question  Do mental disorder life histories shift among different successive disorders?

Findings  In this cohort study of 1037 participants in the Dunedin Study birth cohort, with assessments from ages 11 to 45 years, mental disorder life histories shifted among different successive internalizing, externalizing, and thought disorders. Mental disorder life histories are better described by age of onset, duration, and diversity of disorder than by any particular diagnosis.

Meaning  The finding that most mental disorder life histories involve different successive disorders helps to account for genetic and neuroimaging findings pointing to transdiagnostic causes and cautions against overreliance on diagnosis-specific research and clinical protocols.