More broadly, these cross-class disorders may reflect characteristic output pathways along which psychological discomfort tends to be expressed in most individuals. In support of this notion, rates for these particular disorders were elevated even within the few disorders class in both samples. This suggests that these disorders may be more indicative of general distress or difficulty in dealing with adverse life events. For example, symptoms of depression represent a natural reaction to loss or defeat, symptoms associated with PTSD (e.g., persisting distress and wariness) are common following exposure to extreme stressors, and discomfort in situations involving social performance or evaluation is normative in the population. Thus, though our findings indicate groups of individuals with a preponderance of problems in distinct domains (possibly implying specific underlying vulnerabilities or diatheses along each of these lines), such individuals may be prone to greater levels of psychological discomfort in general, resulting in elevated rates of these common disorders across all classes identified in the current study.
