Recent evidence suggests that individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) or borderline personality disorder (BPD) not only experience an excess of negative affect but also hold negatively biased internal representations of their affective experiences. Such biases may play an important role in the maintenance of these disorders. However, previous evidence in this area has mostly been based on nonclinical samples. The current experience sampling study compared the momentary affective experiences of 55 individuals with current MDD, 56 individuals with BPD, and 53 healthy individuals with their prior expectations and subsequent memories of these affective experiences. Results showed that individuals with both MDD and BPD considerably overestimated their future and past negative affect. Furthermore, they did not show the optimistic recall bias for positive affect observed in healthy individuals. Notably, the absence of an optimistic bias regarding the expectation of positive affect was specific to depression. Important theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Background Behavioral emotion regulation (ER) is conceptually distinct from cognitive ER, yet dedicated instruments to assess behavioral strategies are limited and rarely validated in clinical samples. Both ER domains relate to of the psychopathology of internalizing disorders, with potentially different contributions across diagnoses. Aims This study evaluates the psychometric properties of the German version of the Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (BERQ), including its factorial structure, reliability, construct validity, and measurement invariance across gender and three diagnostic groups: unipolar depression, anxiety disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Methods Baseline data from N = 462 outpatients with internalizing disorders prior to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) were analyzed. Confirmatory factor analyses with subsample cross-validation, as well as measurement invariance testing and correlational and regression analyses, were conducted to evaluate the BERQ and its associations with clinical measures and other ER measures. Results The five-factor structure of the BERQ was supported, with good internal consistency and measurement invariance across gender and diagnostic groups. Several behavioral strategies were significantly associated with depressive symptoms and global symptom severity, with withdrawal showing the most pronounced effects. Behavioral ER explained additional variance in symptom severity beyond cognitive ER strategies. Latent mean differences indicated clinically relevant differences across diagnostic groups. Conclusions The findings support the German BERQ as a reliable and valid instrument for assessing behavioral ER in clinical populations and highlight the relevance of behavioral strategies for understanding the psychopathology of internalizing disorders. Improved measurement of behavioral ER may therefore contribute to advances in targeted interventions and clinical research.

Models of mental health emphasize the fundamental role of emotion regulation (ER). Still, it is unknown whether ER impairment varies in severity and type between different disorders. To systematically investigate this question, we searched multiple databases via EBSCOhost for studies comparing adults with mental disorders to nonclinical controls on self-reported ER. We calculated standardized mean differences (SMD) and conducted multilevel meta-analyses to account for nested data. We included 619 studies (1998-2025) that assessed selected ER questionnaires in 41,590 clinical participants and 36,787 controls. Compared with controls, clinical participants overall reported pronounced difficulties in ER (large SMD = 1.70) and different ER strategy use (moderate to large SMDs: less frequent acceptance = -0.85, problem-solving = -0.63, and reappraisal = -0.63; more frequent avoidance = 1.00, rumination = 1.51, and suppression = 0.73). Difficulties in ER, decreased use of reappraisal, and increased use of rumination and suppression were evident in almost all mental disorders, emphasizing the transdiagnostic relevance of these facets. In addition, there were specific profiles for disorders with particularly pronounced effect sizes (e.g., difficulties in ER and acceptance in personality disorders; rumination and reappraisal in depressive disorders). An additional review of 25 ecologically momentary assessment studies of ER in daily life aligned with the main findings. Future research is needed to examine further disorders and the temporal relationship between psychopathology and ER. Nonetheless, there is substantial evidence to assume both universality of ER impairments across disorders and disorder-specific pronunciations. This speaks for using transdiagnostic interventions aimed at improving ER but also points to the need of additional, more targeted interventions for some disorders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective:Studies consistently show that guided internet-based interventions (IBIs) are more effective than unguided IBIs for depression. Yet, little is known about whether average symptom change and rates of treatment discontinuation differ between therapists who guide clients through IBIs (IBI therapists). Method:This secondary analysis draws on data from three randomized controlled trials (RCTs; RCT1: n = 543, number of therapists k = 40; RCT2: n = 2277, k = 21; RCT3: n = 1769, k = 10) that provided adults with depression access to the same IBI. IBI therapists provided written, module-wise feedback and were available for on-demand contact. We examined therapist effects in (i) treatment discontinuation rates, (ii) rates of meaningful symptom improvements (≥50% improvement), and (iii) symptom change. In addition, we tested the association of these outcomes with the number of previously treated clients and the length of feedback messages. Results:Estimated therapist effects for treatment discontinuation were cVPC = 0.3 to 7.5% and cMOR = 1.081 to 1.617; for treatment response, cVPC = 0.4 to 3.1% and cMOR = 1.088 to 1.332; and for symptom change, conditional ICC = 0.2 to 0.7% and conditional median absolute difference = 0.121 to 0.275 PHQ-9 points. No association between the number of treated clients and any outcome emerged. However, longer feedback was associated with a reduced likelihood of treatment discontinuation. Conclusion:The between-therapist differences in discontinuation and symptom change in guided IBIs for depression can be small.

