Individual variation is increasingly recognized as important to psychopathology research. Concurrently, new methods of analysis based on network models are bringing new perspectives on mental (dys)function. This current work analyzed idiographic multivariate time series data using a novel network methodology that incorporates contemporaneous and lagged associations in mood and anxiety symptomatology. Data were taken from 40 individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive disorder (MDD), or comorbid GAD and MDD, who answered questions about 21 descriptors of mood and anxiety symptomatology 4 times a day over a period of approximately 30 days. The model provided an excellent fit to the intraindividual symptom dynamics of all 40 individuals. The most central symptoms in contemporaneous systems were those related to positive and negative mood. The temporal networks highlighted the importance of anger to symptomatology, while also finding that depressed mood and worry-the principal diagnostic criteria for GAD and MDD-were the least influential nodes across the sample. The method's potential for analysis of individual symptom patterns is demonstrated by 3 exemplar participants. Idiographic network-based analysis may fundamentally alter the way psychopathology is assessed, classified, and treated, allowing researchers and clinicians to better understand individual symptom dynamics. (PsycINFO Database Record

The issue of when detrending should be done is discussed, and recommendations for research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record

Psychotherapy does not always follow a linear path. The present study explores the frequency of sudden gains and losses during the course of outpatient psychotherapy. The sample includes 1500 patients treated at three different outpatient centers. The patients were 57.4% female, and suffered primarily from anxiety and depressive disorders. Progress was measured by session reports. Significant sudden shifts in both directions were prevalent for 28.9% of the patients. Patients with early sudden gains showed the highest effect sizes and patients with sudden losses showed the smallest at the end of treatment. The therapeutic relationship was significantly better after the sudden gain sessions. Results suggest further investigation of the occurrence of sudden gains in relation to early response as well as further exploration of sudden losses during the course of treatment with respect to differential patterns of change and outcome.

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