Personality and personality disorders.

Reviews the support for the hypothesis that the personality disorders of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III (DSM-III) represent variants of normal personality traits. The focus is, in particular, on the efforts to identify the dimensions of personality that may underlie the personality disorders. The relationship of personality to personality disorders is illustrated using the 5-factor model, conceptual issues in relating normal and abnormal personality traits are discussed, and methodological issues that should be addressed in future research are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality, temperament, and character dimensions and the DSM-IV personality disorders in substance abusers.

The authors evaluated the relationship between P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae's (1992) NEO 5-factor model, C. R. Cloninger's (1993) 7-factor Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and the American Psychiatric Association's (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., personality disorders in 370 inpatient and outpatient alcohol, cocaine, and opiate abusers. NEO Neuroticism was associated with many disorders, and different patterns for Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion emerged for the different disorders. Several TCI scales were associated with different personality disorders, although not as strongly as the NEO dimensions. Results did not support most predictions made for the TCI. Normal personality dimensions contributed significantly to the prediction of personality disorder severity above and beyond substance abuse and depression symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting individual change in personality disorder features by simultaneous individual change in personality dimensions linked to neurobehavioral systems: The longitudinal study of personality disorders.

Personality disorders (PDs), long thought to be immutable over time, show considerable evidence of individual change and malleability in modern prospective longitudinal studies. The factors responsible for the evident individual change in PDs over time, however, remain essentially unknown. A neurobehavioral model that posits negative emotion (NEM), nonaffective constraint (CON), communal positive emotion (PEM-C), and agentic positive emotion (PEM-A) as important systems underlying PD provides a theoretical basis for investigating predictors of change in PD features over time. Thus, in this study, the authors investigated how individual change in NEM, CON, PEM-C, and PEM-A over time predicted individual change in PD features over time, using longitudinal data on PD assessed by the International Personality Disorders Examination (A. W. Loranger, 1999), as well as data on normal personality features gathered within a 4-year prospective multiwave longitudinal study (N = 250). The authors used the method of latent growth modeling to conduct their analyses. Lower initial levels of PEM-C predicted initial levels of the growth trajectories for those with elevated Cluster A PD features. Elevated NEM, lower CON, and elevated PEM-A initial levels were found to characterize the initial levels of growth trajectories for those with increased Cluster B PD features. Interestingly, subjects with higher initial levels of PEM-A revealed a more rapid rate of change (declining) in Cluster B PD features over time. Elevated NEM and decreased PEM-C initial levels were found to characterize the growth trajectories for subjects with increased Cluster C PD features. The substantive meaning of these results is discussed, and the methodological advantages offered by this statistical approach are also highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence-based assessment of personality disorders.

The purpose of this article is to provide a foundation for the development of evidence-based guidelines for the assessment of personality disorders, focusing in particular on integrated assessment strategies. The general strategy recommended herein is to first administer a self-report inventory to alert oneself to the potential presence of particular maladaptive personality traits followed by a semistructured interview to verify their presence. This strategy is guided by the existing research that suggests particular strengths of self-report inventories and semistructured interviews relative to unstructured clinical interviews. However, the authors also consider research that suggests that further improvements to the existing instruments can be made. The authors emphasize, in particular, a consideration of age of onset, distortions in self-perception and presentation, gender bias, culture and ethnicity, and personality change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verification and extension of a system of personality dimensions.

This study continues a program devoted to the development of a system of factored homogeneous item dimensions (FHIDs) in the area of personality questionnaires. 6 multiple choice items were used for each of 32 personality dimensions and 4 validation scales. These items were dispersed in a questionnaire and administered to 506 volunteer male and female Ss, preponderately college students. 3 factor analyses of items, each with 72 items from 12 of the 36 dimensions, revealed 14 FHIDs for which every item had a loading of .5 or more. Factor analysis of the 36 total FHID score variables plus 9 background data variables resulted in the major personality factors: shyness, dependence, dominance, hostility, and compulsiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of personality disorder and their relationships to the Big Five dimensions of personality.