Cognitive control is assumed to be a fundamental component of successful emotion regulation, yet it remains largely unclear whether individual differences in specific facets of cognitive control predict the frequency and effectiveness of specific emotion regulation strategies in daily life. This study investigated how two facets of cognitive control, i.e. discarding irrelevant negative information from working memory, and controlling interference from negative stimuli, relate to reappraisal, rumination, and suppression in daily life. We examined these associations in female participants with borderline personality disorder (BPD; n = 52), major depressive disorder (MDD; n = 55), and healthy controls (HC; n = 55). All individuals participated in four experimental paradigms, and a 7-day experience sampling protocol measuring the frequency and effectiveness of reappraisal, rumination, and suppression in daily life. In line with previous studies, results of the experimental tasks showed heightened interference from negative stimuli and slower discarding of irrelevant negative information in individuals with BPD compared to healthy controls. Evidence for impairments in MDD was less clear. Notably, cognitive control measures provided negligible value for predicting daily life emotion regulation after accounting for diagnostic group. The frequency and effectiveness of reappraisal, rumination, and suppression were determined primarily by diagnostic group rather than cognitive control. This highlights limits of cognitive control measures regarding their ecological relevance and raises questions for interventions targeting cognitive control to enhance emotion regulation.

The ICH E9(R1) Addendum on Estimands and Sensitivity Analysis provides a framework for defining the treatment effect a trial intends to estimate—the estimand. The addendum is widely adopted in pharmaceutical research. However, it remains underutilized in trials investigating internet-based interventions (IBIs). This manuscript introduces the addendum to IBI researchers. It concludes that estimands are essential to improve the interpretability, relevance, and validity of effect estimates derived in IBI trials.

Abstract Background Internet-based interventions (IBIs) are a low-threshold treatment for individuals with depression. However, comparisons of IBI against unstandardized care-as-usual (CAU) are scarce. Moreover, little evidence is available if IBI has an add-on effect for individuals already receiving an evidence-based treatment such as antidepressants and/or psychotherapy. Method This parallel, two-arm RCT (1:1 allocation ratio, simple randomization) examines the effectiveness of a therapist-guided cognitive-behavioral IBI compared to unstandardized CAU in a self-selected sample of adults (≥ 18 years). Eligible individuals reported (a) mild (BDI-II score ≥ 14) to moderately severe (PHQ-9 ≤ 19) symptoms of depression, (b) no acute suicidal ideations, (c) no acute or lifetime (hypo-)mania and/or symptoms of psychosis. We assigned eligible individuals to an intervention (INT) arm or an unstandardized CAU-arm (i.e., we imposed no restrictions on what individuals were allowed to do in the 8-week waiting period). Individuals in the INT-arm got access to a 7-module CBT-based IBI. The primary endpoint is depressive symptom load 9 to 11 weeks after randomization. Secondary endpoints included anxiety, self-efficacy, and perceived social support. We report effects for the entire sample (N = 1899), as well as for individuals using the IBI as a stand-alone intervention (n = 1408) or as an add-on to antidepressants (n = 367), psychotherapy (n = 73), or antidepressants and psychotherapy (n = 51). Patients entered the trial with these concurrent treatments (i.e., they were not randomly assigned). Results Concerning all randomized individuals, 62.5% of individuals in the INT-arm accessed all treatment modules within 11 weeks. Individuals assigned to the INT-arm reported significantly lower depressive symptoms (PHQ-9: − 2.5, 95% CI [− 2.9, − 2.0], d = − 0.7; BDI-II: − 5.3, 95% CI [− 6.5, − 4.1], d = − 0.8) and higher rates of ≥ 50% symptom improvements (PHQ-9: 38.5% vs. 14.3%; BDI-II: 44.6% vs. 14.8%) compared to individuals assigned to the CAU-arm. Secondary outcomes also favored INT over CAU, with effect sizes ranging from |d|= 0.18 (social support) to 0.62 (anxiety). Rates of deterioration (PHQ-9: 4.1%; BDI-II: 3.4%) and self-reported side effects (10.5%) were low in the INT-arm. Similar patterns emerged for all strata. However, the between-arm differences failed to reach significance within the strata of individuals using the IBI as an add-on to psychotherapy. Conclusion Our results show that providing interested adults access to the therapist-guided, cognitive-behavioral IBI under investigation is associated with improved mental health outcomes, whether individuals use the IBI as a stand-alone or add-on intervention to another evidence-based treatment. This finding aligns with available studies indicating that IBIs should be considered a low-threshold treatment option for individuals with depression. Trial registration The trial was registered at the Deutsches Studienregister (Trial-Registriation Number/DRKS-ID: DRKS00021106, Date: 25.06.2020).

