RDoC: Translating promise into progress

Abstract

As highlighted by articles in the current special issue, the RDoC initiative holds promise for advancing understanding of mental health problems. However, the initiative is at its early stages and it remains unclear what level of progress can be achieved and how quickly. In this closing article, we identify major challenges facing RDoC and propose concrete approaches to addressing these challenges, including (a) clearer specification of clinical problems for study, with use of symptom dimensions from integrative dimensional models of psychopathology as provisional, modifiable referents; (b) encouragement of research on a distinct set of traits corresponding to process constructs from the RDoC matrix-those represented across animal, child temperament, and adult personality literatures-to serve as interfaces between matrix constructs and clinical problems; (c) an emphasis in the near term on use of proximal units of analysis in RDoC studies-in particular, on physiological, behavioral, and self-report measures of matrix constructs (examined as states or traits, or both); (d) inclusion of a clear ontogenetic-developmental component in RDoC research projects; (e) routine analysis of the psychometric properties of nonreport (e.g., physiological, task-behavioral) variables, including systematic evaluation of their reliability and convergent-discriminant validity; (f) modification of existing grant review criteria to prioritize replication and synergy in RDoC investigative work; and (g) creation of a cumulative data network system (RDoC-DataWeb) to encourage and facilitate coordination of research efforts across RDoC research groups.

Keywords: Clinical science; Multidomain assessment; Neuroscience; Psychopathology; Psychophysiology; Research Domain Criteria (RDoC).