Researchers have suggested that personality disorders (PDs) could be better understood with a dimensional model than with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III—Revised (DSM-III—R) categorical system. The authors conceptualized PDs as extreme expressions of personality functioning. Dimensional measures of aspects of PD were developed for the present study on the basis of previous factor-analytic investigations. The authors examined the convergence of these measures with P. T. Costa and R. R. McCrae's (1990) "Big Five" factors in a sample of 300 general-population Ss. Principal-components analysis yielded an interpretable 5-factor solution; 4 of these were defined by a Big Five factor. Multiple regression analyses indicated substantial relationships between the Big Five factors and many PD scales. The Neuroticism factor demonstrated the strongest relationships, whereas Openness to Experience showed only modest relationships. The more behavioral aspects of PD were not strongly related to the Big Five factors. Results suggest substantial similarity between the 5 factors and PD measures, although the latter cannot be entirely subsumed by the Big Five model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Genetics of personality disorders: Perspectives from personality and psychopathology research.

Although the field is young, studies pertinent to genetic hypotheses have accumulated for several personality disorders. Genetic links to personality disorders from the domains of normal personality and Axis I disorders are reviewed. Evidence of a link to schizophrenia is clearest for schizotypal and less conclusive for paranoid and schizoid personality disorders. A genetic association between borderline personality disorder and affective disorders has not been clearly supported, but there may be a subtype genetically linked to affective disorders. Evidence of genetic influence is mixed for obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. In general, greater attention to dimensional phenotypic measures and multivariate designs can yield more definitive answers regarding the correct subtyping and probable etiology of personality disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A shaky future for personality disorders.

The major accomplishment of the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual was not in the development of surprising new content but rather in the careful, cautious, and systematic method with which it was constructed. The authors of the forthcoming fifth edition may have reversed the priorities, instead emphasizing radical changes without first conducting careful, systematic, thorough, or objective reviews of the scientific literature. Of particular concern are the proposals to cut half of the diagnoses from the manual, to abandon diagnostic criterion sets, and to include a dimensional model that lacks empirical support, fails to be integrated with normal personality functioning, and will lack official recognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Borderline personality organization and prognosis in eating disorders.

Used interview-based assessment of level of personality organization and confirmed the finding of C. Johnson et al (see record 1991-13161-001) that borderline bulimics had a markedly worse prognosis over 1 yr than bulimics without borderline features. Ss in the present study were 31 eating disorder female patients at 1-yr follow-up. However, after 2 and 3 yrs, no such indications were evident. Instead, the borderline patients (9 Ss) unexpectedly caught up, eliminating the initial advantage held by the neurotics (7 Ss), and after 3 yrs, there were no differences in outcome between the groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional correlates of the different dimensions of schizotypal personality disorder.

Two studies explored which different dimensions of schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) were associated with negative affect, attention to emotions, clarity of emotions, and emotional intensity/instability. Study 1 included 247 college students, and questionnaires were used to measure SPD. Study 2 included 225 community residents, oversampling for individuals with elevated levels of SPD, and semistructured diagnostic interviews were used to measure SPD. In both studies (a) higher levels of negative affect were associated with higher levels of both cognitive-perceptual and interpersonal symptoms, (b) cognitive-perceptual disturbances were associated with greater attention to emotion, whereas interpersonal disturbances were associated with less attention to emotion, and (c) lower levels of emotional clarity were associated with higher levels of suspiciousness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and vocational interests: The relation of Holland's six interest dimensions to five robust dimensions of personality.

Relations between interest-based personality dimensions from J. L. Holland's (1985) theory of vocational personalities and 5 robust factors of personality (R. R. McCrae and O. P. John; see record 1993-01496-001) were examined. Results for 479 male and 246 female US Navy trainees imply that the 6 theoretical scales of the Vocational Preference Inventory and 20 scales of the NEO Personality Inventory share 2–4 significant factors. Social and Enterprising vocational preferences were positively correlated with Extraversion; Investigative and Artistic preferences were positively correlated with Openness; and Conventional preferences were correlated with Conscientiousness. Examinations of correlations for instruments with scales that are assumed to represent facets of 5 general personality factors usually supported these interpretations. Despite their regularity, the vocational–personality correlations were too low to suggest that either form of assessment is a dependable substitute for the other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drug abusers and their clinic-patient counterparts: A comparison of personality dimensions.

Compared 80 multi-drug-habituated patients with a population of outpatients matched for age and sex using the MMPI and the Interpersonal Check List. The drug abusers emerged as significantly more hostile and critical, idealizing the socially undesirable behaviors of distrust and nonconformity and revealing a significant degree of self-deception. Self-perceptions of the 2 groups were similar and reflected a lack of confidence in their own ability to achieve success, but their reactions to these feelings were markedly different. Both groups perceived their parents as strong, self-reliant, and behaving in a socially desirable manner, although mothers of drug abusers were described as lacking warmth and nurturant behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating an alliance-focused treatment for personality disorders.