BackgroundReproductive mood disorders indicate that within-person variation in depressive symptoms across the menstrual cycle can be related to ovarian hormone changes. Until now, such cycle-related symptom changes have been measured once daily, even though depression research indicates systematic diurnal changes in symptoms. Further, previous research often focused on aggregated depression scores. This study examined whether three daily assessments of depressive symptoms follow similar trajectories across the menstrual cycle and investigated within-person cyclical fluctuation of all individual symptoms and the aggregated score.Methods77 naturally-cycling participants (35 with and 42 without depressive disorder) provided three daily ratings of depressive symptoms across one menstrual cycle to evaluate individual and summarized symptoms.ResultsReliability estimates (w) of the three diurnal measurements ranged from 0.56 to 0.78. Cyclicity showed statistically significant interindividual differences for all symptoms, and individual symptoms differed significantly from each other in their magnitude of cyclicity.LimitationsOnly one menstrual cycle was assessed to reduce participant burden. Further, ovulation testing dates were based on self-reported cycle lengths, and only LH (luteinizing hormone) peaks were tested without subsequent progesterone rises.ConclusionsThe results highlight the need for a symptom-specific approach to assess individual variance in cyclicity of depressive symptoms. Reliability for one daily assessment can be improved by using the afternoon value, a sum score for depressiveness, or multiple items per symptom. Furthermore, this study emphasizes, that depressive symptoms can systematically change across the menstrual cycle, and it is, therefore, important to include it in depression research. Exploring female-specific risk factors of depression will enable the development of person-tailored treatments.Trial registrationThe study was preregistered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04086316) with the first registration on 27/08/2019.

Objectives Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a problematic thinking style that is related to multiple mental disorders. Detached mindfulness is a technique of metacognitive therapy that aims to reduce RNT. Our study set out to investigate the immediate effects of detached mindfulness in daily life.Methods Participants with elevated trait RNT (n = 50) were prompted to engage in detached mindfulness exercises three times a day for 5 consecutive days. Immediate effects on RNT and affect were assessed 15 and 30 min after each exercise using experience sampling methodology. We compared the effects of this exercise phase to (1) a 5-day non-exercise baseline phase and (2) a different group of participants that engaged in an active control exercise (n = 50).Results Results of Bayesian multilevel models showed that, across groups, improvements in RNT, negative affect, and positive affect were stronger during the exercise phase than during the non-exercise baseline phase (RNT after 15 min: b = -0.26, 95% CI = [-0.38, -0.14]). However, the two exercise groups did not differ in these improvements (RNT after 15 min: b = 0.02, 95% CI = [-0.22, 0.27]). Thus, the detached mindfulness and the active control exercises resulted in similar effects on RNT and affect in daily life.Conclusions Results of this study imply that there was no additional benefit of having participants observe their thoughts detached and non-judgmentally, compared to excluding these assumed mechanisms of action as done for the active control group. We discuss possible reasons for the non-difference between the groups.Preregistration This study was preregistered at https://osf.io/rze64.

