Comparison of the MMPI-2 Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5), the NEO-PI, and the NEO-PI—R.

This study examined relations between Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5; A. R. Harkness, J. L. McNulty, & Y. S. Ben-Porath, 1995), NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI; P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1985), and the revised NEO-PI (NEO-PI—R; P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992) scores in community (N?=?170) and clinical (N?=?57) samples. In the clinical sample, the temporal stability of the scales and their associations with personality disorder symptom counts were also assessed. Correlations between the two instruments demonstrated meaningful relations between the two sets of constructs in both samples. Both instruments showed substantial stability over 6 months, and both were significant and substantial predictors of symptom counts for most personality disorders. The data support the reinterpretation of personality disorders in terms of underlying dimensions of personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal stability and validity of two personality disorder inventories.

The 3-mo temporal stability of self-report personality disorder scores from the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire—Revised (PDQ—R; S. Hyler and R. Rieder, 1987) and the MMPI-Personality Disorder scales (MMPI-PD; L. Morey, M. Waugh, and R. Blashfield, 1985) was examined in a sample of 51 psychiatric outpatients. In addition, the convergent and discriminant validity of the scales from the PDQ—R and MMPI-PD were also assessed. Results indicate that PDQ—R and MMPI-PD scores were relatively stable over time, but support was obtained for the validity of only several of the personality disorder scales. Issues concerning the overlap of personality disorders as well as the lack of a "gold standard" to be used for establishing the validity of personality disorder instruments are discussed. Future research aimed at combining multiple forms of Axis II assessment (e.g., self-report, interview, informant) is recommended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inferential structure of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory: Construct validity of the Big Four personality clusters.

Four studies investigated the dimensionality of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992). In Study 1, four inferential dimensions and four clusters represented the NEO-FFI when 114 undergraduates freely sorted items into categories. Construct validity for four item-clusters derived from the inferential space was obtained in Study 2 based on self-report with 304 undergraduates. Study 3 validated these inferential clusters using self and peer reports for 420 undergraduates. Study 4 validated the cluster scales for predicting quality of life and significant social and cultural behaviours for 110 undergraduates. Implications for implicit personality theory, the number of dimensions issue in personality, and test construction are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correspondence between self-report and interview-based assessments of antisocial personality disorder.

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is associated with suicide, violence, and risk-taking behavior and can slow response to first-line treatment for Axis I disorders. ASPD may be assessed infrequently because few efficient diagnostic tools are available. This study evaluated 2 promising self-report measures for assessing ASPD--the ASPD scale of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4 (PDQ-4; S. E. Hyler, 1994) and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; L. Morey, 1991, 2007)--as well as the ASPD module of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II (SCID-II; M. B. First, R. L. Spitzer, M. Gibbon, J. B. W. Williams, & L. S. Benjamin, 1997). The measures were administered to 1,345 offenders in court-mandated residential substance abuse treatment programs and prisons. PDQ-4 and PAI scores related strongly to SCID-II symptom counts (rs = .67 and .51, respectively), indicating these measures convey useful clinical information about the severity of offenders' ASPD pathology. The dimensional association between the measures was relatively invariant across gender, race, and site, although differences in mean scores were observed. Levels of agreement of the SCID-II with the PDQ-4 (κ = .31) and PAI (κ = .32) in classifying participants as ASPD was limited. Alternative thresholds for both self-report measures were identified and cross-validated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Specifying the impulsivity of female inmates with borderline personality disorder.

Impulsivity is regarded as a core feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD; M. C. Zanarini, J. G. Gunderson, & F. R. Frankenburg, 1989) despite lack of evidence from laboratory research (D. M. Dougherty, J. M Bjork, H. C. G. Huckabee, F. G. Moeller, & A. C. Swann, 1999). This study examined impulsivity in incarcerated women with BPD using a passive avoidance task (J. P. Newman & W. A. Schmitt, 1998) and the Impulsiveness-Monotony Avoidance-Detachment inventory (IMD; D. Schalling, 1978). As predicted, incarcerated women diagnosed with BPD committed more passive avoidance errors and reported more impulsivity on the IMI than controls. These findings identify disinhibition as a potentially important component of the impulsivity that characterizes BPD. Specifying the impulsive behavior identified with BPD may contribute to the effective assessment and management of the disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trait self and true self: Cross-role variation in the Big-Five personality traits and its relations with psychological authenticity and subjective well-being.

