Connecting loneliness with pathological personality traits: Evidence for genetic and environmental mediation from a study of older twins.

Loneliness has broad public health importance, especially in older adulthood, and there is some evidence suggesting it is associated with several personality disorders (PDs). The etiology of these PD-loneliness associations, however, has rarely been studied, especially in the context of the maladaptive traits of the DSM-5 alternative model of personality disorder (AMPD). To address these limitations, we estimated phenotypic, genetic, and unique environmental associations between loneliness and maladaptive personality traits in a sample of older adults from the Minnesota Twin Registry (n = 1,356, Mage = 70.4). Loneliness was moderately to strongly associated with each of the AMPD domains of negative affect, detachment, antagonism, disinhibition, and psychoticism (r = .22-.58), with evidence of both genetic (rg = .45-.75) and unique environmental (re = .10-.48) influences explaining the associations to varying degrees. We argue that loneliness may be an underappreciated concomitant of personality pathology, with PD traits perhaps underlying its development. Indeed, these findings suggest that loneliness may be a manifestation of the genetic and environmental forces that also lead to pathological personality variation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The association between personality, relationship satisfaction, and psychopathology in a three-wave, longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to better understand the role of personality as it relates to psychopathology, with satisfaction as a mediating variable. BACKGROUND: Personality is an important determinant of many life outcomes including relationship satisfaction and psychopathology. Previous work has demonstrated that broad domains of normal personality have low-to-moderate associations with various forms of psychopathology. Research has primarily focused on mechanisms that might explain how common personality traits put one at risk for common forms of psychopathology; this work builds upon existing work in examining relationship satisfaction as one possible mechanism. No study to date has examined whether relationship satisfaction mediates the connection between personality and psychopathology. METHOD: We utilized multilevel modeling in a longitudinal sample of 100 newlywed couples to test the hypothesis that major domains of personality (positive temperament, negative temperament, disinhibition) have a significant effect on relationship satisfaction which, in turn, is significantly associated with internalizing and externalizing forms of psychopathology. RESULTS: We found no evidence for the mediating role of relationship satisfaction; however, in exploratory analyses, we did find evidence for both between-person and within-person effects of personality on psychopathology. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the role of personality as an important factor in consideration of dyadic processes, though not entirely deterministic for downstream functioning. Thus, separate factors in addition to personality may be worth examining in consideration of how low relationship satisfaction may be associated with psychopathology.

Late Onset Personality Disorders in Mid-Life and Older Adults.

There is little research on personality disorder (PD) onset in older age. Many studies have shown that normative personality traits change across the life span, even into later life. This study aimed to investigate the onset of PDs in later adulthood (>age 55), and the possible influence of major life events on predicting this late onset. The current analysis was conducted with data from the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network (SPAN). Structured diagnostic interviews were administered three times over five years. Logistic regressions were conducted predicting late onset PD from baseline to FU5 and from FU5 to FU10 as a function of each major life event. 75 PD onsets occurred from baseline to FU5, and 39 PD onsets occurred from FU5 to FU10. Personal illness predicted the onset of PDs from FU5 to FU10.

Risky Sexual Behaviors as a Transaction of Individual Differences and Situational Context.

Risky sexual behaviors (RSBs) incur large societal and personal costs. Despite widespread prevention efforts, RSBs and associated consequences (e.g., sexually transmitted infections) continue to rise. A proliferation of research has emerged on situational (e.g., alcohol use) and individual difference (e.g., impulsivity) factors to explain this rise, but these approaches assume an unrealistically static mechanism underlying RSB. Because this prior research has resulted in few compelling effects, we sought to innovate by examining the interaction of situation and individual differences in explaining RSBs. A large sample (N = 105) completed baseline reports of psychopathology and 30 daily diary reports of RSBs and associated contexts. These data were submitted to multilevel models including cross-level interactions to test a person-by-situation conceptualization of RSBs. Results suggested that RSBs are most strongly predicted from interactions of person- and situation-level factors in both protective and facilitative directions. These interactions outnumbered main effects and commonly included partner commitment as a central mechanism. These results point to theoretical and clinical gaps in preventing RSB and urge a departure from prior ways of conceptualizing sexual risk as a static outcome.

Social anhedonia, communication, and marital satisfaction in newlywed couples.