Women are at higher risk than men for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but underlying mechanisms are still unclear. Comprehensive knowledge about these mechanisms is necessary to develop tailored, sex- and gender-sensitive preventive interventions. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined sex-/gender-dependent risk factors, that is, risk factors with sex/gender differences in (a) vulnerability or (b) prevalence/severity, as well as sex-/gender-specific risk factors, that is, and (c) risk factors present in one sex/gender only. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, PsycArticles, and PSYNDEX for articles published until October 16, 2022. We included prospective studies that assessed risk factors to predict subsequent PTSD symptom severity, as measured with the Clinician-Administered PTSD scale. The primary outcomes were sex/gender stratified pooled for sex-/gender-dependent vulnerability and sex-/gender-specific risk factors and pooled odds ratio (OR) or standardized mean difference (SMD) for sex-/gender-dependent risk factor prevalence/severity. We screened 17,270 records and included 117 reports from 45 studies (N = 13,752) in the systematic review. Seventeen studies (N = 4,257; 1,827 women, 2,430 men) were included in the meta-analysis. Regarding risk factor vulnerability, analyses revealed no significant sex/gender differences except for acute stress symptoms, with stronger associations for men (b = 0.11, SE = 0.06, p < .05). Regarding risk factor prevalence/severity, women reported more severe immediate psychological stress responses (range SMD = 0.23-0.56) and more commonly had a history of mental illness (OR = 1.81, 1.27-2.58). Men showed higher trauma load (SMD = -0.15, -0.29 to 0.01). Few women-specific and no men-specific factors were identified. Results suggest that women's heightened immediate psychological stress response drives sex/gender disparities in PTSD symptom severity. Preventive interventions should thus target women early after trauma. Women are at higher risk for posttraumatic stress disorder relative to men, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood yet. This meta-analysis suggests that women are not more vulnerable to risk factors than men (i.e., risk factors have a similar effect in women and men). Rather higher prevalence or severity of risk factors in women appears to be a driver of known sex/gender disparities in posttraumatic stress disorder risk. Sex- and gender-sensitive etiological knowledge can help to guide targeted interventions for women and men.

Randomized controlled trials are the gold standard for evaluating internet-based interventions (IBIs). However, their value depends on whether the estimated treatment effect accurately reflects its intended meaning. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Decisions addressing so-called intercurrent events, such as treatment discontinuation, can shift effect interpretations. For instance, imputing data for those who discontinued the IBI instead of collecting follow-up data can shift the meaning from "the effect of simply providing individuals access to the IBI" to "the effect under the hypothetical scenario in which all individuals complete the IBI." To control the substantive meaning of the effect estimate, it is essential to clearly define the estimand, i.e., to provide a detailed and systematic description of the intended effect. A well-defined estimand justifies trial design decisions, including assessment and data-analytic strategies. Though widely adopted in pharmaceutical research, the ICH E9(R1) Addendum on Estimands and Sensitivity Analysis remains unrecognized in IBI research. Yet, its principles can improve research quality and reporting of trials studying the effects of IBIs. This manuscript introduces the addendum to IBI researchers by (1) explaining estimands and their five defining attributes, (2) emphasizing intercurrent events' role in the interpretation of treatment effects and strategies for handling them, (3) relating estimands to concepts like intention-to-treat and per protocol analyses, and (4) illustrating their application in two exemplary trials. We discuss how estimands inform study design, analysis, and reporting, offering practical recommendations for IBI research. We conclude that estimands are essential for investigating treatment effects in IBIs.

Affective dysregulation is a core feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD), and some patients report dissociative symptoms. The present study investigated the temporal dynamic relations between affective states and current dissociative experiences of depersonalization and derealization in daily life to test key theoretical premises of trauma models of dissociation. Patients with BPD (n = 42) or depressive disorders (n = 40), and non-clinical controls (n = 39) were assessed every 15 min for 13 hours within a single day using smartphone-based diaries. As expected, dynamic structural equation modeling results suggest the highest levels of average daily affective arousal, negative affective valence, and dissociation in the BPD group. As hypothesized, arousal and lag1 dissociation were significantly linked only in the BPD group, implying that momentary arousal above a person’s daily average is followed by higher dissociation in the next measurement (ca. 15 min later). In addition, some patients with BPD reported less negative affective valence following dissociation. Our findings suggest that changes in affective state play an important role at the onset of dissociations in patients with BPD and subsequent relief from distress may explain maintenance in some individuals. We recommend that clinicians provide means to regulate affect when dealing with dissociative symptoms.

