Normative models reveal distinct cortical abnormalities to dimensions of psychopathologies in preadolescents

BackgroundEvidence suggests a non-specific mapping between psychiatric disorders and underlying neurobiological substrates. A dimensional psychopathology framework may prove useful for organizing observed neurobiological alterations along broad psychopathological dimensions. MethodsWe applied latent class analysis, with an additional constraint on classification uncertainty, to identify clinical cohorts of symptomatic homogeneity to represent the high-risk end of specific psychopathological dimensions (i.e., internalizing/externalizing, p-factor), using baseline data (N = 11860) from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. These cohorts were compared against neurotypical individuals in deviations from the normality of cortical development, quantified using autoencoder-based normative models, to reveal cortical abnormalities. ResultsWe identified cortical thickness related to psychopathologies in the ABCD data, particularly to externalizing syndromes, and revealed distinct structural abnormalities to broad psychopathological dimensions. ConclusionThis study highlights the value of person-centered analytic techniques, combined with normative modeling, to complement traditional associational methodologies in revealing neurobiological correlates of dimensional psychopathologies.