ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews a variety of research areas with the purpose of shifting focus from the study of discrete anxiety, mood, and related disorders as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to a broader understanding of emotional or internalizing disorders. It seeks to call attention to higher-order temperamental factors that may be a more appropriate target for assessment and intervention than may symptom-level manifestations of these traits. B. B. Lahey called for a more substantial focus on the nature and origins of neuroticism and the mechanisms through which the trait is linked to both mental and physical disorders. The chapter describes common functional relationships in emotional disorders, particularly among emotional expression, negative appraisals under stress, and avoidance, as well as new approaches to conceptualizing these disorders and suggests the possibility of more satisfying dimensional nosological and assessment schemes.
