Personality Disorders

This paper presents preliminary evidence on the internal consistency and validity of a scale designed to measure the degree to which one believes women managers experience a greater number of obstacles and more critical judgments about their work performance as compared to managerial men (the Stereotype Beliefs about Women Managers scale; SBWMS). Survey data from 1337 managerial and nonmanagerial men and women employed by a large manufacturing organization revealed that the 6-item scale possessed a single factor. Significant mean group differences and correlations between the SBWMS and a number of organizationally-relevant measures provide good preliminary support for the scale's validity.

A hierarchical biometric model is presented of the origins of comorbidity among substance dependence, antisocial behavior, and a disinhibited personality style. The model posits a spectrum of personality and psychopathology, united by an externalizing factor linked to each phenotype within the spectrum, as well as specific factors that account for distinctions among phenotypes within the spectrum. This model fit self-report and mother-report data from 1,048 male and female 17-year-old twins. The variance of the externalizing factor was mostly genetic, but both genetic and environmental factors accounted for distinctions among phenotypes within the spectrum. These results reconcile evidence for general and specific causal factors within the externalizing spectrum and offer the externalizing factor as a novel target for future research.

Children and adults exposed to chronic interpersonal trauma consistently demonstrate psychological disturbances that are not captured in the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis. The DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) Field Trial studied 400 treatment-seeking traumatized individuals and 128 community residents and found that victims of prolonged interpersonal trauma, particularly trauma early in the life cycle, had a high incidence of problems with (a) regulation of affect and impulses, (b) memory and attention, (c) self-perception, (d) interpersonal relations, (e) somatization, and (f) systems of meaning. This raises important issues about the categorical versus the dimensional nature of posttraumatic stress, as well as the issue of comorbidity in PTSD. These data invite further exploration of what constitutes effective treatment of the full spectrum of posttraumatic psychopathology.

The purpose of this review is to conceptualize child abuse and neglect within a developmental psychopathology perspective. Toward this end, issues of definition and epidemiology, etiology, and sequelae are addressed.Research and theory on child abuse and neglect with relevance to a developmental perspective is reviewed.Considerable progress has been made in our understanding of the etiology and consequences of child abuse and neglect. Less progress has been made in utilizing this knowledge to inform treatment efforts.Incorporation of a developmental psychopathology perspective into efforts to understand and ameliorate the adverse effects of child abuse and neglect holds considerable promise for advancing research and intervention in the area of child maltreatment. The importance of providing comprehensive and coordinated services that incorporate knowledge of how maltreated youngsters negotiate stage-salient issues of development is stressed. The provision of child-focused treatment, parent-based models of intervention, and ecologically driven approaches to prevention all can benefit from an understanding of the adverse effects that maltreatment exerts on the process of development.

Accuracy and bias in self-perceptions of performance were studied in a managerial group-discussion task. Ss ranked their own performance and were ranked by the 5 other group members and by 11 assessment staff members. Although the self-perceptions showed convergent validity with the staff criterion, Ss were less accurate when judging themselves than when judging their peers. On average, Ss evaluated their performance slightly more positively than their performance was evaluated by either the peers or the staff; however, this general self-enhancement effect was dwarfed by substantial individual differences, which ranged from self-enhancement to self-diminishment bias and were strongly related to four measures of narcissism. Discussion focuses on issues in assessing the accuracy of self-perceptions and the implications of the findings for individual differences in self-perception bias and the role of narcissism. Self-insight, or the accuracy of self-perception, has been an issue of long-standing concern to philosophers and social scientists. Among contemporary psychologists, two different points of view predominate. According to one view, perceptions of self are based on a socially shared reality, ensue from the same processes as the perceptions of others, and are best thought of as accurate reflections of behavior and experience. According to the other view, self-perceptions are fundamentally distorted, self-serving, and consistently more positive than is justified by the perceptions of others. In this article, we argue that each of these views is incomplete. In particular, we demonstrate that self-evaluations in a specific situation contain both valid and This article is based in part on an honors thesis submitted by Richard W. Robins to

