Information theory methods for quantifying diagnostic heterogeneity in psychopathology

Information theory methods for quantifying diagnostic heterogeneity in psychopathology | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Information theory methods for quantifying diagnostic heterogeneity in psychopathology John F. Buss, Ashley L. Watts, Lorenzo Lorenzo-Luaces This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2472751/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 30 Nov, 2023 Read the published version in BMC Psychiatry → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Objectives: Although specifiers for a major depressive disorder (MDE) are supposed to reduce diagnostic heterogeneity, recent literature challenges the idea that the atypical and melancholic features identify more homogenous or coherent subgroups. We attempt to replicate these findings and explore whether symptom heterogeneity is reduced in depression subgroups using novel data-analytic techniques. Methods: Using data derived from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC Wave I; N = 5,749) and Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D; N = 2,498) we computed the Hamming and Manhattan distance ratios comparing within and between individuals for the melancholic and atypical specifier subgroups. Results: In neither of the datasets was the heterogeneity between subgroups higher than the heterogeneity within subgroups, suggesting that the melancholic and atypical specifiers do not create more coherent (i.e., more homogeneous) subgroups. Conclusion: Replicating prior work, melancholic and atypical depression subtypes appear to have limited utility in reducing heterogeneity. The current study does not support the claim that symptom and course specifiers create more coherent subgroups as operationalized by similarity in symptoms and their severity. Depression Classification Melancholia Atypical Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files AppendixNESARC.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 30 Nov, 2023 Read the published version in BMC Psychiatry → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major revision 26 Mar, 2023 Reviews received at journal 15 Mar, 2023 Reviews received at journal 25 Jan, 2023 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Jan, 2023 Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Jan, 2023 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Jan, 2023 Editor assigned by journal 18 Jan, 2023 Editor invited by journal 18 Jan, 2023 Submission checks completed at journal 18 Jan, 2023 First submitted to journal 12 Jan, 2023 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-2472751","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":168749187,"identity":"be202a83-abea-4f18-ac87-23f15bb3da80","order_by":0,"name":"John F. 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We attempt to replicate these findings and explore whether symptom heterogeneity is reduced in depression subgroups using novel data-analytic techniques.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods:\u003c/strong\u003e Using data derived from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC Wave I; N = 5,749) and Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D; N = 2,498) we computed the Hamming and Manhattan distance ratios comparing within and between individuals for the melancholic and atypical specifier subgroups.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults: \u003c/strong\u003eIn neither of the datasets was the heterogeneity between subgroups higher than the heterogeneity within subgroups, suggesting that the melancholic and atypical specifiers do not create more coherent (i.e., more homogeneous) subgroups.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion:\u003c/strong\u003e Replicating prior work, melancholic and atypical depression subtypes appear to have limited utility in reducing heterogeneity. The current study does not support the claim that symptom and course specifiers create more coherent subgroups as operationalized by similarity in symptoms and their severity.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Information theory methods for quantifying diagnostic heterogeneity in psychopathology","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2023-01-20 04:23:15","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2472751/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Major revision","date":"2023-03-26T06:13:14+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2023-03-15T08:04:55+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2023-01-25T15:45:14+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"253b1c99-9e1a-4616-88e7-015e5791a36f","date":"2023-01-23T15:16:42+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"dd745965-858a-410a-9598-effed56aed70","date":"2023-01-22T20:02:52+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2023-01-18T11:39:07+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2023-01-18T11:30:51+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2023-01-18T10:24:43+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2023-01-18T10:22:37+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Psychiatry","date":"2023-01-12T21:54:41+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-psychiatry","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"bpsy","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Psychiatry](http://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/bpsy/default.aspx","title":"BMC Psychiatry","twitterHandle":"@BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"be3e1bb5-af7c-42af-90a8-81a71a658323","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 20th, 2023","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2023-12-04T15:10:54+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-2472751","link":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05377-5","journal":{"identity":"bmc-psychiatry","isVorOnly":false,"title":"BMC Psychiatry"},"publishedOn":"2023-11-30 15:01:24","publishedOnDateReadable":"November 30th, 2023"},"versionCreatedAt":"2023-01-20 04:23:15","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1186/s12888-023-05377-5","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05377-5","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-2472751","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-2472751","identity":"rs-2472751","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"_2-kVJe1T_tPrBINL-cwx","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}