# Development of Negative Valence Measures

> **NIH NIH R56** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO · 2020 · $796,452

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) is a breakthrough framework for understanding the etiology of mental
disorders, but it has no clinical traction at present. Of the RDoC units of analysis, self-report measures can be
most feasibly implemented in a clinic, but many self-reports for RDoC’s Negative Valence Systems (NVS)
constructs have psychometric shortcomings and lack normative data. We seek to develop psychometrically
sound, brief, and validated self-report measures (questionnaires and interviews) of each NVS construct with
strong normative data. We will investigate linkages of these self-report measures to other RDoC units of
analyses (behavior, task performance, and psychophysiology) to identify self-reports that align with NVS
dimensions most strongly and specifically. Also, we will fully characterize clinical manifestations of NVS
constructs using a comprehensive dimensional system of symptoms, maladaptive traits, and behaviors
(Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology; HiTOP). The direct counterpart of NVS is internalizing
psychopathology, which HiTOP describes with high resolution using 36 specific dimensions. Measure
development will be carried out in 2 successive phases, each including a sample of (a) 400 outpatients in
psychiatric clinics and (b) 600 community-dwellers. Participants will be adults selected to be representative of
the US adult population in terms of age, sex, and ethnicity to obtain good normative data. In Phase 3, we will
validate self-report measures against physiology, task performance, and behavior markers of NVS aligned with
the RDoC matrix in a new sample of 300 community adults and 300 psychiatric outpatients. To facilitate rapid
and ethnically diverse data collection, three recruitment sites—Buffalo NY, Stony Brook NY, and Dallas/Denton
TX—are proposed. The proposed research will provide a comprehensive catalogue of self-reported
characteristics linked to NVS. This will produce stronger measures of NVS constructs and a cross-walk to their
clinical manifestations, which will enable clinical translation of NVS. The resulting instruments will be normed,
reliable, and highly efficient, and thus scalable to mobile monitoring, screening, and self-administration at
population level and clinically. The rigorous and systematic linkage between RDoC NVS constructs and HiTOP
internalizing dimensions will be the first step to bringing RDoC and HiTOP together into a unified and evidence-
based nosology that integrates etiologic and clinical characterizations of patients.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10112406
- **Project number:** 1R56MH122537-01
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO
- **Principal Investigator:** Roman I Kotov
- **Activity code:** R56 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $796,452
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-04-01 → 2021-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10112406

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10112406, Development of Negative Valence Measures (1R56MH122537-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10112406. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*