Objective: Research suggests that some therapists achieve better outcomes than others. However, an overlooked area of study is how institution differences impact patient outcomes independent of therapist variance. This study aimed to examine the role of institution and therapist differences in adult outpatient psychotherapy.Method: The study included 1428 patients who were treated by 196 therapists at 10 clinics. Two- and three-level hierarchical linear regression models were employed to investigate the effects of therapists and institutions on three dependent patient variables: (1) symptom change, (2) treatment duration, and (3) dropout. Level three explanatory variables were tested. Results: The results showed that therapist effects (TE) were significant for all three types of treatment outcome (7.8%-18.2%). When a third level (institution) was added to the model, the differences between therapists decreased, and significant institution effects (IE) were found: 6.3% for symptom change, 10.6% for treatment duration, and 6.5% for dropout. The exploratory analyses found no predictors able to explain the systematic variation at the institution level. Discussion: TE on psychotherapy outcomes remain a relevant factor but may have been overestimated in previous studies due to not properly distinguishing them from differences at the institution level.

In behavioral, cognitive, and social sciences, reaction time measures are an important source of information. However, analyses on reaction time data are affected by researchers’ analytical choices and the order in which these choices are applied. The results of a systematic literature review, presented in this paper, revealed that the justification for and order in which analytical choices are conducted are rarely reported, leading to difficulty in reproducing results and interpreting mixed findings. To address this methodological shortcoming, we created a checklist on reporting reaction time pre-processing to make these decisions more explicit, improve transparency, and thus, promote best practices within the field. The importance of the pre-processing checklist was additionally supported by an expert consensus survey and a multiverse analysis. Consequently, we appeal for maximal transparency on all methods applied and offer a checklist to improve replicability and reproducibility of studies that use reaction time measures.

Contemporary models of mental health emphasize the fundamental role of emotion regulation (ER) difficulties in psychopathology. However, the extent to which ER difficulties are universally present or vary in severity and type between mental disorders is largely unknown. To estimate standardized mean differences (SMD) across the range of psychopathologies, we conducted a systematic review and calculated preregistered multilevel meta-analyses. We compared adults with mental disorders to healthy controls (HC) on pre-defined ER questionnaires, including 517 studies with 34,789 clinical participants and 31,221 HC. Compared to HC, the clinical participants reported: a) increased general ER difficulties (SMD= 1.73), and b) differential use of specific ER strategies (decreased acceptance= -0.83, problem-solving= -0.61, and reappraisal= -0.63; increased avoidance= 1.02, rumination= 1.52, and suppression= 0.73). Separate analyses by mental disorder category indicated that general ER difficulties, decreased use of reappraisal, and increased use of rumination and suppression were transdiagnostically present. We also found unique patterns of ER difficulties compared to HC among mental disorders, with depressive disorders showing most pronounced differences in reappraisal and rumination, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders in avoidance, and personality disorders in general ER difficulties and acceptance. The generalizability of these findings may be limited by the indirect comparisons between mental disorders, the search terms, and the selected questionnaires. Nevertheless, this study adds substantial evidence to the notion that ER difficulties are a transdiagnostic phenomenon, while also highlighting disorder-specific impairments. Differentiating between global and disorder-specific impairment hold important implications for refining etiological models and formulating effective strategies for prevention and intervention.

Women and men are at different risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is unclear, however, how studies on PTSD risk factors integrate this knowledge into their research. Moreover, the temporal development of women’s higher PTSD risk is unknown. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we examine how prospective studies on PTSD development (k=47) consider sex and gender across four domains (samples, terminology, analyses, and reporting). Further, we differentially analyze sex/gender differences within five time-intervals from 1 month to 5 years post-trauma. PTSD prevalence (OR = 1.72 [1.27 – 2.34]) and severity (g = 0.31 [0.09; 0.53]) were increased for women relative to men at one month post-trauma already, i.e. at the first timepoint of a possible PTSD diagnosis. PTSD severity was elevated for women compared to men across all time intervals, but evidence for increased PTSD prevalence for women relative to men was less stable with longer follow-ups. Despite women’s higher PTSD burdens, they were clearly underrepresented in samples (68.3% male, 31.7% female participants). Only 5.0% of studies explained or described their understanding of sex and gender, and only 2.6% used sex as discovery variable, i.e. investigating sex-dependent risk mechanisms. Sex and gender aspects in design, data, and discussion were considered by only one third of studies each. Trauma research falls short of its potential to adequately consider sex and gender. Sex- and gender-sensitive practices can advance rigor, innovation and equity in psychopathology research.

