The intergenerational transmission of childhood maltreatment: Nonspecificity of maltreatment type and associations with borderline personality pathology.

One generation's experience of childhood maltreatment is associated with that of the next. However, whether this intergenerational transmission is specific to distinct forms of maltreatment and what factors may contribute to its continuity remains unclear. Borderline personality pathology is predicted by childhood maltreatment and characterized by features (e.g., dysregulated emotion, relationship instability, impulsivity, and inconsistent appraisals of others) that may contribute to its propagation. Among 364 older adults and 573 of their adult children (total n = 937), self-reported exposure to distinct forms of childhood maltreatment (i.e., emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and emotional and physical neglect as assessed by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) showed homotypic and heterotypic associations across generations with little evidence that latent factors unique to specific forms of maltreatment show generational continuity. General nonspecific indices of childhood maltreatment showed evidence of intergenerational transmission after accounting for demographic factors and parent socioeconomic status (b = 0.126, p = 9.21 × 10-4). This continuity was partially mediated by parental borderline personality pathology (assessed longitudinally through a variety of measures and sources, indirect effect: b = 0.031, 95% confidence interval [0.003, 0.060]). The intergenerational continuity of childhood maltreatment may largely represent general risk for nonspecific maltreatment that may, in part, be propagated by borderline personality pathology and/or shared risk factors.

Identifying personality-related problems in living: the multi-context problems checklist.

The Multi-Context Problems Checklist (MCPC) is a new measure of personality-related problems designed for a young adult population. Previously published problem checklists either have little supporting empirical documentation to support their validity or focus on specific kinds of difficulties in specific contexts (e.g., interpersonal, close relationships). The MCPC is a straightforward and easy-to-use instrument covering 6 domains of functioning, takes about 5 minutes to complete, and is intended for young adults ages 18 to 29. Psychometric data are presented in 3 studies. In Study 1, correlations with self- and observer ratings showed scores on the MCPC to be consensually valid, and associations with measures of well-being and personality provided evidence of construct validity. Study 2 added to these findings by identifying specific personality-related problems associated with each pole of each trait of the five-factor model of personality, demonstrating moderate to high test-retest reliability of problem endorsements, and showing strong associations with measures of psychological distress. Study 3 indicated that the MCPC is sufficiently sensitive to capture more frequent problem reporting among individuals undergoing counseling. Problem-trait associations are related to a broader literature on global personality dimensions and psychosocial outcomes at the individual, interpersonal, and social and institutional levels. The MCPC deserves attention from both researchers and clinicians who are interested in assessing personality-related problems in living.

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.

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).

Assessment of self-related problems in functioning: Intrapersonal Problems Rating Scales.

This article describes the development and validation of the Intrapersonal Problems Rating Scales (IPRS), a multidimensional measure of self-related problems in personality functioning. Results from a series of factor analyses performed on self-ratings of over 200 problems revealed seven distinct but interrelated domains of intrapersonal problems: Emotion Dysregulation, Internalizing, Lack of Will, Externalizing, Scrupulousness, Fantasy Proneness, and Apathy. Items were selected and scales built for an efficient assessment of each problem area. The psychometric properties of the resulting scales were then evaluated in an independent sample. Convergent and discriminant validity support for the IPRS was obtained via correlations with respect to three measures of social, emotional, and behavioral problems. The scales associated with a range of personal styles and dispositions and predicted diverse self-reported attitudinal and behavioral criteria even after the effects of normal and maladaptive-range personality traits were removed. Two scoring systems (normative and ipsative, or person-centered, scoring) revealed a differential pattern of associations both internally and with external measures. Interpretive differences between the two scoring procedures are highlighted and potential practical applications of the IPRS are discussed. The instrument can provide additional information not fully accounted for by measures of traits or social functioning and be useful to researchers and practitioners alike to identify, understand, and track changes in a range of intrapersonal problems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Inflammation is associated with future depressive symptoms among older adults.

