Figure 5. Origins and Sequelae of the p-Factor.

Graphs show that compromised brain health at age 3 years was associated with higher p-factor scores (A) and that higher p-factor scores were associated with more decline in cognitive ability from childhood to adulthood (B) and older brain age by midlife (C). In each panel, the p-factor score is standardized to a mean (SD) of 100 (15), and higher p-factor scores indicate more generalized psychopathology. In A and C, the bars of the histograms graph the proportions of the sample at different levels of the p-factor score (midpoint of 10-point bands): less than 85 (163 participants [16.3%]), 85 to 95 (237 participants [23.7%]), 95 to 105 (259 participants [25.9%]), 105 to 115 (189 participants [18.9%]), 115 to 125 (91 participants [9.1%]), and greater than 125 (61 participants [6.1%]). The circles and SE bars show the mean scores of individuals in each p-factor score group; these groups have been clumped solely for graphing purposes (with group size >50). The regression lines in A and C show the association between the p-factor score and its childhood correlates and adult sequelae. The regression coefficients reported in the text are based on the full distribution of p-factor scores (see eAppendix 11 in the Supplement for scatterplots).