Development and Validation of Personality Disorder Spectra Scales for the MMPI–2–RF

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a set of MMPI–2–RF (Ben-Porath &; Tellegen, 2008/2011) personality disorder (PD) spectra scales. These scales could serve the purpose of assisting with DSM–5 PD diagnosis and help link categorical and dimensional conceptions of personality pathology within the MMPI–2–RF. We developed and provided initial validity results for scales corresponding to the 10 PD constructs listed in the DSM–5 using data from student, community, clinical, and correctional samples. Initial validation efforts indicated good support for criterion validity with an external PD measure as well as with dimensional personality traits included in the DSM–5 alternative model for PDs. Construct validity results using psychosocial history and therapists' ratings in a large clinical sample were generally supportive as well. Overall, these brief scales provide clinicians using MMPI–2–RF data with estimates of DSM–5 PD constructs that can support cross-model connections between categorical and dimensional assessment approaches.     

Developing Pairwise Preference-Based Personality Test and Experimental Investigation of Its Resistance to Faking Effect by Item Response Model

Recent years have shown increased awareness of the importance of personality tests in educational, clinical, and occupational settings, and developing faking-resistant personality tests is a very pragmatic issue for achieving more precise measurement. Inspired by Stark (2002) and Stark, Chernyshenko, and Drasgow (2005), we develop a pairwise preference-based personality test that aims to measure multidimensional personality traits using a large-scale statement bank. An experiment compares the resistance of the developed personality test to faking with that of rating scale-based personality tests in the item response theory model framework. Results show that latent traits estimated from the personality test based on the rating scale method are severely biased, and that faking effect can be pragmatically ignored in the personality test developed based on the pairwise preference method.     

Conceptualizations of Personality Disorders with the Five Factor Model-count and Empathy Traits

Previous research has long advocated that emotional and behavioral disorders are related to general personality traits, such as the Five Factor Model (FFM). The addition of section III in the latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) recommends that extremity in personality traits together with maladaptive interpersonal functioning, such as lack of empathy, are used for identifying psychopathology and particularly personality disorders (PD). The objective of the present study was to measure dispositions for DSM categories based on normal personality continuums, and to conceptualize these with empathy traits. We used a validated FFM-count method based on the five personality factors (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), and related these to 4 empathy traits (emphatic concern, perspective-taking, fantasy, and personal distress). The results showed that FFM-based PD scores overall could be conceptualized using only two of the empathy traits, low emphatic concern and high personal distress. Further, specific dispositions for personality disorders were characterized with distinct empathy traits (e.g., histrionic with high fantasy, and paranoid with low perspective-taking). These findings may have both theoretical and practical implications in capturing potential for personality disorders with ease and efficiency.     

Challenges associated with a polythetic diagnostic system: criteria combinations in the personality disorders

Converging research on the diagnostic criteria for personality disorders (PDs) reveals that most criteria have different psychometric properties. This finding is inconsistent with the PD diagnostic system according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), which weights each criterion equally. The purpose of the current study was to examine the potential effects of using equal weights for differentially functioning criteria. Data from over 2,100 outpatients were used to analyze and score response patterns to the diagnostic criteria for 9 PDs within an item response theory framework. Results indicated that combinations that included the same number of endorsed criteria yielded differing estimates of PD traits, depending on which criteria were met. Moreover, trait estimates from subthreshold criteria combinations often overlapped with diagnostic (at-threshold or higher) combinations, indicating that there were subthreshold combinations of criteria that indicated as much or more PD than did some combinations at the diagnostic threshold. These results suggest that counting the number of criteria an individual meets provides only a coarse estimation of his or her PD trait level. Implications for the assessment of polythetically defined mental disorders and for the PD proposal for the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders are discussed.     