In 2 studies, college students evidenced differing levels of the "Big-Five" traits in different roles, supporting social-contextualist assumptions regarding trait expression. Supporting organismic theories of personality, within-subject variations in the Big Five were predictable from variations in the degree of psychological authenticity felt in different roles. In addition, two concepts of self-integration or true selfhood were examined: 1 based on high consistency of trait profiles across roles (i.e., low-self-concept differentiation; E. M. Donahue, R. W. Robins, B. W. Roberts, & O. P. John, 1993) and 1 based on high mean levels of authenticity felt across roles. The 2 self-integration measures were found to be independent predictors of psychological and physical well-being indicating that both self-consistency and psychological authenticity are vital for organized functioning and health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of NEO PI-R gender norms on the assessment of personality disorder profiles.

Many personality assessment inventories provide gender-specific norms to allow comparison of an individual's standing relative to others of the same gender. In some cases, this means that an identical raw score produces standardized scores that differ notably depending on whether the respondent is male or female. Thus, an important question is whether unisex-normed scores or gender-normed scores more validly assess personality. Gender-normed and unisex-normed scores from the NEO Personality Inventory—Revised (P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992) were examined in a large clinical sample, using 2 measures of personality disorder as validating criteria. Gender-normed scores did not obtain significantly higher correlations. In fact, for 2 personality disorders (antisocial and narcissistic), gender-normed scores yielded significantly lower correlations, suggesting that personality disorder pathology relates most closely to one's absolute level of a personality trait, rather than one's standing relative to others of the same gender. Ramifications of this finding for personality research and clinical assessment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical assessment of affective instability: Comparing EMA indices, questionnaire reports, and retrospective recall.

Traditional self-report measures of psychopathology may be influenced by a variety of recall biases. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) reduces these biases by assessing individuals’ experiences as they occur in their natural environments. This study examines the discrepancy between trait questionnaire, retrospective report, and EMA measures of affective instability in psychiatric outpatients either with a borderline personality diagnosis (n = 58) or with a current episode of major depressive disorder or dysthymia (n = 42). The authors examined the agreement of 3 trait measures of affective instability—the Affective Instability subscale of the Personality Assessment Inventory–Borderline Features scale (L. C. Morey, 1991), the Affect Intensity Measure (R. J. Larsen, E. Diener, & R. Emmons, 1986), and the Affect Lability Scales (P. D. Harvey, B. R. Greenberg, & M. R. Serper, 1989)—and 1 retrospective mood recall task with EMA indices of mood and mood instability. Results indicate only modest to moderate agreement between momentary and questionnaire assessments of trait affective instability; agreement between recalled mood changes and EMA indices was poor. Implications for clinical research and practice and possible applications of EMA methodology are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of temporal stability and cross-situational consistency in personality: Comment on the Mischel-Epstein debate.

Suggests that in W. Mischel and P. K. Peake's (see record 1983-05642-001) treatment of the problem of personality consistency, the statistical estimates of the temporal and situational dimensions were confounded, resulting in a serious underestimation of the cross-situational consistency of behavior. This work and the personality consistency studies of H. Hartshorne and M. A. May (1928), T. M. Newcomb (1929), G. W. Allport and P. E. Vernon (1933), and G. J. Dudycha (1936), are reanalyzed to provide comparable estimates for the temporal and cross-situational dimensions. When properly operationalized, temporal stability and cross-situational consistency are characterized by roughly similar levels of correlation. For both dimensions, correlations among particular instances average in the .2–.3 range, and aggregate coefficients are generally in the .6–.9 range. A naturalistic Situation?×?Occasion matrix is proposed as a framework for future studies of personality consistency. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depressive personality characteristics: State dependent concomitants of depressive disorder and traits independent of current depression.