Inflammation has been reliably associated with depression. However, the directionality of this association is poorly understood, with evidence that elevated inflammation may promote and precede the development of depression, as well as arise following its expression. Using data from older adults (N â€‹= â€‹1,072, ages 60-73) who participated in the ongoing longitudinal St. Louis Personality and Aging Network (SPAN) study, we examined whether inflammatory markers (interleukin-6: IL-6, C-reactive protein: CRP, and tumor necrosis factor α: TNFα) and depression were prospectively predictive of one another. Fasting serum samples and self-reports of depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory-II) were obtained from participants at 2 sessions approximately 2 years apart. Structural equation models as well as regressions that accounted for a host of potentially confounding covariates and depression at baseline revealed that baseline IL-6 and CRP, but not baseline TNFα were associated with elevated depressive symptoms at the follow-up session (IL-6: ߠ​= â€‹0.080, p â€‹= â€‹0.036; CRP: ߠ​= â€‹0.083, p â€‹= â€‹0.03; TNFα: ߠ​= â€‹0.039, p â€‹= â€‹0.314). However, there was no association between baseline depressive symptoms and follow-up inflammatory markers (ßs â€‹= â€‹-0.12 to -0.006, all ps â€‹> â€‹0.05). Collectively, these data suggest that inflammation prospectively predicts depression, but depression does not predict inflammation in older age. These data add to a growing literature suggesting that inflammatory signaling may plausibly promote the development of depression.

The Impact of Personality Pathology Across Three Generations: Evidence from the St. Louis Personality and Intergenerational Network Study.

Personality disorder (PD) symptoms in a parent generation may confer risk for problems in future generations, but intergenerational transmission has not been studied beyond parent-child effects. We examined the generational transfer of risk associated with PDs using structural models of grandparent personality pathology and grandchild psychopathology among 180 adults (M age =66.9), 218 of their children (M age =41.2), and 337 of their grandchildren (M age =10.5). We found evidence for general and heterotypic domain-specific transmission. Specifically, broad grandparent personality pathology was associated with broad grandchild psychopathology (B=.15, 95% CI [-.01, .31]); at the domain level, grandparent internalizing personality pathology was associated with grandchild externalizing psychopathology (B =.06, 95% CI [.01, .12]). Neither association was significantly mediated by parental personality pathology. These findings indicate that personality pathology in one generation confers risk for psychopathology across subsequent generations. Such intergenerational transmission operates across broad, rather than specific (i.e., individual disorder) psychopathology domains.

The Impact of Personality Disorders on Longitudinal Change in Relationship Satisfaction in Long-Term Married Couples.

Personality disorders (PDs) are significantly, negatively related to marital satisfaction. We examine how maladaptive personality is related to change in marital satisfaction over time utilizing data from the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network (SPAN), a longitudinal, community-based study of personality and health in older adults. Participants were assessed at baseline for PD (self-report, informant-report, and structured interview); self- and spouse-reported relationship satisfaction assessed at baseline and five follow-ups was analyzed with latent growth curve modeling. Higher levels of PD at baseline were associated with lower self and spouse relationship satisfaction at baseline. On average, satisfaction did not change significantly over the study period, but there was significant individual variability. Higher levels of schizoid PD were protective of declines in partner's perception of satisfaction. Findings suggest that partners in long-term married unions may have adapted to the presence of their own or their spouse's level of personality pathology.

Symptom-level analysis of DSM-IV/DSM-5 personality pathology in later life: Hierarchical structure and predictive validity across self- and informant ratings.

Dissatisfaction with the categorical model of personality disorder led to several investigations on alternative, dimensional systems. The majority of these studies were conducted at the syndrome-level where each diagnostic criterion is summed or averaged within each disorder. Studies at the symptom-level have identified symptom dimensions that define and cut across categories, but the number and nature of dimensions varies across studies. The purpose of the present study was to examine the hierarchical structure and impact of personality pathology at the symptom-level across self- and informant ratings in a large community sample of older adults (N = 1,630; ages 55 to 64). Results indicated that multiple structural patterns can be organized within a common hierarchical framework, with a general factor of maladjustment at the top, 2 broad dimensions of internalizing and externalizing pathology directly below, and progressively more specific symptom dimensions toward the bottom. Factors at each level of the hierarchy were similar across self- and informant ratings. The 4-factor model showed significant incremental validity in predicting a range of life outcomes over simpler models, while increasingly complex models incrementally but modestly improved predictive power. Several consistencies emerged between the current findings and prior factor analytic studies. The most unexpected result was the conspicuous absence of a disinhibition factor reflecting antisocial and impulsivity-related problems. This anomaly may involve the older age of our sample and the changing expression of personality pathology in later life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining criterion a: DSM-5 level of personality functioning as assessed through life story interviews.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition alternative model for personality disorders offers a two-part definition of personality pathology, separating personality functioning from traits. The Level of Personality Functioning Scale (LPFS) from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition alternative model for personality disorders encapsulates the personality functioning criterion, and several methods have been used to assess it. Previous interview rating methods have overlapped with an assessment of personality traits and symptoms, biasing the assessment of functioning, and recently developed self-report instruments rely on the participant's awareness of their personality pathology. The purpose of the current analyses was to examine the reliability and validity of LPFS ratings based on open-ended, nondiagnostic interviews. The sample consisted of 162 community-dwelling, older adult participants from the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network. Undergraduate students rated video recordings of Life Story Interviews, using a 12-item version of the LPFS. One-way random, average measures intraclass correlation coefficient for the total LPFS was .80. A principal components analysis indicated that a single underlying dimension could characterize the LPFS. Component scores derived from this analysis demonstrated theoretically consistent associations with both normal-range and maladaptive personality traits. The component scores also contributed small but significant variance to the prediction of personality disorder symptoms, health, and functional outcomes over and above personality traits. These findings support the reliability and validity of the LPFS as assessed using Life Story Interviews and suggest that personality functioning ratings may have utility in predicting clinically relevant outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Development and validation of the Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Problems.