OBJECTIVE: Social anhedonia is associated with disinterest in social interactions and poor relationship functioning, yet little is known about the specific mechanisms underlying associations between social anhedonia and romantic relationship behaviors and satisfaction. We examined the links between social anhedonia, perceptions of conflict communication patterns, and marital satisfaction. METHOD: The current research examined the role of social anhedonia on marital quality and functioning longitudinally across a year in a sample of 100 newlywed couples using an actor-partner interdependence framework. RESULTS: Social anhedonia was negatively associated with own and partner's marital satisfaction. It was also negatively associated with constructive communication and positively associated with destructive communication. Furthermore, cross-sectional mediation analyses showed that communication patterns mediated the social anhedonia-satisfaction link. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these findings suggest that social anhedonia is likely to lead to lower marital satisfaction, partly through its effect on communication between partners.

Comparing Phenotypic, Genetic, and Environmental Associations between Personality and Loneliness.

As a strong risk factor for mortality, individual differences in loneliness are of clear public health significance. Four of the Big Five traits have emerged as cross-sectional correlates, but the etiology of these links is unclear, as are relations with more specific personality facets. Thus, we estimated phenotypic, genetic, and environmental associations between loneliness and both broader and narrower personality dimensions. Traits that indexed Negative Emotionality (e.g., Neuroticism, Stress Reactivity, Alienation) and low Positive Emotionality (e.g., low Extraversion, low Well-Being) had the strongest associations with loneliness, though low Conscientiousness, low Agreeableness, and high Aggression were also implicated. These associations were explained by both genetic (0.30<|rg|<0.80) and unique environmental (0.10<|re|<0.35) influences, consistent with an etiology of loneliness involving several personality domains.

Insecure attachment and personality pathology: Concurrent assessment and longitudinal modeling.

Insecure attachment and personality pathology are parallel frameworks for representing interpersonal dysfunction. Although research to date has revealed strong bivariate associations between these constructs, the current state of the science is nonspecific and leaves piecemeal guidance for clinical and empirical efforts. The goal of the present study was to determine the magnitude of the associations between attachment and personality pathology across two conceptualizations of maladaptivity and across three waves of time, thereby satisfying repeated calls for empirical innovation in this area. A sample of newlywed heterosexual couples (N = 202 individuals) completed longitudinal assessments of personality pathology and romantic attachment insecurity. Results suggested that the covariation of attachment and personality pathology may be marred by measurement problems related to distress saturation in attachment and personality disorder instruments. Latent curve modeling further suggested that attachment insecurity and personality disorders fluctuate concurrently within persons. Future research should work toward validating unity models of attachment and personality pathology, correcting key measures, and documenting specific mechanisms of association between these constructs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Cultural evolution and behavior genetic modeling: The long view of time.

We advocate for an integrative long-term perspective on time, noting that culture changes on timescales amenable to behavioral genetic study with appropriate design and modeling extensions. We note the need for replications of behavioral genetic studies to examine model invariance across long-term timescales, which would afford examination of specified as well as unspecified cultural moderators of behavioral genetic effects.

Childhood Maltreatment, Personality Pathology, and Intimate Partner Aggression.

The goal of the current study was to examine the early childhood roots of adult personality pathology and intimate partner aggression in later life. Childhood maltreatment is associated with perpetration of intimate partner aggression (IPA) in adulthood, although the effect is generally only small to moderate in size. Childhood maltreatment is also linked with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) personality disorders (PDs) in adulthood, which in turn are correlated with IPA in adult romantic relationships. This suggests that one pathway by which childhood maltreatment leads to adult IPA is through maladaptive personality patterns. In the current analyses, data from 495 older, racially diverse adults and their romantic partners recruited from the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network (SPAN) study were used to examine whether childhood maltreatment may impact adult IPA through adult personality pathology. Findings from structural equation modeling demonstrated that for most of the 10 DSM-5 PD (Section II) constructs, there was a significant indirect effect from childhood maltreatment to IPA in later life through a latent variable of personality pathology. Our findings confirm that IPA does occur among romantic partners in later life, that it is robustly associated with personality pathology traits in later life, and that personality pathology in later life may have its roots in early neglect and maltreatment.

A Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) Primer for Mental Health Researchers.

Mental health research is at an important crossroads as the field seeks more reliable and valid phenotypes to study. Dimensional approaches to quantifying mental illness operate outside the confines of traditional categorical diagnoses, and they are gaining traction as a way to advance research on the causes and consequences of mental illness. The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is a leading dimensional research paradigm that synthesizes decades of data on the major dimensions of psychological disorders. In this article, we demonstrate how to use the HiTOP model to formulate and test research questions through a series of tutorials. To boost accessibility, data and annotated code for each tutorial are included at OSF (https://osf.io/8myzw). After presenting the tutorials, we outline how investigators can use these ideas and tools to generate new insights in their own substantive research programs.

