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Symptoms as latent variables

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2010

Dennis J. McFarland  and
Loretta S. Malta
Dennis J. McFarland
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Neural Injury and Repair, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY 12201. mcfarlan@wadsworth.org
Loretta S. Malta
Affiliation:
Stratton VA Medical Center, Albany, NY 12208. Loretta.Malta@va.gov
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Abstract

In the target article, Cramer et al. suggest that diagnostic classification is improved by modeling the relationship between manifest variables (i.e., symptoms) rather than modeling unobservable latent variables (i.e., diagnostic categories such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder). This commentary discusses whether symptoms represent manifest or latent variables and the implications of this distinction for diagnosis and treatment.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 33 , Issue 2-3 , June 2010 , pp. 165 - 166
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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