Validation of the trust relationship audit (TRA): An item parcelling approach

This study sought to apply an item parcelling approach to confirm the factor structure of trust in the direct supervisor as measured by the trust relationship audit (TRA). The researchers analysed an existing data set on the TRA from 9 060 South African employees. For the analysis, the researchers utilised structural equation modelling, using item parcelling to confirm the factor structure. The results confirm that, in essence, the large sample structural model replicates the original small sample model, consisting of separate personality and managerial practices factors as antecedents of trust in supervisors. Two items measuring personality traits loaded differently in the small and the combined sample. The results suggest item parcelling to be a value-add in measure validation when data mining.     

Multidimensional perfectionism and the DSM-5 personality traits

Encouraging further research on the dimensional assessment of personality disorders (PDs), Section III of the DSM-5 introduced a hybrid model for the assessment of six PDs employing self-reports on 25 maladaptive personality traits (“DSM-5 personality traits”). Following suggestions that multidimensional perfectionism is an important characteristic across various personality disorders (Ayearst, Flett, & Hewitt, 2012), the present study investigated how personal (self-oriented) and interpersonal (other-oriented and socially prescribed) forms of perfectionism predicted the DSM-5 personality traits in a sample of 311 university students. Multiple regressions (controlling for the overlap between the different forms of perfectionism) showed that socially prescribed perfectionism positively predicted the traits defining schizotypal, borderline, avoidant, and obsessive-compulsive PD; other-oriented perfectionism positively predicted the traits defining narcissistic PD; and both socially prescribed and other-oriented perfectionism positively predicted the traits defining antisocial PD. In contrast, self-oriented perfectionism positively predicted only one of the four traits defining obsessive-compulsive PD (rigid perfectionism). Showing that multidimensional perfectionism predicted all DSM-5 traits defining the personality disorders of Section III, the findings suggest that future DSM-5 updates may profit from including interpersonal aspects of perfectionism as a diagnostic criterion.     

Dimensional personality traits and the prediction of DSM-IV personality disorder symptom counts in a nonclinical sample

The third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III; APA, 1980) set forth a categorical system of personality psychopathology that is composed of discrete personality disorders (PDs), each with a distinct set of diagnostic criteria. Although this system is widely accepted and highly influential, alternative dimensional approaches to capturing personality psychopathology have been proposed. Three dimensional models of personality have garnered particular attention-the Five-Factor Model (FFM; Costa & McCrae, 1992), the Seven-Factor Psychobiological Model of Temperament and Character (Seven-Factor Model; Cloninger, Svrakic, & Przybeck, 1993); and the 18-factor model of personality pathology (18-factor model; Livesley, 1986). Although the personality traits from each of these models has been examined in relation to the ten personality disorders in the DSM-IV, no study has examined the comparative and incremental validity of these models in predicting PD symptoms for these ten disorders. Using self-report instruments that measure these models and the ten DSM-IV PDs, correlation and linear regression analyses indicate that traits from all three models had statistically significant associations with PD symptom counts. Hierarchical regressions revealed that the 18-factor model had incremental predictive validity over the FFM and Seven-Fac-tor Model in predicting symptom counts for all ten DSM-IV PDs. The FFM had incremental predictive validity over the Seven-Factor Model model for all ten disorders and the Seven-Factor was able to add incremental predictive validity over the 18-factor model for five of the ten PDs and for eight of the ten disorders relative to the FFM.     

Inventory of Interpersonal Problems Personality Disorder scales: operating characteristics and confirmatory factor analysis in nonclinical samples

