Objective

Co-occurrence of behavioral and emotional problems in childhood is widespread, and previous studies have suggested that this reflects vulnerability to experience a range of psychiatric problems, often termed a general psychopathology factor. However, the neurobiological substrate of this general factor is not well understood. We tested the hypothesis that lower overall white matter microstructure is associated with higher levels of the general psychopathology factor in children and less with specific factors.

Method

Global white matter microstructure at age 10 years was related to general and specific psychopathology factors. These factors were estimated using a latent bifactor model with multiple informants and instruments between ages 6 and 10 years in 3,030 children from the population-based birth cohort Generation R. The association of global white matter microstructure and the psychopathology factors was examined with a structural equation model adjusted for sex, age at scan, age at psychopathology assessment, parental education/income, and genetic ancestry.

Results

A 1-SD increase of the global white matter factor was associated with a β = −0.07SD (standard error [SE] = 0.02, p < .01) decrease in general psychopathology. In contrast, a 1-SD increase of white matter microstructure predicted an increase of β = +0.07 SD (SE = 0.03, p < .01) specific externalizing factor levels. No association was found with the specific internalizing and specific attention factor.

Conclusion

The results suggest that general psychopathology in childhood is related to white matter structure across the brain and not only to specific tracts. Taking into account general psychopathology may also help reveal neurobiological mechanisms behind specific symptoms that are otherwise obscured by comorbidity.

中文翻译：

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儿童的白色物质微观结构和一般心理病理因素。

目的

儿童期行为和情绪问题的同时发生是很普遍的，以前的研究表明，这反映了经历一系列精神病的脆弱性，通常被称为一般精神病理因素。但是，这种一般因素的神经生物学底物还不是很清楚。我们检验了以下假设：儿童总体白质微观结构较低与一般心理病理因素水平较高相关，而与特定因素相关性较低。

方法

10岁时的全球白质微观结构与一般和特定的心理病理因素有关。这些因素是使用潜在的双因素模型估计的，这些信息是基于R族人口出生的3030名6到10岁儿童的多种信息和工具而得出的。通过结构方程检查了全球白质微观结构与心理病理因素的关联根据性别，扫描年龄，心理病理学评估年龄，父母教养/收入和遗传血统调整模型。

结果

 总体精神病理学上，总体白质因子的1-SD升高与β= -0.07SD（标准误[SE] = 0.02，p <.01）降低有关。相反，白质微结构的1-SD增加预示着β= +0.07 SD（SE = 0.03，p  <.01）特定外部化因子水平的增加。没有发现与特定的内在化和特定的注意因素相关。

结论

结果表明，儿童时期的一般心理病理学与大脑中的白质结构有关，而不仅与特定区域有关。考虑到一般的精神病理学也可能有助于揭示特定症状背后的神经生物学机制，这些症状否则会被合并症所掩盖。