The current meta-analysis reviews research examining the relationships between each of the fivefactor model personality dimensions and each of the 10 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) personality disorder diagnostic categories. Effect sizes representing the relationships between these two constructs were compiled from 15 independent samples. Results were analyzed both within each individual personality disorder category and across personality disorders, indicating how personality disorders are different and similar, respectively, with regard to underlying personality traits. In terms of how personality disorders differ, the results showed that each disorder displays a five-factor model profile that is meaningful and predictable given its unique diagnostic criteria. With regard to their similarities, the findings revealed that the most prominent and consistent personality dimensions underlying a large number of the personality disorders are positive associations with Neuroticism and negative associations with Agreeableness. Extraversion appears to be a more discriminating dimension, as indicated by prominent but directionally variable associations with the personality disorders. The implications of these metaanalytic findings for clinical application and the advancement of future research are discussed. D

Objectives. The treatment of eating disorders is a complex process that relies not only on the use of psychotropic drugs but should include also nutritional counselling, psychotherapy and the treatment of the medical complications, where they are present. In this review recommendations for the pharmacological treatment of eating disorders (anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge eating disorder (BED)) are presented, based on the available literature. Methods. The guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of eating disorders are based on studies published between 1977 and 2010. A search of the literature included: anorexia nervosa bulimia nervosa, eating disorder and binge eating disorder. Many compounds have been studied in the therapy of eating disorders (AN: -fenfl uramine, naltrexone). Results. In AN 20 randomized controlled trials (RCT) could be identifi ed. For zinc supplementation there is a grade B evidence for AN. For olanzapine there is a category grade B evidence for weight gain. For the other atypical antipsychotics there is grade C evidence. In BN 36 RCT could be identifi ed. For tricyclic antidepressants a grade A evidence exists with a moderate-risk-benefi t ratio. For fl uoxetine a category grade A evidence exists with a good risk-benefi t ratio. For topiramate a grade 2 recommendation can be made. In BED 26 RCT could be identifi ed. For the SSRI sertraline and the antiepileptic topiramate a grade A evidence exists, with different recommendation grades. Conclusions. Additional research is needed for the improvement of the treatment of eating disorders. Especially for anorexia nervosa there is a need for further pharmacological treatment strategies.

This enlightening book by Sidney J. Blatt, one of the leading psychoanalytic researchers of our time, is highly relevant to investigators and clinicians interested in personality development as well as depression. In Experiences of Depression, Blatt amalgamates nearly 30 years of work. He combines brilliant insights about clinical practice with a broad range of empirical research to enrich our understanding of individual differences in the personality vulnerabilities that underlie and foster depression. Blatt illuminates our understanding of the psychological and interpersonal worlds and the life experiences that contribute to the specific nature of depressive experiences. The bookÕs comprehensive integration of theoretical, clinical, and empirical perspectives also demonstrates the significance of BlattÕs broad theoretical conceptualizations.

SYNOPSIS Progressive supranuclear palsy (Steele et al.) has a characteristic pattern of dementia: (1) forgetfulness, (2) slowing of thought processes, (3) emotional or personality changes (apathy or depression with occasional outbursts of irritability), and (4) impaired ability to manipulate acquired knowledge. In many neurological disease states associated with subcortical pathology a similar pattern of dementia exists. The neurobehavioural changes of progressive supranuclear palsy thus typify a clinical pattern which may be referred to as subcortical dementia. The subcortical dementias have a striking clinical resemblance to the dementia which occurs after bifrontal lobe disease. However, the subcortical dementias can be clearly distinguished clinically from cortical dementias, other than frontal dementias. We propose as a tentative hypothesis that there may be common pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the subcortical dementias-in particular, disturbances of timing and activation. There are immediate practical implications of this hypothesis: drugs which have an effect on subcortical timing and activating mechanisms may be useful in the treatment of subcortical dementias. Dementia is a term used to describe a constellation of behavioural signs and symptoms of intellectual dysfunction due to widely varying aetiologies and dependent on separate neurophysiological mechanisms. Analyses of the patterns of disordered behaviour in demented patients may lead to an understanding of the underlying pathophysiological processes and may indicate potentially useful forms of treatment for the dementias. This communication describes the particular pattern of dementia observed in five patients with progressive supranuclear palsy, a disease entity characterized by supranuclear ophthalmoplegia, pseudobulbar palsy, nuchal dystonia, and dementia. The pattern of intellectual deterioration described in this report has many features in common with that of other reported cases2. An analysis of our data and of those from the literature suggests that a behaviour pattern

The Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study (CLPS; was developed to fill gaps in our understanding of the nature, course, and impact of personality disorders (PDs). Here, we review published findings to date, discuss their implications for current conceptualizations of PDs, and raise questions that warrant future consideration. We have found that PDs are more stable than major depressive disorder, but that meaningful improvements are possible and not uncommon. We have confirmed also that PDs constitute a significant public health problem, with respect to associated functional impairment, extensive treatment utilization, negative prognostic impact on major depressive disorder, and suicide risk. At the same time, we have demonstrated that dimensional models of PDs have clinical validity that categories do not, especially greater temporal stability. Furthermore, dimensional personality traits appear to be the foundation of behaviors described by many PD criteria. Taken together, our results lead us to hypothesize that PDs may be reconceptualized as hybrids of stable personality traits and intermittently expressed symptomatic behaviors.

This article reports the results of a cross-national investigation of patterns of comorbidity between substance use and psychiatric disorders in six studies participating in the International Consortium in Psychiatric Epidemiology. In general, there was a strong association between mood and anxiety disorders as well as conduct and antisocial personality disorder with substance disorders at all sites. The results also suggest that there is a continuum in the magnitude of comorbidity as a function of the spectrum of substance use category (use, problems, dependence), as well as a direct relationship between the number of comorbid disorders and increasing levels of severity of substance use disorders (which was particularly pronounced for drugs). Finally, whereas there was no specific temporal pattern of onset for mood disorders in relation to substance disorders, the onset of anxiety disorders was more likely to precede that of substance disorders in all countries. These results illustrate the contribution of cross-national data to understanding the patterns and risk factors for psychopathology and substance use disorders.

Personality traits have been implicated in the onset, symptomatic expression, and maintenance of eating disorders (EDs). The present article reviews literature examining the link between personality and EDs published within the past decade, and presents a meta-analysis evaluating the prevalence of personality disorders (PDs) in anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED) as assessed by self-report instruments versus diagnostic interviews. AN and BN are both consistently characterized by perfectionism, obsessive-compulsiveness, neuroticism, negative emotionality, harm avoidance, low selfdirectedness, low cooperativeness, and traits associated with avoidant PD. Consistent differences that emerge between ED groups are high constraint and persistence and low novelty seeking in AN and high impulsivity, sensation seeking, novelty seeking, and traits associated with borderline PD in BN. The meta-analysis, which found PD rates of 0 to 58 percent among individuals with AN and BN, documented that self-report instruments greatly overestimate the prevalence of every PD.

Transactional models have informed research design and interpretation in studies relevant to developmental psychopathology. Bidirectional effects between individuals and social contexts have been found in many behavioral and cognitive domains. This review will highlight representative studies where the transactional model has been explicitly or implicitly tested. These studies include experimental, quasiexperimental, and naturalistic designs. Extensions of the transactional model have been made to interventions designed to target different aspects of a bidirectional system in efforts to improve developmental outcomes. Problems remain in the need to theoretically specify structural models and to combine analyses of transactions in the parent–child relationship with transactions in the broader social contexts. Longitudinal studies with sufficient time points to assess reciprocal processes continue to be important. Such longitudinal investigations will permit identifying developmental ...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the lifetime rates of occurrence of a full range of DSM-III-R axis I disorders in a group of patients with criteria-defined borderline personality disorder and comparison subjects with other personality disorders. Method:

We review the literature on pathological narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) and describe a significant criterion problem related to four inconsistencies in phenotypic descriptions and taxonomic models across clinical theory, research, and practice; psychiatric diagnosis; and social/personality psychology. This impedes scientific synthesis, weakens narcissism's nomological net, and contributes to a discrepancy between low prevalence rates of NPD and higher rates of practitionerdiagnosed pathological narcissism, along with an enormous clinical literature on narcissistic disturbances. Criterion issues must be resolved, including clarification of the nature of normal and pathological narcissism, incorporation of the two broad phenotypic themes of narcissistic grandiosity and narcissistic vulnerability into revised diagnostic criteria and assessment instruments, elimination of references to overt and covert narcissism that reify these modes of expression as distinct narcissistic types, and determination of the appropriate structure for pathological narcissism. Implications for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the science of personality disorders are presented.