Research involving clinical samples has demonstrated the utility of a 28-item personality disorder (PD) screening measure (Inventory of Interpersonal Problems--Personality Disorder scale [IIP-PD]) culled from the IIP in the prediction of the presence or absence of a PD (Pilkonis, Kim, Proietti, & Barkham, 1996). This article extends these diagnostic efficiency findings to nonclinical samples and presents additional data regarding the factor structure of the 28 IIP-PD items. Diagnostic efficiency statistics for the IIP-PD scale, calculated using both interview and self-report methods, support the utility of the IIP-PD scale as a screening tool for the presence or absence of a PD. High specificity estimates indicate that individuals who do not exceed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) symptom thresholds rarely exceed the IIP-PD cutoff. Furthermore, a high negative predictive power (NPP) estimate derived using an interview-based diagnostic standard suggests that the IIP-PD scale accurately screens out individuals who do not have a PD. Finally, cross-validated confirmatory factor-analytic results involving items composing the 5 IIP PD subscales identified in previous research (Kim, Pilkonis, & Barkham, 1997) suggest that a measurement model with a single second-order factor (general PD) and 5 first-order factors (one representing each PD subscale) provided the best fit to the observed data compared to 2 other competing models.     

Item‐level Frame‐of‐reference Effects in Personality Testing: An investigation of incremental validity in an organizational setting

A recent line of research has investigated the frame‐of‐reference effect on personality scale scores, in which self‐report personality items are contextualized to the specific performance setting (e.g., work, school) within which the performance criterion is gathered. Contextualization has been shown to increase both the reliability and the criterion‐related validity of the personality scale scores by facilitating the self‐presentation of respondents, and by more closely measuring the personality construct relevant to the performance domain. The current research extends this area of personality research in two ways. First, this study tests the generalizability of the effectiveness of item‐level contextualization within an organizational setting. Second, this study also provides the necessary test of the incremental validity of this contextualized approach to personality measurement above and beyond the traditional, noncontextualized approach. The results confirm that a work‐specific personality measure, contextualized at the item level, adds to the prediction of job performance above and beyond that obtained by a noncontextual measure of the same personality traits. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

DSM-5 personality traits and DSM-IV personality disorders

Two issues pertinent to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) proposal for personality pathology, the recovery of DSM-IV personality disorders (PDs) by proposed DSM-5 traits and the validity of the proposed DSM-5 hybrid model, which incorporates both personality pathology symptoms and maladaptive traits, were evaluated in a large undergraduate sample (N = 808). Proposed DSM-5 traits as assessed with the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 explained a substantial proportion of variance in DSM-IV PDs as assessed with the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+, and trait indicators of the 6 proposed DSM-5 PDs were mostly specific to those disorders with some exceptions. Regression analyses support the DSM-5 hybrid model in that pathological traits, and an indicator of general personality pathology severity provided incremental information about PDs. Findings are discussed in the context of broader issues around the proposed DSM-5 model of personality disorders.     

An empirical examination of distributional assumptions underlying the relationship between personality disorder symptoms and personality traits

This article examines the relationship between personality disorder (PD) symptoms and personality traits using a variety of distributional assumptions. Prior work in this area relies almost exclusively on linear models that treat PD symptoms as normally distributed and continuous. However, these assumptions rarely hold, and thus the results of prior studies are potentially biased. Here we explore the effect of varying the distributions underlying regression models relating PD symptomatology to personality traits using the initial wave of the Longitudinal Study of Personality Disorders (N = 250; Lenzenweger, 1999), a university-based sample selected to include PD rates resembling epidemiological samples. PD symptoms were regressed on personality traits. The distributions underlying the dependent variable (i.e., PD symptoms) were variously modeled as normally distributed, as counts (Poisson, Negative-Binomial), and with two-part mixture distributions (zero-inflated, hurdle). We found that treating symptoms as normally distributed resulted in violations of model assumptions, that the negative-binomial and hurdle models were empirically equivalent, but that the coefficients achieving significance often differ depending on which part of the mixture distributions are being predicted (i.e., presence vs. severity of PD). Results have implications for how the relationship between normal and abnormal personality is understood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Robust Measurement via A Fused Latent and Graphical Item Response Theory Model

Item response theory (IRT) plays an important role in psychological and educational measurement. Unlike the classical testing theory, IRT models aggregate the item level information, yielding more accurate measurements. Most IRT models assume local independence, an assumption not likely to be satisfied in practice, especially when the number of items is large. Results in the literature and simulation studies in this paper reveal that misspecifying the local independence assumption may result in inaccurate measurements and differential item functioning. To provide more robust measurements, we propose an integrated approach by adding a graphical component to a multidimensional IRT model that can offset the effect of unknown local dependence. The new model contains a confirmatory latent variable component, which measures the targeted latent traits, and a graphical component, which captures the local dependence. An efficient proximal algorithm is proposed for the parameter estimation and structure learning of the local dependence. This approach can substantially improve the measurement, given no prior information on the local dependence structure. The model can be applied to measure both a unidimensional latent trait and multidimensional latent traits.     