Validity and utility of Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP): III. Emotional dysfunction superspectrum.

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is a quantitative nosological system that addresses shortcomings of traditional mental disorder diagnoses, including arbitrary boundaries between psychopathology and normality, frequent disorder co-occurrence, substantial heterogeneity within disorders, and diagnostic unreliability over time and across clinicians. This paper reviews evidence on the validity and utility of the internalizing and somatoform spectra of HiTOP, which together provide support for an emotional dysfunction superspectrum. These spectra are composed of homogeneous symptom and maladaptive trait dimensions currently subsumed within multiple diagnostic classes, including depressive, anxiety, trauma-related, eating, bipolar, and somatic symptom disorders, as well as sexual dysfunction and aspects of personality disorders. Dimensions falling within the emotional dysfunction superspectrum are broadly linked to individual differences in negative affect/neuroticism. Extensive evidence establishes that dimensions falling within the superspectrum share genetic diatheses, environmental risk factors, cognitive and affective difficulties, neural substrates and biomarkers, childhood temperamental antecedents, and treatment response. The structure of these validators mirrors the quantitative structure of the superspectrum, with some correlates more specific to internalizing or somatoform conditions, and others common to both, thereby underlining the hierarchical structure of the domain. Compared to traditional diagnoses, the internalizing and somatoform spectra demonstrated substantially improved utility: greater reliability, larger explanatory and predictive power, and greater clinical applicability. Validated measures are currently available to implement the HiTOP system in practice, which can make diagnostic classification more useful, both in research and in the clinic.

The distinction between symptoms and traits in the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP).

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is an empirically and quantitatively derived dimensional classification system designed to describe the features of psychopathology and, ultimately, to replace categorical nosologies. Among the constructs that HiTOP organizes are "symptom components" and "maladaptive traits," but past HiTOP publications have not fully explicated the distinction between symptoms and traits. We propose working definitions of symptoms and traits and explore challenges, exceptions, and remaining questions. Specifically, we propose that the only systematic difference between symptoms and traits in HiTOP is one of time frame. Maladaptive traits are dispositional constructs that describe persistent tendencies to manifest features of psychopathology, whereas symptoms are features of psychopathology as they are manifest during any specific time period (from moments to days to months). This has the consequence that almost every HiTOP dimension, at any level of the hierarchy, can be assessed as either a trait or a symptom dimension, by adjusting the framing of the assessment. We discuss the implications of these definitions for causal models of the relations between symptoms and traits and for distinctions between psychopathology, normal personality variation, and dysfunction.

Borderline Personality Traits and Romantic Relationship Dissolution.

Many studies have found that borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with romantic relationship instability, with relationship dissolution being a recurring theme. Scant research, however, has examined the dissolution strategies and post-breakup outcomes for individuals with elevated levels of borderline traits. Findings from two studies revealed that there was an association between BPD criteria and tendency to employ less adaptive dissolution strategies when terminating a relationship. Furthermore, elevated levels of BPD traits were associated with less self-concept clarity and more unwanted pursuit of ex-partners. These findings both provide insight into how individuals with BPD traits experience relationship dissolution and suggest possible factors underlying the unstable relationship processes typically associated with borderline traits.

Les progrès dans la réalisation de la classification quantitative de la psychopathologie.

Shortcomings of approaches to classifying psychopathology based on expert consensus have given rise to contemporary efforts to classify psychopathology quantitatively. In this paper, we review progress in achieving a quantitative and empirical classification of psychopathology. A substantial empirical literature indicates that psychopathology is generally more dimensional than categorical. When the discreteness versus continuity of psychopathology is treated as a research question, as opposed to being decided as a matter of tradition, the evidence clearly supports the hypothesis of continuity. In addition, a related body of literature shows how psychopathology dimensions can be arranged in a hierarchy, ranging from very broad "spectrum level" dimensions, to specific and narrow clusters of symptoms. In this way, a quantitative approach solves the "problem of comorbidity" by explicitly modeling patterns of co-occurrence among signs and symptoms within a detailed and variegated hierarchy of dimensional concepts with direct clinical utility. Indeed, extensive evidence pertaining to the dimensional and hierarchical structure of psychopathology has led to the formation of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) Consortium. This is a group of 70 investigators working together to study empirical classification of psychopathology. In this paper, we describe the aims and current foci of the HiTOP Consortium. These aims pertain to continued research on the empirical organization of psychopathology; the connection between personality and psychopathology; the utility of empirically based psychopathology constructs in both research and the clinic; and the development of novel and comprehensive models and corresponding assessment instruments for psychopathology constructs derived from an empirical approach.