Objective: Recent models suggest that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms may be maintained by emotional processing avoidance and interpersonal problems. Method: This is the first randomized controlled trial to test directly whether cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) could be augmented with the addition of a module targeting interpersonal problems and emotional processing. Eighty-three primarily White participants (mean age ϭ 37) with a principle diagnosis of GAD were recruited from the community. Participants were assigned randomly to CBT plus supportive listening (n ϭ 40) or to CBT plus interpersonal and emotional processing therapy (n ϭ 43) within a study using an additive design. Doctoral-level psychologists with full-time private practices treated participants in an outpatient clinic. Using blind assessors, participants were assessed at pretreatment, posttreatment, 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year follow-up with a composite of self-report and assessor-rated GAD symptom measures (the Penn State Worry Questionnaire; T.

Personality and psychopathology long have been viewed as related domains, but the precise nature of their relations remains unclear. Through most of the 20th century, they were studied as separate fields; within psychopathology, clinical syndromes were separated from personality disorders in 1980. This division led to the revelation of substantial overlap among disorders both within and across axes and to the joint study of normal and abnormal personality. The author reviews these literatures and proposes an integrative framework to explain personality-psychopathology relations: Three broad, innate temperament dimensions-negative affectivity, positive affectivity, and disinhibition-differentiate through both biologically and environmentally based developmental processes into a hierarchical personality trait structure and, at their extremes, are risk factors (diatheses) for psychopathology, especially given adverse life experiences (stress).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare psychosocial functioning in patients with schizotypal, borderline, avoidant, or obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and patients with major depressive disorder and no personality disorder.

The Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; A. Tellegen, 1982, in press) provides for a comprehensive analysis of personality at both the lower order trait and broader structural levels. Its higher order dimensions of Positive Emotionality, Negative Emotionality, and Constraint embody affect and temperament constructs, which have been conceptualized in psychobiological terms. The MPQ thus holds considerable potential as a structural framework for investigating personality across varying levels of analysis, and this potential would be enhanced by the availability of an abbreviated version. This article describes efforts to develop and validate a brief (155-item) form, the MPQ-BF. Success was evidenced by uniformly high correlations between the brief-and full-form trait scales and consistency of higher order structures. The MPQ-BF is recommended as a tool for investigating the genetic, neurobiological, and psychological substrates of personality.

This study aimed to explore the relationship between online game addiction and aggression, self-control, and narcissistic personality traits, which are known as the psychological characteristics linked to “at-risk” populations for online game addiction.A total of 1471 online game users (males 82.7%, females 17.3%, mean age 21.30 ± 4.96) participated in this study and were asked to complete several self-report measures using an online response method. Questionnaires included demographic information and game use-related characteristics of the samples, the online game addiction scale (modified from Young's Internet addiction scale), the Buss–Perry aggression questionnaire, a self-control scale, and the narcissistic personality disorder scale.Our results indicated that aggression and narcissistic personality traits are positively correlated with online game addiction, whereas self-control is negatively correlated with online game addiction (p < 0.001). In addition, a multiple regression analysis revealed that the extent of online game addiction could be predicted based on the person's narcissistic personality traits, aggression, self-control, interpersonal relationship, and occupation. However, only 20% of the variance in behavioral consequences was explained with the model.An interesting profile has emerged from the results of this study, suggesting that certain psychological characteristics such as aggression, self-control, and narcissistic personality traits may predispose some individuals to become addicted to online games. This result will deepen our understanding of the “at-risk” population for online game addiction and provide basic information that can contribute to developing a prevention program for people who are addicted to online games.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is traditionally considered chronic and intractable. To compare the course of BPD&#39;s psychopathology and social function with that of other personality disorders and with major depressive disorder (MDD) over 10 years. A collaborative study of treatment-seeking, 18- to 45-year-old patients followed up with standardized, reliable, and repeated measures of diagnostic remission and relapse and of both global social functioning and subtypes of social functioning. Nineteen clinical settings (hospital and outpatient) in 4 northeastern US cities. Three study groups, including 175 patients with BPD, 312 with cluster C personality disorders, and 95 with MDD but no personality disorder. The Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders and its follow-along version (the Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders-Follow-Along Version) were used to diagnose personality disorders and assess changes in them. The Structured Clinical Intervi...

