Investigating the Transdiagnostic Value of Subjective Emptiness

Konjusha, Arta; Hopwood, Christopher J.; Price, Adrian L.; Masuhr, Oliver; Zimmermann, Johannes

doi:10.1521/pedi_2021_35_510

Cited by 11 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Interestingly, Borderline PD criterion 7 also emerged as an important criterion in the prediction across samples in which actual loss in predictive performance on completely new data is assessed (see Table S13 in the online supplemental materials). This is in line with previous findings on emptiness, suggesting that it constitutes a strong and specific component of internalizing psychopathology (Konjusha et al, 2021), and is significantly related to more outcome measures of psychosocial functioning than other criteria of Borderline PD (Ellison et al, 2016), is an independent predictor of prospectively observed suicide attempts in Borderline PD patients (Yen et al, 2021), and is related to impaired vocational outcome measured in days out of work (Miller et al, 2018). Notably, we did not observe particular importance of emptiness-related criteria when predicting work functioning, although this may be attributable to the inclusion criteria in the CLPS study.…”

Section: Predictive Validitysupporting

confidence: 93%

Exploring the predictive validity of personality disorder criteria.

Müller¹,

Hopwood²,

Skodol³

et al. 2023

Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We tested the predictive validity of personality disorder (PD) indicators at different levels of aggregation, ranging from general PD severity to PD syndrome scales to individual PD criteria. We compared the predictive validity of models on these levels based on interview data on all 78 DSM-IV PD criteria, by using 19 outcome scales in three different samples (N = 651, N = 552, and N = 1,277). We hypothesized that criteria of personality pathology yield a significant increase in predictive validity compared with scales that are aggregated at the syndrome- or general severity-level. We assessed out of sample performance of predictive models in a repeated cross-validation design using regularized linear regression and regression forest algorithms. We observed no significant difference in predictive performance between models trained at the item-level and models trained on scale-level data. We further tested the predictive performance of the trained linear models across samples on outcome measures shared between samples and inspected models for criteria-level information they relied on to make predictions. Our results suggest that little predictive variance is lost when interview items assessing DSM-IV PD criteria are aggregated to dimensional PD scales.

show abstract

Section: Predictive Validitysupporting

confidence: 93%

Exploring the predictive validity of personality disorder criteria.

Müller¹,

Hopwood²,

Skodol³

et al. 2023

Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…On one hand, qualitative reports of chronically depressed adults highlighted pervasive feelings of emptiness (Rhodes et al, 2019). Further, quantitative studies suggest that emptiness is an important predictor of depressive symptoms (e.g., Klonsky, 2008; Konjusha et al, 2021; Mann et al, 1989; Martin & Levy, 2022). On the other hand, the DSM‐5‐TR uses emptiness to distinguish grief from major depressive disorder, stating that grief, but not depression, is characterized by feelings of emptiness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A general inductive approach to characterize transdiagnostic experiences of emptiness

Hudson,

Ferguson,

Fan

et al. 2024

J Clin Psychol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundDespite the pervasiveness of patient‐reported emptiness and the high burden it carries, emptiness is poorly understood. In the current study, we used a general inductive approach to examine experiences with emptiness in a diagnostically diverse sample of treatment‐seeking patients with severe and acute psychopathology. As a secondary aim, we also examined whether identified themes differed among patients with a primary diagnosis of borderline personality disorder or major depressive disorder.MethodParticipants (n = 150) ranged from 18 to 69 years old (M = 33.15, SD = 12.41; 79.3% non‐Hispanic White; 57.3% females). All patients completed the borderline personality disorder module of the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Personality Disorders and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Interviewers documented patients' responses to follow‐up questions. Patients were included in the study if they endorsed chronic feelings of emptiness and elaborations were documented.ResultsWe identified 10 themes associated with patient‐reported emptiness: (1) purposeless, (2) lack of connection, (3) numbness, (4) self‐deprecation, (5) lack of identity, (6) lack of motivation, (7) hopelessness, (8) lack of pleasure, (9) physical sensation, and (10) dissociation. Themes were consistent across diagnostic status, with one exception: patients with borderline personality disorder were more likely to report that emptiness was associated with dissociation relative to patients with major depressive disorder.ConclusionOur results suggest that emptiness may reflect a multifaceted and transdiagnostic construct. Identified themes may help to support the assessment of emptiness and can be used to guide individualized treatments.

show abstract

Relationship Between the Feeling of Emptiness and Suicide Reattempt: Conclusions From Cross‐Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses

Pemau,

Marin‐Martin,

de la Torre‐Luque

et al. 2024

Clin Psychology and Psychoth

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionThe feeling of emptiness is a complex subjective experience considered relevant in the suicidal process, acting as a risk factor for suicide ideation, attempts and even reattempts. However, empirical studies are still scarce.ObjectivesThis study has three objectives: to compare emptiness levels in healthy people and those with suicide attempts; to compare the emptiness level between people with a single suicide attempt and multiple suicide attempts at baseline; and to study emptiness as a risk factor for the appearance of new suicidal attempts after an index one.MethodologyIn the study, 382 healthy controls and 58 participants with a recent suicide attempt (in the past 15 days) participated. All completed the feeling of emptiness scale (FES). Information was also collected on sociodemographic characteristics and history of suicide attempts. First, the control sample scores were compared with those of the clinical sample. Later, the single attempt and reattempt groups (any amount greater than one attempt at baseline) were compared. Finally, the clinical sample was followed for 1 year and 3 months (through clinical records). Survival analysis was performed.ResultsThe clinical group obtained higher scores across the FES subscales, even when controlling for other relevant variables (p < 0.01). When comparing people with one versus several attempts, differences were also observed in all subscales except one, the reattempt group getting higher scores (p < 0.05). Regarding the survival analysis, the feeling of emptiness was significantly associated with the risk of reattempt (HR = 1.04; p < 0.05). All people who reattempted during follow‐up belonged to the reattempt group at baseline.ConclusionsPeople who have attempted suicide present higher emptiness scores. Furthermore, emptiness appears to significantly predict the occurrence of new attempts at follow‐up. The feeling of emptiness may be associated with the lack of vital meaning and disconnection from others, fundamental aspects of the ideation‐to‐action suicide models. Including emptiness in suicide assessments could increase clinicians' predictive ability.

show abstract

Investigating the Transdiagnostic Value of Subjective Emptiness

Cited by 11 publications

References 39 publications

Exploring the predictive validity of personality disorder criteria.

Exploring the predictive validity of personality disorder criteria.

A general inductive approach to characterize transdiagnostic experiences of emptiness

Relationship Between the Feeling of Emptiness and Suicide Reattempt: Conclusions From Cross‐Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About