Assessing and interpreting personality change and continuity in patients treated for major depression.

Structural, mean- and individual-level, differential, and ipsative personality continuity were examined in 599 patients treated for major depression assigned to 1 of 6 forms of a 6-month pharmaco-psychotherapy program. Covariation among traits from the Five Factor model remained invariant across treatment, and patients described themselves as slightly more extraverted, open to experience, agreeable and conscientious, and substantially more emotional stable after treatment. Trait changes were only to a small extent explained by changes in depression severity. There was evidence for differential, individual-level, and ipsative stability, with stable personality profiles in terms of shape and to a lesser extent in terms of scatter and elevation. Traits remain relatively stable, except for emotional stability, despite the depressive state and the psychopharmacological interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Continuity and change in personality.

Examines the stability and resistance to change of "cognitive constructions about ourselves and the world" and cognitive styles in problem solving. The mind is presented as creating and maintaining a "perception of continuity even in the face of perpetual observed changes in actual behavior." Questions are raised regarding correlations between new cognitive style measures, IQ (as measured by WISC), and RT. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Narrating personality change.

The present research investigated the longitudinal relations between personality traits and narratives. Specifically, the authors examined how individual differences in 170 college students' narratives of personality change (a) were predicted by personality traits at the beginning of college, (b) related to actual changes and perceived changes in personality traits during college, and (c) related to changes in emotional health during college. Individual differences in narratives of personality trait change told in the 4th year of college fell into 2 dimensions: affective processing, characterized by positive emotions, and exploratory processing, characterized by meaning making and causal processing. Conscientious, open, and extraverted freshmen told exploratory stories of change as seniors. Emotionally healthy freshmen told stories of change that were high in positive affect. Both positive affective and exploratory stories corresponded to change in emotional stability and conscientiousness during college above and beyond the effects of perceived changes in these traits. In addition, both positive affective and exploratory narratives corresponded to increases in emotional health during college independent of the effects of changes in personality traits. These findings improve our understanding of how individuals conceptualize their changing identity over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-perceived personality change in adulthood and aging.

A modified form of the Rokeach Value Survey and developmental and control personality scales from the Personality Research Form were administered to 80 40–55 yr olds and 80 old (mean age 70.3 yrs) Ss. Self-perceived change was examined by varying instructional conditions to include concurrent, prospective, and retrospective self-assessments. Findings replicated the previously documented values transition in females and provided support (in the assessments of middle-aged males) for the predicted sequence in developmental personality scales (C. D. Ryff and P. B. Baltes, see record 1977-10040-001). The control scale outcomes show no self-perceived change in the assessments of either males or females. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ego development and personality change in adulthood.

At age 43, 90 women in a longitudinal study were classified on the basis of J. Loevinger's (J. Loevinger and R. Wessler, 1970) Sentence Completion Test into 3 levels of ego development: self-aware or below, conscientious, and individualistic or above. Retrospective multivariate analyses of variance showed that ego level was associated with differential personality change on scales of the California Psychological Inventory from ages 21–43. In a path analysis, verbal aptitude in high school, psychological mindedness in college, and stimulation of life path between ages 21 and 43 each independently predicted ego level at age 43. Accounts of difficult times that involved construction of new schemas (accommodation rather than assimilation) were associated with high ego level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Congruence of personality and life events in depression.

Consistent with the personality–event congruence hypothesis, highly sociotropic depressed patients (n?=?19) reported more recent negative interpersonal events than negative autonomy events and more negative interpersonal events than did highly autonomous depressed patients (n?=?22), for whom the hypothesis was not supported. There was no evidence of such congruence among nondepressed schizophrenic patients (n?=?44). In a 2nd study, there was significant personality–event congruence in dysphoric students (n?=?26) but not in nondysphoric students (n?=?56). Both the high-sociotropy and high-autonomy dysphoric groups separately yielded nonsignificant trends consistent with congruence. These findings add to the growing support for the importance of the sociotropy construct in depression and weaker support for the autonomy construct or its measurement, and they suggest that the congruence effect does not generalize to all psychopathologies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating societal change in attitude.

Presents a probabilistic response model for assessing attitude data from national surveys. The attendant statistical analysis by generalized least squares adjusts for the heterogeneous variances and covariances characterizing the data in such surveys. The flexibility of this approach in survey analysis is illustrated using attitude data from the Netherlands' Social and Cultural Report 1980. Estimation and testing procedures applied to these data demonstrate sharp shifts during the last decade toward easing social constraints on the feminine role. This illustration is suggestive of the types of lawful relationships that are demonstrable at the societal level of analysis. Other possible applications of the approach are suggested. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early mothering experience and personality change.

This study examined the context of the early mothering experience and how that experience was related to personality change in 48 members of a longitudinal sample of women from age 21 (in 1958 or 1960), before any of them were married, to age 27 (in 1963 or 1964). Early motherhood was analyzed in terms of (a) how positively the woman described her experience and (b) how willing and able she was to maintain the full-time commitment considered necessary in the early 1960s. Path analyses showed that these two dimensions had somewhat different interrelations with mother's personality, the marriage, and husband's personality and participation as a father. However, both dimensions were related to relative increase in ego-resiliency and to relative decrease in feelings of vulnerability between ages 21 and 27, even when family and work variables were taken into account. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping styles predict change in personality disorders

The present follow-up study is the first to investigate whether dispositional coping styles prospectively influence change in the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-II) personality disorders. The sample consisted of 155 psychiatric outpatients who where investigated twice--namely six and seven years after their admission to the clinic. Coping styles prospectively predicted change in most of the MCMI-II personality disorders, whereas sex and age did not affect the outcome. The use of problem-focused coping and the seeking of social support improved the patient levels on the MCMI-II personality disorder scores. Dysfunctional coping styles such as selfdistraction, disengagement, use of alcohol or drugs, and venting of emotions, however, aggravated the patient MCMI-II personality disorders. Furthermore, the effects of coping patterns tended to be specific for single personality disorders.     

