Transdiagnostic, Multimethod Associations for Self- and Interview-Rated Hypomania Symptoms

We assessed hypomania and a range of other symptom, substance use, and personality dimensions across interview and self-report methods towards advancing understanding of hypomania’s multimethod assessment. Our study informed by transdiagnostic, dimensional models examined these issues in a clinically-oriented sample (N = 245; mean age = 32, SD =12; 59% currently accessing psychotherapy and/or medication), and as a secondary aim, we evaluated the structure of lifetime interview ratings of hypomania symptoms. We found evidence for a single-factor structure of interview-rated hypomania, and interview-rated hypomania associated strongly with psychosis and related variables, consistent with recent classification-focused research. Self-rated hypomania-relevant measures shared these associations to some degree, but there were also key differences in associations across measures and methods (e.g., self-rated euphoria showed distinctive positive associations with extraversion). We draw on these results to provide ideas for modeling hypomania symptom heterogeneity more thoroughly in future studies and for sharpening multimethod clinical assessment.