Associations of Tonic and Phasic Irritability With Psychopathology Subfactors of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology

Abstract

Irritability is a transdiagnostic clinical problem in youths and adults and can be parsed into tonic and phasic components. However, no prior work has related these components to the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology. In the present study, we used diagnostic-interview and self-report data from a sample of 18-year-olds (N = 461) to model irritability components alongside a psychopathology structure specifying fear and distress (internalizing) and harmful substance use and antisocial behavior (externalizing). After regressing tonic and phasic irritability onto the psychopathology subfactors, chi-square difference tests indicated that tonic irritability showed significantly stronger associations with fear (Cohen’s w = 0.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.25, 0.38]) and distress (Cohen’s w = 0.37, 95% CI = [0.31, 0.44]) than phasic irritability. Phasic irritability showed a stronger association with antisocial behavior (Cohen’s w = 0.10, 95% CI = [0.04, 0.17]) than tonic irritability. Neither component uniquely related to substance misuse. Results support the tonic-phasic-irritability distinction and clarify its placement within higher-order psychopathology