Depressive personality disorder (DPD) characteristics may reflect both state dependent concomitants and traits independent of current depression. In all, 30 clinically, 30 formerly, and 30 never depressed participants were given the Diagnostic Interview for Depressive Personality (J. G. Gunderson, K. A. Phillips, J. Triebwasser, & R. M. A. Hirschfeld, 1994). Negative reactivity, remorsefulness, a limited capacity for fun, gloominess, pessimism, difficulty being critical or angry, unassertiveness, self-denial, and seriousness differentiated depressed and nondepressed participants, indicating that they are primarily concomitants of depression. Self-criticalness differentiated formerly from never depressed participants after subclinical symptoms were controlled, suggesting that it is a trait independent of current depression. Low self-esteem, feeling burdened, and counterdependency manifested both state and trait components. If DPD is placed on Axis II, it should be defined by traits at least partly independent of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Magical ideation and social anhedonia as predictors of psychosis proneness: a partial replication

The authors compared college students identified by high scores on the Magical Ideation Scale (M. Eckblad & L. J. Chapman, 1983) and the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (MagSoc; n = 28; M. Eckblad, L. J. Chapman, J. P. Chapman, & M. Mishlove, 1982) with control participants (n = 20) at a 10-year follow-up assessment in an attempt to replicate L. J. Chapman, J. P. Chapman, T. R. Kwapil, M. Eckblad, and M. C. Zinser's (1994) report of heightened psychosis proneness in MagSoc individuals. The MagSoc group exceeded the control group on severity of psychotic-like experiences; ratings of schizotypal, paranoid, and borderline personality disorder symptoms; and rates of mood and substance use disorders. Two of the MagSoc participants but none of the control participants developed psychosis during the follow-up period (a nonsignificant difference). Consistent with L. J. Chapman et al.'s findings, the groups did not differ on rates of personality disorders or relatives with psychosis.     

More or less "me" in past, present, and future: Perceived lifetime personality during adulthood.

This article examines whether adults perceive different levels of their own personality traits at different target ages, and what the differences are. Using abbreviated versions of assessments of the 5-factor model of personality (NEO-FFI, P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1989) and of well-being (C. D. Ryff, 1989), 398 heterogeneous participants (age 26–64) described their own personality (a) in the present, (b) when they were 20–25 years old, (c) when they will be 65–70 years old, and (d) in the ideal. Participants' responses across the 3 target ages indicated moderate change across adulthood and more variability than is typically observed in longitudinal studies of adult personality development. Anticipated late adulthood personality contained more losses than gains, although all target ages showed some gains. Participants' perceptions were characterized by early adulthood exploration, middle adulthood productivity, and later adulthood comfortableness. Additionally, older adults reported slightly lower ideals but in other ways responded very similarly to younger and middle-aged adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Borderline personality disorder and personality traits: A comparison of SCID-II BPD and NEO-PI.

62 hospitalized female patients (aged 18–43 yrs) with a clinical diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD) were assessed for Axis II disorders by the SCID-II and for personality traits with the NEO-Personality Inventory (NEO-PI). The predominant personality trait profile for these patients involved a very high Neuroticism score and low Agreeableness score. Five of the 8 BPD criteria had significant correlations with NEO-PI scales. The combination of BPD severity and personality traits as measured on the NEO-PI had a significant relationship to the patients' social adjustment. The utility of gathering information on both borderline personality pathology and personality traits is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reduced specificity of autobiographical memory in Cluster C personality disorders and the role of depression, worry, and experiential avoidance.