Objective: Major depression is a major risk factor for suicide. However, not all individuals with major depression commit suicide. Impulsive and aggressive behaviors have been proposed as risk factors for suicide, but it remains unclear whether their effect on the risk of suicide is at least partly explained by axis I disorders commonly associated with suicide, such as major depression. With a case-control design, a comparison of the level of impulsive and aggressive behaviors and the prevalence of associated psychopathology was carried out with control for the presence of primary psychopathology.

Parse personalistic recreational temporal priority of conduct disorder with a lateralisation index of the stressor of awakening and graded activity in Languedoc-Roussillon, measure survival statistics with Icelandic antidepressants, then study compulsory admissions, violence exposure and overt discrimination. This is not a particularly memorable or instructive sentence but it contains what I regard as some of the essential words from all 14 papers in this month&#x27;s issue. I am sure readers could do considerably better. Enclosed between Leon Eisenberg&#x27;s smashing ...

No twin study has previously investigated the whole range of personality disorders (PDs) recorded by interviews. Based on twin and patient registries, 92 monozygotic (MZ) and 129 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs were interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Personality Disorders (SCID-II). Observed prevalence rates from a normal population study of more than 2,000 individuals were used in combination with data from the present study to generate statistics assumed to be valid for a normal twin population, and these statistics were used for structural equation modeling. The best-fitting models had a heritability of .60 for PDs generally, .37 for the eccentric (A) cluster, .60 for the emotional (B) cluster, and .62 for the fearful (C) cluster. Among the specific PDs, the heritability appeared to be .79 for narcissistic, .78 for obsessivecompulsive, .69 for borderline, .67 for histrionic, .61 for schizotypal, .57 for dependent, .54 for self-defeating, .29 for schizoid, .28 for paranoid, and .28 for avoidant PDs. The best-fitting models never included shared-infamilies environmental effects. However, a model with only shared familial and unique environmental effects could not be ruled out for dependent PD. Shared familial environmental effects may also influence the development of any PD and borderline PD. Passiveaggressive PD did not seem to be affected by genes or family environment at all. The low occurrence of antisocial PD in the twin sample precluded any model for this disorder. PDs seem to be more strongly influenced by genetic effects than almost any axis I disorder, and more than most broad personality dimensions. However, we observed a large variation in heritability among the different PDs, probably partly because of a moderate sample size and low prevalence of the specific disorders.

We applied different diagnostic rules for diagnosing personality disorders to the NESARC epidemiological study of over 40,000 individuals. Specifically, unlike previous NESARC publications, we required that each personality disorder criterion be associated with significant distress or impairment in order to be counted toward a personality disorder (PD) diagnosis. Results demonstrated significant reductions in prevalence rates for PDs (9.1% versus 21.5% using original NESARC algorithms), and these revised prevalence rates were much more consistent with recent epidemiological studies in the U.S. and Great Britain. We also found gender differences in the prevalence rate for most PDs. Comorbidity analyses revealed strong associations between PDs and alcohol dependence, drug dependence, and tobacco dependence. PD diagnoses were also associated with scores on dysfunction and impairment, perceived stress and less social support, lifetime history of suicide attempts, interpersonal difficulties, and problems with legal authorities.

Background Previous UK studies have reported much lower rates of psychiatric and personality disorder in those who attempt suicide than in those who die by suicide. ... Aims To determine the nature and prevalence of psychiatric and personality disorders in deliberate self-harm ...

Personality types refer to common or typical configurations of the dispositional attributes that define the individual. Research over the last 20 years has identified a set of three replicable personality types: resilient, overcontrolled, and undercontrolled personalities. Resilient individuals are characterized by self-confidence, emotional stability, and a positive orientation toward others. Overcontrolled individuals are emotionally brittle, introverted, and tense, whereas undercontrolled individuals are disagreeable and lack self-control. In this article, we provide a brief history of current research on the three personality types and identify key areas of controversy. We also outline several directions for future research and discuss the importance of maintaining both attribute-and person-centered perspectives in contemporary personality psychology.

Background: Although an early age at first drink has been repeatedly associated with substantially elevated rates of alcoholism, the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. We investigated whether the association of age at first drink (AFD) with alcoholism was more consistent with the hypothesis that the former causes the latter or the hypothesis that both are manifestations of some common vulnerability.