The stability of personality traits in individuals with borderline personality disorder.

Although stability and pervasive inflexibility are general criteria for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) personality disorders (PDs), borderline PD (BPD) is characterized by instability in several domains, including interpersonal behavior, affect, and identity. The authors hypothesized that such inconsistencies notable in BPD may relate to instability at the level of the basic personality traits that are associated with this disorder. Five types of personality trait stability across 4 assessments over 6 years were compared for BPD patients (N = 130 at first interval) and patients with other PDs (N = 302). Structural stability did not differ across groups. Differential stability tended to be lower for 5-factor model (FFM) traits in the BPD group, with the strongest and most consistent effects observed for Neuroticism and Conscientiousness. Growth curve models suggested that these 2 traits also showed greater mean-level change, with Neuroticism declining faster and Conscientiousness increasing faster, in the BPD group. The BPD group was further characterized by greater individual-level instability for Neuroticism and Conscientiousness in these models. Finally, the BPD group was less stable in terms of the ipsative configuration of FFM facet-level profiles than was the other PD group over time. Results point to the importance of personality trait instability in characterizing BPD. (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)     

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)     

Self-defeating personality, depression, and pleasure from activities

Prior research has shown people who scored high on a measure of self-defeating personality experienced less pleasure from various activities and accomplishments. The present research replicated the initial study with 55 men and 60 women, while controlling for the effects of depression. Analyses indicated that, while depression and self-defeating personality were related, depression was not the entire answer for why people with self-defeating personality derive less pleasure from activities.     

Malevolent object representations in borderline personality disorder and major depression.

To study malevolent representations, earliest memories were reliably coded on scales of affect tone. Ss were diagnosed with borderline personality disorder: 31 without and 30 with concurrent major depression. Nonborderline comparison Ss had either major depressive disorder (n?=?26) or no psychiatric diagnosis (n?=?30). Borderline Ss were discriminated from comparison Ss by their more malevolent representations; they more frequently produced memories involving deliberate injury, and they portrayed potential helpers as less helpful. Results suggest the diagnostic significance of malevolent representations, which need to be explained by any theory of borderline personality disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal stability of personality by questionnaire.

The lack of a summary table or normative reliabilities for self-report inventories prompted the present compendium of test–retest reliabilities of several questionnaires that encompass a range of ages and instruments and differ in construction method and number of items/scale. The tests studied were the SVIB, EPPS, High School Personality Questionnaire, 16 PF, California Psychological Inventory, and MMPI. Samples varied in size, sex, and occupation. Findings indicate that tests of general personality had a similar pattern of decline in reliability over time and that homogeneous scales provided greater stability/item. When measured by occupational interest items, similar constructs had greater stability. In general, group profiles remained the same even over long periods, despite considerable reordering of individuals on any trait over time. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moderated analyses of longitudinal personality stability.

Private self-consciousness, personal agency, self-monitoring, and Openness to Experience were examined as possible moderators of differential stability of personality. Self-reports and observer ratings on the NEO Personality Inventory from 2 longitudinal studies were reanalyzed using moderated multiple regression; no consistent moderator effects were found. Furthermore, analyses of raw change and individual stability scores across observers failed to find significant agreement. In adults, changes in personality scores across occasions are apparently due chiefly to error of measurement, and subsets of individuals showing true changes cannot be reliably identified. It is concluded that stable individual differences in basic dimensions are a universal feature of adult personality. Future research on moderators of stability might be better focused on changes in attitudes, habits, roles, and relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The stability of Guilford-Zimmerman personality measures.

In comparing performance on the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey of the same group of females over a period of time, it was found that the inventory measures "relatively persistent attributes of the persons tested." The N was 96 the 1st time and 49 the 2nd time. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facilitating personality change with audiovisual self-confrontation and interviews.

Conducted 2 studies, each of which achieved personality change with both audiovisual self-confrontation and supportive, nondirective interviews. Exp I, with 21 undergraduates, increased Eriksonian identity achievement. Exp II, with 100 undergraduates, changed a variable that moderated effects in Exp I: S. Tomkin's humanistic vs normative orientation. Exp II also suggests that differences between interviews with and without audiovisual self-confrontation afterwards are less important than Ss' orientation toward using information generated in either case. Given a humanistic orientation, however, the special information generated by audiovisual self-confrontation apparently becomes less ambiguous and more meaningful. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental change and stability in adolescent self-concept.

This research challenges the traditional conception of adolescence as a time of stress and instability in self-concept. Using multiple measures of self-concept with a longitudinal sample, three components of self-concept are distinguished: the experienced self, the presented self, and self-feelings. Feelings about the self are relatively stable from moment to moment and from year to year. There are apparently three routes through the adolescent years: stable, baseline, and oscillating. For most study participants, level of self-esteem increased gradually and only slightly from 7th to 10th grade. This study is unique because of its methodology (longitudinal and multiple measures) and its counter-traditional characterization of adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enduringness and change in creative personality and the prediction of occupational creativity

Participants in a longitudinal study of women's adult development were scored at midlife on the Occupational Creativity Scale (OCS), which draws on J. L. Holland's (1985) model of vocational environments in the assessment of participants' creative achievement. College measures of cognitive-affective style and career aspirations predicted OCS scores at age 52, and consistency of creative temperament (H. G. Gough, 1992), motivation, and overall attributes of creative personality were demonstrated with both self-report and observer data over several times of testing. However, there was change along with this enduringness: Large fluctuations in creative temperament over one period of life or another were common in individuals, and OCS scores were associated with an increase in level of effective functioning over 30 years.