Assessing within-person personality variability via frequency estimation: More evidence for a new measurement approach

Variability in personality has been recognized in recent years as an important aspect of personality both conceptually and empirically. A relatively new and efficient method of obtaining variability information is frequency-based personality assessment (Edwards & Woehr, 2007). The purpose of the present research is to further examine the viability of frequency-based personality measurement as an alternative to traditional (Likert-type) measurement and to assess the usefulness of the variance-based parameters. Toward this end, three studies are presented. Specifically, Study 1 examined relationships between a frequency-based measure of the Big Five personality traits and several motivational variables. Study 2 examined the moderating role of temporal consistency information (provided by frequency-based measurement) on relationships between personality and peer ratings of task performance. Study 3 compared the frequency-based measure to a Likert-type measure with respect to each measure’s susceptibility to deliberate response distortion. Results indicated that consistency information increases the predictive validity of agreeableness and conscientiousness and that a frequency-based format is less susceptible to faking than a Likert-type format for conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience.     

Compiling Measurement Invariant Short Scales in Cross-Cultural Personality Assessment Using Ant Colony Optimization

Examining the influence of culture on personality and its unbiased assessment is the main subject of cross-cultural personality research. Recent large-scale studies exploring personality differences across cultures share substantial methodological and psychometric shortcomings that render it difficult to differentiate between method and trait variance. One prominent example is the implicit assumption of cross-cultural measurement invariance in personality questionnaires. In the rare instances where measurement invariance across cultures was tested, scalar measurement invariance—which is required for unbiased mean-level comparisons of personality traits—did not hold. In this article, we present an item sampling procedure, ant colony optimization, which can be used to select item sets that satisfy multiple psychometric requirements including model fit, reliability, and measurement invariance. We constructed short scales of the IPIP-NEO-300 for a group of countries that are culturally similar (USA, Australia, Canada, and UK) as well as a group of countries with distinct cultures (USA, India, Singapore, and Sweden). In addition to examining factor mean differences across countries, we provide recommendations for cross-cultural research in general. From a methodological perspective, we demonstrate ant colony optimization's versatility and flexibility as an item sampling procedure to derive measurement invariant scales for cross-cultural research. © 2020 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology     

Specific Personality Traits and General Personality Dysfunction as Predictors of the Presence and Severity of Personality Disorders in a Clinical Sample

This study examined the associations of specific personality traits and general personality dysfunction in relation to the presence and severity of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. [DSM–IV]; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) personality disorders in a Dutch clinical sample. Two widely used measures of specific personality traits were selected, the Revised NEO Personality Inventory as a measure of normal personality traits, and the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Basic Questionnaire as a measure of pathological traits. In addition, 2 promising measures of personality dysfunction were selected, the General Assessment of Personality Disorder and the Severity Indices of Personality Problems. Theoretically predicted associations were found between the measures, and all measures predicted the presence and severity of DSM–IV personality disorders. The combination of general personality dysfunction models and personality traits models provided incremental information about the presence and severity of personality disorders, suggesting that an integrative approach of multiple perspectives might serve comprehensive assessment of personality disorders.     