This paper presents a study with the aim of evaluating the relative efficacy of an alliance-focused treatment, brief relational therapy, in comparison to a short-term dynamic therapy and a cognitive-behavioral therapy on a sample of highly comorbid personality disordered patients. Results indicated that the three treatments were equally effective on standard statistical analyses of change, including those conducted on repeated measures and residual gain scores. Some significant differences were indicated regarding clinically significant change and reliable change, favoring the brief relational and cognitive-behavioral models. There was also a significant difference regarding dropout rates, favoring brief relational therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychotherapy relationship with borderline personality disorders.

Discusses different points of view concerning the psychotherapy relationship with borderline personality disorders from the standpoint of their possible effects on the process and outcome of psychotherapy. The following major positions are reviewed: (a) traditional psychoanalytic position of technical neutrality, (b) reality relationship in which the therapist shares thoughts and feelings with patients, and (c) establishment of a relationship to facilitate gratification of primitive developmental phases. It is proposed that the major position that theorists take in the psychotherapy relationship with borderline personality disorders, especially their handling of the developmental arrest and transference–countertransference issues, differentially affects the patients' personality structure within the context of separation–individuation. A case vignette of a 15-yr-old male is used to demonstrate this point. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-cultural generalizability of personality dimensions: relating indigenous and imported dimensions in two cultures

The cross-cultural generalizability of personality dimensions was investigated by (a) identifying indigenous Philippine dimensions, (b) testing the cross-cultural replicability of the NEO 5-factor model (P. T. Costa & R.R. McCrae, 1992), and (c) relating Philippine and Western dimensions in Philippine and U.S. samples of college students. Filipino self-ratings (N = 536) on indigenous items were factor analyzed, and 6 Philippine dimensions were obtained. Conclusions about the replicability of the 5-factor model in the Philippines (N = 432) depended on whether exploratory, Procrustes, or confirmatory factor methods were used. In regression and joint factor analyses, moderate to strong associations were found between the Philippine dimensions and (a) dimensions from the 5-factor model in both Philippine (N = 387) and U.S. (N = 610) samples, and (b) the Tellegen model (A. Tellegen, 1985; A. Tellegen & N.G. Waller, in press) in a U.S. sample (N = 603).     

A short questionnaire for the measurement of two dimensions of personality.

A 12-item questionnaire measuring neuroticism and extraversion was developed using a sample of 1600 adults equally divided into 8 groups on sex, an age dichotomy, and a social class index. Factor analysis yielded factors identical with those of a previous study. Statistically significant score differences were found on the 3 sampling dimensions, but only the sex differences were important. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analysis of personality measures in terms of basic dimensions of temperament.

Studied 211 college students to explore the heuristic value of a 3-dimensional framework of temperament (trait pleasure; arousability and its converse, screening; and dominance–submissiveness) by analyzing commonly employed measures of personality (e.g., the Eysenck Personality Inventory and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). Regression analyses yielded the following groupings of available measures: exuberant (pleasant, arousable, dominant); anxious (unpleasant, arousable, submissive); relaxed (pleasant, unarousable, dominant); disdainful (unpleasant, unarousable, dominant); dependent (pleasant, arousable, submissive); aggressive (unpleasant, arousable, dominant); docile (pleasant, unarousable, submissive); and depressed (unpleasant, unarousable, submissive). These 8 groups in turn help define 4 additional temperament dimensions (exuberant–depressed, relaxed–anxious, disdainful–dependent, hostile–docile) that are the diagonals of the 3-dimensional temperament space. Of the 8 groups, the last 2 seem underrepresented among commonly used measures of personality for normal populations. Measures of depression are available for clinical populations, but measures of docility (which differs from dependency in terms of arousability) do not seem to be available. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of PTSD and substance use disorders in a longitudinal study of personality disorders.

This study investigated the co-occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUDs) in a sample (N = 668) recruited for personality disorders and followed longitudinally as part of the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study. The study both examined rates of co-occurring disorders at baseline and temporal relationships between PTSD and substance use disorders over 4 years. Subjects with a lifetime history of PTSD at baseline had significantly higher rates of SUDs (both alcohol and drug) than subjects without PTSD. Latent class growth analysis, a relatively novel approach used to analyze trajectories and identify homogeneous subgroups of participant on the basis of probabilities of PTSD and SUD over time, identified 6 classes, which were compared with respect to a set of functioning and personality variables. The most consistent differences were observed between the group that displayed low probabilities of both SUD and PTSD and the group that displayed high probabilities of both. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)