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The Network Theory of Psychiatric Disorders: A Critical Assessment of the Inclusion of Environmental Factors

Borsboom and colleagues have recently proposed a “network theory” of psychiatric disorders that conceptualizes psychiatric disorders as relatively stable networks of causally interacting symptoms. They have also claimed that the network theory should include non-symptom variables such as environment...

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Autores principales: de Boer, Nina S., de Bruin, Leon C., Geurts, Jeroen J. G., Glas, Gerrit
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7890010/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33613399
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.623970
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author de Boer, Nina S.
de Bruin, Leon C.
Geurts, Jeroen J. G.
Glas, Gerrit
author_facet de Boer, Nina S.
de Bruin, Leon C.
Geurts, Jeroen J. G.
Glas, Gerrit
author_sort de Boer, Nina S.
collection PubMed
description Borsboom and colleagues have recently proposed a “network theory” of psychiatric disorders that conceptualizes psychiatric disorders as relatively stable networks of causally interacting symptoms. They have also claimed that the network theory should include non-symptom variables such as environmental factors. How are environmental factors incorporated in the network theory, and what kind of explanations of psychiatric disorders can such an “extended” network theory provide? The aim of this article is to critically examine what explanatory strategies the network theory that includes both symptoms and environmental factors can accommodate. We first analyze how proponents of the network theory conceptualize the relations between symptoms and between symptoms and environmental factors. Their claims suggest that the network theory could provide insight into the causal mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders. We assess these claims in light of network analysis, Woodward’s interventionist theory, and mechanistic explanation, and show that they can only be satisfied with additional assumptions and requirements. Then, we examine their claim that network characteristics may explain the dynamics of psychiatric disorders by means of a topological explanatory strategy. We argue that the network theory could accommodate topological explanations of symptom networks, but we also point out that this poses some difficulties. Finally, we suggest that a multilayer network account of psychiatric disorders might allow for the integration of symptoms and non-symptom factors related to psychiatric disorders and could accommodate both causal/mechanistic and topological explanations.
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spelling pubmed-78900102021-02-19 The Network Theory of Psychiatric Disorders: A Critical Assessment of the Inclusion of Environmental Factors de Boer, Nina S. de Bruin, Leon C. Geurts, Jeroen J. G. Glas, Gerrit Front Psychol Psychology Borsboom and colleagues have recently proposed a “network theory” of psychiatric disorders that conceptualizes psychiatric disorders as relatively stable networks of causally interacting symptoms. They have also claimed that the network theory should include non-symptom variables such as environmental factors. How are environmental factors incorporated in the network theory, and what kind of explanations of psychiatric disorders can such an “extended” network theory provide? The aim of this article is to critically examine what explanatory strategies the network theory that includes both symptoms and environmental factors can accommodate. We first analyze how proponents of the network theory conceptualize the relations between symptoms and between symptoms and environmental factors. Their claims suggest that the network theory could provide insight into the causal mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders. We assess these claims in light of network analysis, Woodward’s interventionist theory, and mechanistic explanation, and show that they can only be satisfied with additional assumptions and requirements. Then, we examine their claim that network characteristics may explain the dynamics of psychiatric disorders by means of a topological explanatory strategy. We argue that the network theory could accommodate topological explanations of symptom networks, but we also point out that this poses some difficulties. Finally, we suggest that a multilayer network account of psychiatric disorders might allow for the integration of symptoms and non-symptom factors related to psychiatric disorders and could accommodate both causal/mechanistic and topological explanations. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-02-04 /pmc/articles/PMC7890010/ /pubmed/33613399 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.623970 Text en Copyright © 2021 de Boer, de Bruin, Geurts and Glas. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
de Boer, Nina S.
de Bruin, Leon C.
Geurts, Jeroen J. G.
Glas, Gerrit
The Network Theory of Psychiatric Disorders: A Critical Assessment of the Inclusion of Environmental Factors
title The Network Theory of Psychiatric Disorders: A Critical Assessment of the Inclusion of Environmental Factors
title_full The Network Theory of Psychiatric Disorders: A Critical Assessment of the Inclusion of Environmental Factors
title_fullStr The Network Theory of Psychiatric Disorders: A Critical Assessment of the Inclusion of Environmental Factors
title_full_unstemmed The Network Theory of Psychiatric Disorders: A Critical Assessment of the Inclusion of Environmental Factors
title_short The Network Theory of Psychiatric Disorders: A Critical Assessment of the Inclusion of Environmental Factors
title_sort network theory of psychiatric disorders: a critical assessment of the inclusion of environmental factors
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7890010/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33613399
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.623970
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