Development of a Short Form of the Abridged Big Five-Dimensional Circumplex Model to Aid with the Organization of Personality Traits

Although there has been widespread consensus on the use of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of general personality functioning in personality research, there are various, diverse models of the lower order traits of the FFM domains. Given the usefulness of these finer grained traits, it is imperative to integrate facets proposed across a variety of models and eventually reach consensus on the lower level traits of the FFM. Due to its depth and coverage, the Abridged Big Five-Dimensional Circumplex (AB5C) model potentially provides a useful framework for organizing various faceted models due to its conceptual organization and inclusiveness. The only measure of this model—the IPIP–AB5C—has shown promise, but is limited by its length (i.e., 485 items). This study developed an abbreviated version of the IPIP–AB5C using an iterative process including item response theory methods. The shorter version maintained key features of the long form including a factor structure that matched the full form as well as facets that correlated in expected ways with other FFM measures. Building on this support, the short form was used to contextualize and organize the facets from 2 commonly used measures.     

Assessing personality in the DSM-5: the utility of bipolar constructs

All previous editions of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) have described and assessed personality solely in terms of pathological categories. Nonetheless, there is compelling evidence that normal-range personality traits also provide clinically useful information, emphasizing the importance of thoroughly assessing both adaptive and maladaptive aspects of personality within a clinical context. The proposed inclusion of a dimensional trait model in the upcoming DSM-5 represents an important shift in the understanding of personality pathology and provides an ideal opportunity to integrate the assessment of normal personality into clinical practice. Building on research conceptualizing personality disorders as maladaptive, extreme variants of general personality traits, it is proposed that both normal and abnormal personality can be assessed within the same dimensional model using bipolar constructs. The inclusion of bipolar traits, such as a continuum ranging from introversion to extraversion, would hold numerous advantages for a dimensional model. These benefits include a strong foundation of existing validity research, comprehensive coverage of personality pathology, and the ability to provide useful information about all individuals. Despite potential complexities, the adoption of bipolar constructs within DSM-5's dimensional model presents the greatest opportunity to maximize efficiency, validity, and clinical utility.     

Personality traits in the DSM-5

Recent advances in personality research coupled with a broad acknowledgment of the limitations of the representation of personality pathology in the third and fourth editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III and DSM-IV) have positioned personality science to influence the shape of personality assessment in the fifth edition (DSM-5). Representing normative personality with well-validated traits that are broad, normally distributed, theoretically integrative, and distinct from personality disorder constructs would take optimal advantage of this opportunity. The assessment of normative traits would also link a large body of personality research with the practice of clinical diagnosis and would encourage clinicians to consider every patient's personality regardless of his or her diagnosis. Furthermore, conceptualizing personality traits and disorders separately would promote more careful clinical consideration of the functional severity and specific symptom constellations among personality disorders. Based on these considerations I argue that Five-factor model personality traits should be assessed separately from personality disorders in the DSM-5.     

Early Childhood Teachers’ Perception of Creative Personality as a Predictor of Their Support of pedagogy important for fostering Creativity: A Chinese Perspective

Previous studies have suggested that teacher’s personality traits and pedagogy are the important areas of investigation in creativity research; however, little is known about the relationship between teachers’ personality traits and creativity-fostering pedagogy. This study proposed a model describing 3 types of perceived personality traits that contribute to teachers’ support of important creativity-fostering pedagogy. The model was tested on a sample of 875 Chinese early childhood teachers. This study first established factorial validity of the measurement scales, the Creative Personality Questionnaire (CPQ) and the Early Childhood Creative Pedagogy Questionnaire (ECCPQ). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the 4-factor structure of the ECCPQ, but failed to replicate the 5-factor structure of the CPQ. An alternative 3-factor model was obtained as a personality measure. The results of multiple regression and structural equation modeling analysis showed that the proposed model was partially supported by the data. Although cognitive abilities factor of creative personality, as expected, was the strongest predictor of self-reported important creative pedagogy, surprisingly openness did not explain unique variance in any of the creative pedagogy factors. One distinct path tapped a relation between the discipline personality traits and teacher-oriented pedagogy was identified, which was seldom addressed in Western creativity research. It may reflect a cultural-specific indigenous variations.