Latent Profiles of Affective Symptoms in Peruvian Psychiatric Outpatients: A Cross-Sectional Latent Profile Analysis from a Low- and Middle-Income Country

Background Mood disorders exhibit substantial symptomatic heterogeneity. Dimensional evidence from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains limited. This study aimed to identify transdiagnostic latent profiles of depressive, anxiety, and hypomanic symptoms in Peruvian outpatients with ICD-10 mood disorders. Methods A cross-sectional latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted in 302 adult outpatients using 12 continuous indicators derived from the PHQ-9, GAD-7, HCL-32, and MDQ. Competing models (2–10 profiles) were compared using AIC, BIC, SABIC, AWE, ICL, likelihood-ratio tests, and entropy, with selection guided by fit and clinical interpretability. Results A five-profile solution provided the optimal balance of statistical and clinical criteria. The profiles were: Severe mixed affective (19.9%), Subclinical/euthymic (15.2%), Mild hypomanic/anxious-depressive (21.5%), Moderate anxious-depressive (29.5%), and Severe pure depressive (13.9%). Depressive–anxious dimensions clustered consistently across profiles, whereas activation-related symptoms (HCL-32, MDQ) showed only partial independence. Diagnostic categories, including bipolar disorder, did not map cleanly onto activation-heavy classes; bipolar patients in these classes were mostly in a depressive episode. Clinician-rated episode severity tracked the profiles, sex did not. Limitations The design is cross-sectional and based on self-report instruments from a single private clinic, without measurement-invariance testing or distal-outcome validation; confirmatory factor analysis did not support the multifactor structure of the GAD-7 and HCL-32, so profile stability and clinical utility cannot be established. Conclusions This study identifies distinct transdiagnostic affective profiles within an LMIC outpatient setting, extending prior dimensional findings derived primarily from high-income countries. Their clinical stability and prognostic value require longitudinal and multimodal replication.