"Pathological personality, relationship satisfaction, and intimate partner aggression: Analyses using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, alternative model of personality disorder traits": Correction.

Reports an error in "Pathological personality, relationship satisfaction, and intimate partner aggression: Analyses using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, alternative model of personality disorder traits" by Madison S. Smith, Amber M. Jarnecke and Susan C. South (Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 2020[Nov], Vol 11[6], 398-408). In the original article, there were wording errors in the Results section. In the last sentence of the "Antagonism" section under the "Actor-Partner Analyses of Satisfaction and IPA" heading, the PID-5-IRF actor effect was described as "individuals whose partners rate them as more antagonistic are more likely to perpetrate psychological IPA." However, the PID-5-IRF actor effect should have been described as "individuals who rate their partners as more antagonistic are more likely to perpetrate psychological IPA." The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2020-26463-001). Personality disorders (PDs) have been linked to lower levels of marital satisfaction and the perpetration of intimate partner aggression (IPA). Much of this work has used self-reports of PD symptoms conceptualized via the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder's (DSM) categorical approach. The current study adds to the literature by examining how marital satisfaction and IPA are associated with a dimensional assessment of PDs, specifically by conceptualizing PDs using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Section III alternative model of personality disorder. By collecting data from both partners in a sample of newlywed couples, we also leverage PD trait agreement between (a) both partner's own self-reports (similarity), (b) self- and spouse report (accuracy), and (c) self and ratings of partner (perceptual similarity), to examine couple-level predictors of relationship well-being (i.e., satisfaction and psychological/physical IPA). Data were drawn from a sample of 101 newly married couples who participated in baseline and follow-up data collection over a period of 12 months. Actor-partner interdependence analyses revealed significant self-report actor and partner effects on marital satisfaction and psychological and physical IPA; for spouse report, actor effects were more consistent than partner reports. Agreement was moderate for both similarity and accuracy, but greater agreement was related to greater relationship satisfaction, particularly at later time points. Thus, although reports of elevated personality pathology are detrimental to marital functioning, spousal agreement may protect against these effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Validity and utility of Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP): II. Externalizing superspectrum.

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is an empirical effort to address limitations of traditional mental disorder diagnoses. These include arbitrary boundaries between disorder and normality, disorder co-occurrence in the modal case, heterogeneity of presentation within dis-orders, and instability of diagnosis within patients. This paper reviews the evidence on the validity and utility of the disinhibited externalizing and antagonistic externalizing spectra of HiTOP, which together constitute a broad externalizing superspectrum. These spectra are composed of elements subsumed within a variety of mental disorders described in recent DSM nosologies, including most notably substance use disorders and "Cluster B" personality disorders. The externalizing superspectrum ranges from normative levels of impulse control and self-assertion, to maladaptive disinhibition and antagonism, to extensive polysubstance involvement and personality psychopathology. A rich literature supports the validity of the externalizing superspectrum, and the disinhibited and antagonistic spectra. This evidence encompasses common genetic influences, environmental risk factors, childhood antecedents, cognitive abnormalities, neural alterations, and treatment response. The structure of these validators mirrors the structure of the phenotypic externalizing superspectrum, with some correlates more specific to disinhibited or antagonistic spectra, and others relevant to the entire externalizing superspectrum, underlining the hierarchical structure of the domain. Compared with traditional diagnostic categories, the externalizing superspectrum conceptualization shows improved utility, reliability, explanatory capacity, and clinical applicability. The externalizing superspectrum is one aspect of the general approach to psychopathology offered by HiTOP and can make diagnostic classification more useful in both research and the clinic.

Pathology in Relationships.

Committed, long-term romantic relationships are ubiquitous among modern society. They are one of the most important contexts for the development, maintenance, and treatment of psychopathology. In this review, I first place psychopathology within the most commonly cited theoretical model of marital satisfaction and stability and then discuss how relationship satisfaction is conceptualized and assessed in this literature. In the second half of the review, I describe the theories regarding how romantic relationships may be connected to psychopathology. Relationship distress is easily incorporated into a diathesis-stress model as an important trigger for psychopathology. Next, I review cross-sectional research, longitudinal research, and treatment efficacy research linking relationship quality and psychopathology. I provide evidence for the robustness of these effects and areas where research must expand. I finish with a summary section that synthesizes what is known about the mechanisms linking relationship distress and psychopathology.