Emotional disturbances are an inherent aspect of most mental disorders and possibly driven by impaired emotion regulation. In the present study, we examined how exactly affected individuals differ from healthy individuals in regulating their emotions and whether individuals suffering from different mental disorders face similar or distinct difficulty in emotion regulation. We overcome earlier methodological constraints by using a 7-day experience sampling assessing the employment and effectiveness of six regulation strategies real time in 55 individuals with current major depressive disorder, 52 individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD), and 55 healthy individuals. All participants were female. Both clinical groups employed rumination and suppression more often and acceptance less often than healthy individuals. Depressed individuals ruminated even more often than individuals with BPD. Expressive suppression and rumination showed negative effects on subsequent emotions in all groups. Remarkably, both clinical groups were able to benefit from adaptive regulation strategies if they did select them.

We comment on the papers by Schönbrodt et al. (2022) and Gärtner et al. (2022) on responsible research assessment from the perspective of clinical psychology and psychotherapy research.

Background: Pre-and post-traumatic hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis markers have been studied to predict posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) risk, but its acute reactivity cannot be measured in real-life settings. Experimental paradigms can depict the cortisol response to stimuli that simulate traumatic events. Objective: To review experimental studies on the cortisol response to traumatic stimuli and the correlation between cortisol and PTSD symptoms. Method: Experimental, (un-)published studies in German or English from any year were eligible if they confronted non-traumatized humans with traumatic stimuli, assessed cortisol before, during or after stimulus presentation and subsequent PTSD symptoms. The literature was searched via PubMed, PubPsych, PsychINFO, PsycArticle, Web of Science, EMBASE, ProQuest and ClinicalTrials.gov up to 16th February 2021. Risk of bias was assessed with the Cortisol Assessment List. Multilevel-meta-analyses were conducted under the random effects model. The standardized mean change (dSMC) indicated the cortisol response. Coefficient r indicated the correlations between cortisol and PTSD symptoms. Results: 14 studies, investigating 1004 individuals, were included. A cortisol response was successfully induced between 21 and 40 min post-presentation onset (kobservations = 25, dSMC = 0.15 [.03; .26]). Cortisol was not associated with overall or cluster-level PTSD symptoms. On a symptom-level, higher pre-presentation onset cortisol was correlated with lower state tension (k = 8, r = −.18 [−.35; −.01]), higher state happiness (k = 8, r = −.34 [−.59; −.03], variable inverted) and lower state anger (k = 9, r = −.14 [−.26; −.01]). Higher post-presentation onset cortisol was correlated with higher state happiness (k = 16, r = −.20 [−.33; −.06]) and lower state sadness (k = 17, r = −.16 [−.25; −.05]), whereas cortisol response was positively correlated with state anxiety (k = 9, r = .16 [0.04; 0.27]). Conclusions: Experimental paradigms effectively induce a cortisol response. Higher basal cortisol, higher cortisol, as measured after traumatic stimulus presentation, and a lower cortisol response were associated with more adaptive emotional reactions. These markers did not predict longer-term PTSD symptoms.

Studies using experimental paradigms have been paramount in research on psychopathological processes in personality disorders (PDs). We review 99 articles that report experimental paradigms and that were published between 2017 and 2021 in 13 peer-reviewed journals. We structure the study content according to the National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), and report details on demographic variables, experimental design, sample size, and statistical analyses. We discuss unequal representation of the RDoC domains, representativeness of the recruited clinical groups, and a lack of sample diversity. Finally, we review issues regarding statistical power and the data analytic designs that were used. Based on the literature review, we draw implications for future experimental PD research, encouraging researchers to increase the breadth of represented RDoC constructs, the representativeness and diversity of the recruited samples, the statistical power to detect between-person effects, the reliability of estimators, the adequacy of statistical methods, and the transparency of experimental research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).