THE STRUCTURE AND STABILITY OF COMMON MENTAL-DISORDERS (DSM-III-R) - A LONGITUDINAL-EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDY

The latent structure and stability of 10 common mental disorders were examined in a birth cohort at ages 18 and 21. A 2-factor model, in whi ch some disorders were presumed to reflect internalizing problems and others were presumed to reflect externalizing problems, provided a mor e optimal fit to the data than either a 1- or a 4-factor model. To a s ignificant extent, persons in the sample retained their relative posit ions on the latent factors across the 3-year period from age 18 to age 21. Results offer potential clarification of the meaning of comorbidi ty in psychopathology research by suggesting that comorbidity may resu lt from common mental disorders being reliable, covariant indicators o f stable, underlying ''core psychopathological processes.''