The interpersonal circumplex (IPC) is a well-established model of social behavior that spans basic personality and clinical science. Although several measures are available to assess interpersonal functioning (e.g., motives, traits) within an IPC framework, researchers studying interpersonal difficulties have relied primarily on a single measure, the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex Scales (IIP-C; Horowitz, Alden, Wiggins, & Pincus, 2000). Although the IIP-C is a widely used measure, it is currently the only measure specifically designed to assess maladaptive interpersonal behavior using the IPC framework. The purpose of the current study is to describe a new 64-item measure of interpersonal problems, called the Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Problems (CSIP). Interpersonal problems derived from a pool of 400 personality-related problems were assessed in two large university samples. In the scale development sample (N = 1,197), items that best characterized each sector of the IPC were identified, and a set of eight 8-item circumplex scales was developed. Psychometric properties of the resulting measure were then examined in the validation sample (N = 757). Results from confirmatory circumplex structural analyses indicated that the CSIP fit well to a quasi-circumplex model. The CSIP converged with the IIP-C and the Revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales (Wiggins, 1995), and associated in theoretically expected ways with broader assessments of adaptive- and maladaptive-range personality traits and symptoms of psychological distress. The CSIP augments the IIP-C with additional content, thereby helping to extend the underlying constructs, and provides an alternative means for studying the interpersonal consequences of personality and psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record

Borderline personality pathology and physical health: The role of employment.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with negative physical health outcomes. Clinical case studies suggest that employment status may buffer against the negative effects of BPD on physical health. The goal of the current study was to examine the interaction between BPD features and employment status in predicting subjective perceptions of physical health. We hypothesized that employment status would moderate the relationship between BPD features and physical health, such that individuals who are employed would exhibit a weaker negative relationship between BPD features and self- and informant ratings of physical health. We investigated this question using data from a community sample of 1,630 middle-aged to older adults participating in the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network, an ongoing study of personality, health, and aging. Results indicated that employment status and BPD features were significant predictors of both self- and informant ratings of physical health. Confirming our hypothesis, the interaction term contributed to a significant increase in the proportion of explained variance, suggesting that employment is associated with a weaker negative relationship between BPD features and physical health. These findings highlight the importance of examining occupational functioning in the long-term course of BPD and offer avenues for further research into moderators of the relationship between BPD features and physical health. (PsycINFO Database Record

Personality-related problems and the five-factor model of personality.

This paper examines the empirical associations of a relatively broad and inclusive list of personality-related problems with both the high and low poles of the five-factor model of personality (FFM). Several studies have documented links between impaired functioning and the FFM, but these associations have largely been confined to the socially undesirable poles. In this study, a list of 310 personality-related problems was developed and administered to a large college student sample along with the International Personality Item Pool Representation of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (IPIP-NEO) and an experimental manipulation of the NEO PI-R items (EXP-NEO). Numerous problems were associated with both poles of each trait domain and facet of the FFM, but both the IPIP-NEO and EXP-NEO were required to capture problems at both ends. Potential implications of emphasizing problems at one or both poles of trait continua are discussed. Future research should evaluate the structure and inclusiveness of the current list of personality-related problems against other representations of problem behavior, examine base rates of problems in other populations, and seek to understand the psychological mechanisms that might explain associations of problems across the full range of trait continua. (PsycINFO Database Record