The study objective was to investigate whether, compared with nonclinical controls, participants with an avoidant, dependent, or obsessive–compulsive Cluster C personality disorder (PD) manifested reduced levels of memory specificity and whether the association of Cluster C PDs with memory specificity is mediated by repetitive negative thoughts and experiential avoidance. The Autobiographical Memory Test (R. J. McNally, N. B. Lasko, M. L. Macklin, & R. K. Pitman, 1995) was administered along with self-report measures (translated into Dutch) for repetitive, uncontrollable, and negative thinking in the form of worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire; T. J. Meyer, M. L. Miller, R. L. Metzger, & T. D. Borkovec, 1990) and experiential avoidance (Acceptance and Action Questionnaire; S. C. Hayes et al., 2004) to 294 clinical participants diagnosed with Axis I disorders (assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM–IV Axis I Disorders [SCID-I]; M. B. First, R. L. Spitzer, M. Gibbon, & J. B. W. Williams, 1994) and Axis II disorders (assessed with the SCID-II; M. B. First, R. L. Spitzer, M. Gibbon, & J. B. W. Williams, 1997)—202 with avoidant, 49 with dependent, and 120 with obsessive–compulsive PD—and to 108 matched nonclinical controls. Participants with a Cluster C PD showed lower levels of memory specificity than did nonclinical controls. Depression and worry mediated the effect of Cluster C PDs on memory specificity. Besides depression severity, repetitive, uncontrollable, and negative thinking may constitute a general mechanism mediating the association of various Axis I and II disorders with memory specificity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender bias in diagnostic criteria for personality disorders: An item response theory analysis.

The authors examined gender bias in the diagnostic criteria for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text revision; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) personality disorders. Participants (N=599) were selected from 2 large, nonclinical samples on the basis of information from self-report questionnaires and peer nominations that suggested the presence of personality pathology. All were interviewed with the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality (B. Pfohl, N. Blum, & M. Zimmerman, 1997). Using item response theory methods, the authors compared data from 315 men and 284 women, searching for evidence of differential item functioning in the diagnostic features of 10 personality disorder categories. Results indicated significant but moderate measurement bias pertaining to gender for 6 specific criteria. In other words, men and women with equivalent levels of pathology endorsed the items at different rates. For 1 paranoid personality disorder criterion and 3 antisocial criteria, men were more likely to endorse the biased items. For 2 schizoid personality disorder criteria, women were more likely to endorse the biased items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Shedler and Westen Assessment Procedure from the perspective of general personality structure.

The Shedler and Westen Assessment Procedure (SWAP-200; J. Shedler & D. Westen, 2004) has received increasing support as a dimensional model of personality pathology. However, only 1 prior study has related empirically the SWAP-200 with any other measure of personality or personality disorder. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether the SWAP-200 personality disorder and personality dimension scales relate meaningfully to the domains and facets of the five-factor model (FFM; J. M. Digman, 1990) of general personality structure. Individuals (n = 94) with significant personality pathology were described on instruments of general personality and personality pathology. The results of the current study suggest that most of the SWAP-200 personality and personality disorder scales relate to the domains and facets of the FFM in a manner consistent with FFM theory and previous FFM personality disorder research. Inconsistent findings and limitations are discussed, along with suggestions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are personality factors raters' conceptual factors?

3 separate factor-analytic studies were conducted to compare personality factors with semantic factors using 76 trait-rating scales. In 1 study raters rated real persons using the scales, in another stereotype persons. In the third study raters rated the "meaning" of select trait words on the trait-rating scales. A comparison of factors found in the 3 studies using an index of factor similarity showed that 5 of 11 factors found for ratings of real persons were congruent with 5 of 10 factors found for the ratings of stereotype persons, while the same 5 in these 2 studies were congruent with 4 of 9 factors found for ratings of the meaning of select trait words. These results suggested that "personality factors" based upon trait ratings of persons can be interpreted as distinct concepts implied by trait words rather than internal structural features of persons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers.

Two data sources—self reports and peer ratings—and two instruments—adjective factors and questionnaire scales—were used to assess the five-factor model of personality. As in a previous study of self-reports (McCrae & Costa, 1985b), adjective factors of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness–antagonism, and conscientiousness–undirectedness were identified in an analysis of 738 peer ratings of 275 adult subjects. Intraclass correlations among raters, ranging from .30 to .65, and correlations between mean peer ratings and self-reports, from .25 to .62, showed substantial cross-observer agreement on all five adjective factors. Similar results were seen in analyses of scales from the NEO Personality Inventory. Items from the adjective factors were used as guides in a discussion of the nature of the five factors. These data reinforce recent appeals for the adoption of the five-factor model in personality research and assessment. (69 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)