Association of Wealth With Longevity in US Adults at Midlife.

Importance: Wealthy adults tend to live longer than those with less wealth. However, a challenge in this area of research has been the reduction of potential confounding by factors associated with the early environment and heritable traits, which could simultaneously affect socioeconomic circumstances in adulthood and health across the life course. Objective: To identify the association between net worth at midlife and subsequent all-cause mortality in individuals as well as within siblings and twin pairs. Design Setting and Participants: This cohort study conducted a series of analyses using data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, an ongoing national study of health and aging. The sample included adults (unrelated individuals, full siblings, and dizygotic and monozygotic twins) aged 20 to 75 years, who participated in wave 1 of the MIDUS study, which occurred from 1994 to 1996. The analyses were conducted between November 16, 2019, and May 18, 2021. Exposures: Self-reported net worth (total financial assets minus liabilities) at midlife (the middle years of life). Main Outcomes and Measures: All-cause mortality was tracked over nearly 24 years of follow-up, with a censor date of October 31, 2018. Survival models tested the association between net worth and all-cause mortality. Discordant sibling and twin analyses compared longevity within siblings and twin pairs who, given their shared early experiences and genetic backgrounds, were matched on these factors. Results: The full sample comprised 5414 participants, who had a mean (SD) age of 46.7 (12.7) years and included 2766 women (51.1%). Higher net worth was associated with lower mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR], 0.95; 95% CI, 0.94-0.97; P < .001). Among siblings and twin pairs specifically (n = 2490), a similar within-family association was observed between higher net worth and lower mortality (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.91-0.97; P = .001), suggesting that the sibling or twin with more wealth tended to live longer than their co-sibling or co-twin with less wealth. When separate estimates were performed for the subsamples of siblings (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.90-0.97; P = .002), dizygotic twins (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.86-1.02; P = .19), and monozygotic twins (HR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.87-1.04; P = .34), the within-family estimates of the net worth-mortality association were similar, although the precision of estimates was reduced among twins. Conclusions and Relevance: This cohort study found that wealth accumulation at midlife was associated with longevity in US adults. Discordant sibling analyses suggested that this association is unlikely to be simply an artifact of early experiences or heritable characteristics shared by families.

Personality disorders and intimate partner aggression: A replication and extension in older, married couples.

Intimate partner aggression (IPA) is a significant public health burden, and thus efforts to identify individual characteristics that predict perpetration of IPA is an important research question. Personality disorders are a significant correlate of IPA, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Much of that work, however, had been conducted in younger samples. IPA in older adults is a relatively understudied area of research generally. Thus, examining the association between personality pathology and IPA in older adults is novel and important. In previous work using the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network sample, we found that borderline personality disorder was a robust correlate of perpetrating partner aggression in older, romantically involved participants. In the current analyses, we attempted to replicate our original findings in the same sample assessed 2.5 years later. We also extended the original work by using both self- and partner-reported IPA and by using latent factors of personality pathology. We found that prevalence of IPA in this sample was similar to the baseline assessment; 69.1% reported IPA in the past year, with the vast majority being psychological/verbal rather than physical aggression. Agreement between partners on perpetration was modest. Borderline personality pathology was again the strongest and most consistent predictor of IPA. Our findings speak to the continuing public health burden of borderline personality pathology into older age as evidenced by associations with perpetration of IPA. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Autoregressive and Cross-Lagged Associations Between Psychological Intimate Partner Aggression and Psychopathology in Newlyweds.

Most research to date relies on cross-sectional data to identify associations between psychopathology (i.e., internalizing and externalizing disorders) and intimate partner aggression (IPA). Studies that utilize longitudinal data tend to survey only one member of a dyad, examine only perpetration or victimization, and/or use statistical methods that converge within- and between-person effects. The current study examines the associations between psychopathology, psychological IPA perpetration, and psychological IPA victimization at three time points over the course of 1 year in a sample of newlyweds. An autoregressive latent trajectory model with structured residuals (ALT-SR) tested the hypotheses that within-person internalizing and externalizing psychopathology would predict IPA perpetration and victimization at each subsequent time point, and IPA victimization would predict subsequent internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results of the ALT-SR model did not support hypotheses. Rather, results suggest internalizing symptoms were negatively associated with externalizing symptoms at subsequent time points, and vice versa. IPA perpetration was positively associated with IPA victimization at the following time points. These results elucidate the interplay between psychopathology and IPA, suggesting that although these constructs show bivariate relationships with one another, psychopathology is not a significant within-person predictor of subsequent psychological IPA.