In this article, we examine how symptoms are conceptualized in theories of psychopathology. We identify five questions that need to be asked about symptoms, including what kind of constructs they are, how we should describe them, and what causal explanations they support. We then examine how three different theoretical frameworks address these questions: the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the symptom-network-modeling approach, and the Cambridge model of symptom formation. We show that the assumptions these frameworks make affect the kinds of theoretical models they support and the research approaches they advocate. When symptoms are viewed as empirical observations, the focus of inquiry is directed elsewhere. However, when symptoms are understood as complex constructs in their own right, that are themselves built on certain theoretical assumptions, then understanding them becomes crucial to theoretical progress. We conclude by calling for greater focus on research that unpacks the constructs underlying symptoms.

在本文中，我们研究了心理病理学理论中症状是如何概念化的。我们确定了关于症状需要询问的五个问题，包括它们是什么样的结构，我们应该如何描述它们以及它们支持哪些因果关系的解释。然后，我们研究了三种不同的理论框架如何解决这些问题：《精神障碍诊断和统计手册》第五版，症状网络建模方法和症状形成的剑桥模型。我们证明了这些框架构成的假设会影响它们所支持的理论模型的种类以及所倡导的研究方法。当症状被视为经验观察时，询问的重点将转向其他地方。但是，如果将症状本身理解为复杂的构造，而这些构造本身是建立在某些理论假设之上的，那么理解它们就成为理论进步的关键。最后，我们呼吁更多地关注能够揭示潜在症状的结构的研究。