A new performance-based measure of personality functioning impairment: development and preliminary evaluation of reliability and validity.

Personality functioning impairment is at the center of many dimensional models of personality. Available measures of personality functioning impairment are limited to self-report, clinician-/informant-rated, and interview methods. Although researchers have begun investigating established performance-based instruments' potential for assessing personality functioning impairment, administration and scoring of these instruments is complex and the latent variables they measure diverge from personality functioning impairment as described in the ICD-11 and the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) of the DSM. We address this absence by developing and psychometrically evaluating the Level of Personality Functioning Scale-Questionnaire-based Implicit Association Test (LPFS-qIAT). The LPFS-qIAT's psychometric properties were evaluated across four studies, producing initial evidence supporting the new instrument's reliability as well as its convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity. As the first performance-based measure of personality functioning impairment that aligns with the AMPD and, to a degree the ICD-11, that is easily administered, scored, and interpreted, the LPFS-qIAT shows potential to become a valuable tool in both research and clinical practice.

Multinational evaluation of the measurement invariance of the Level of Personality Functioning Scale-brief form 2.0: Comparison of student and community samples across seven countries.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-fifth Edition's (DSM-5) Level of Personality Functioning Scale (LPFS) was introduced as a dimensional rating of impairments in self- and interpersonal functioning, and the LPFS-Brief Form (LPFS-BF) was the first published corresponding self-report. The updated LPFS-BF 2.0 has been translated into several languages and international research supports many of the instrument's psychometric properties; however, its measurement invariance has only been evaluated across a few countries. This study expands previous studies as an introductory step in a global evaluation of the LPFS-BF 2.0s measurement invariance. Archival data (N = 5,618, 57% female) from seven countries (Canada, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Italy, United Arab Emirates, United States of America) were used for this study. Participants were recruited from both community (n = 4,677) and student (n = 941) populations. After confirming adequate model fit separately in the community and student samples, we evaluated a series of increasingly stringent model comparisons to test three aspects of measurement invariance (configural, metric, scalar) and then examined latent mean differences across countries. Full scalar invariance was supported in the community sample and partial scalar invariance was supported in the student sample. Evaluation of latent mean differences revealed multiple significant differences. Overall, the LPFS-BF 2.0 appears to assess self- and interpersonal functioning impairment similarly across the included countries. Findings are discussed through the lenses of the cultures from which participants were recruited, as well as in the context of alternative explanations. Limitations, plans for future research, and implications for both research and clinical practice are offered. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Professional Practice Guidelines for Personality Assessment.

The current paper conveys guidelines for personality assessment developed by a work group formed by the Society for Personality Assessment (SPA), which are intended to serve as an aid for best practices specific to personality assessment for professionals, and a source of information for consumers and policy makers. The guidelines were developed after a careful and systematic review of the literature on personality assessment and examination of practice patterns, and were refined through multiple rounds of input from stakeholders including members of SPA and other professionals routinely conducting personality assessment. The guidelines address the scope of personality assessment and current practice trends, minimum education and training qualifications, ethical practices, diversity considerations, assessment procedures, and appropriate applications. By following these guidelines and other established professional standards, psychologists can help ensure that they practice ethically, competently, with appropriate attention to diversity, and to the highest standards of the profession. These guidelines can function as a resource for educators and supervisors of personality assessment. Additionally, the guidelines will serve as a benchmark for best practices in personality assessment and, as such, represent a first step in what is hoped to be an evolution of ever improving personality assessment standards of practice.

A Multimethod Investigation of Sex, Romantic Relationships, and Interpersonal Dependency.

An individual's level of interpersonal dependency influences the way they engage with others, and researchers have achieved a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between dependency and interpersonal relationships across an array of social situations. This knowledge has improved the efficacy of medical and psychotherapeutic work with dependent clients and has informed approaches taken to reduce the societal costs of dependent personality disorder (e.g., increased risk for suicide and self-harm, perpetration of child abuse, perpetration of domestic violence, victimization by a partner, and physical illness). Relatively little research, however, has explored dependency's links to sexual activity and sexual functioning, the findings of which stand to offer knowledge valuable to sex counseling, couples therapy, sexual health, and our overall understanding of sexuality. The current study utilized a multimethod research design to explore dependency as it relates to sexual and romantic relationships and sexual activity. Multiple associations emerged between dependency, both interpersonal dependency and a healthy variant of dependency, and sexual activity. Based upon these findings and contemporary literature, an initial discussion of some of the therapeutic implications of this knowledge and suggestions for working with dependent clients are offered.

Clinical utility of categorical and dimensional perspectives on personality pathology: A meta-analytic review.

Increasing dissatisfaction with categorical personality disorder (PD) diagnoses has led to the development of dimensional PD frameworks, which have gained influence in recent years. Although most studies contrasting the dimensional and categorical frameworks focus on issues related to construct validity, there is a burgeoning literature evaluating the clinical utility of these two approaches, with studies typically contrasting clinicians' ratings of various dimensions of clinical utility in the 2 frameworks using case vignettes or actual patients. This study used meta-analytic techniques to synthesize extant findings in this area, integrating data from 11 studies (103 total effect sizes, N of raters = 2,033) wherein clinical utility ratings of categorical and dimensional PD frameworks were compared. Dimensional models in general, and the five-factor model in particular, received more positive clinical utility ratings than categorical PD models in the majority of clinical utility domains. Stronger results were obtained for ratings of actual patients than ratings derived from case vignettes. Implications of these findings for the conceptualization and diagnosis of personality pathology are discussed, and suggestions for future research in this area are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The DSM's Reconnection to Psychoanalytic Theory through the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders.

Often believed to have Kraepelinian origins, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5th Edition (DSM-5) defines personality disorders using a categorical, hierarchical taxonomic system. This system possesses many long-standing problems for clinical practice, including a large assortment of symptom combinations that contribute to problematic heterogeneity and likely impair diagnostic validity. The DSM diagnostic system was at one time heavily influenced by psychoanalytic theory (Shorter 2005). A desire for greater theoretical neutrality then encouraged a shift away from psychoanalytic theory, resulting in the problematic atheoretical model of personality pathology introduced in DSM-III (1980) and still used today. The Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD), introduced in DSM-5 (2013), is an attempt to reconcile many of the categorical model's issues and directly parallels primary themes that characterize psychoanalytic models of personality. After a review of the historical development of DSM, three current systems for diagnosing personality pathology-the DSM-5's categorical model (2013), its AMPD (2013), and the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (2nd ed.; Alliance of Psychoanalytic Organizations 2017) are compared. The comparison illustrates how the AMPD brings psychoanalytic theory back into the DSM system and acknowledges the implications of a more psychoanalytic DSM.

Sensitivity to criticism differentially mediates the relationship between interpersonal problems and state and trait depression.

Both state- and trait-like manifestations of depression have been associated with poor interpersonal functioning. One mechanism by which this could occur is through individuals' sensitivity to criticism. In the present study, 414 undergraduates were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory-II (Beck et al. 1996) and Depressive Personality Disorder Inventory (Huprich et al. 1996) as representative measures of state and trait depression respectively. They also were assessed with self-report measures of sensitivity to criticism and interpersonal problems. Sensitivity to criticism significantly mediated the relationship between state and trait depression within five dimensions of interpersonal problems. However, sensitivity to criticism was more strongly related to the trait depression-interpersonal problems relationship than the state depression-interpersonal problems relationship, when controlling for state depression and trait depression respectively. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.