Journal of personality assessment最新文献

The STIPO-R (Structured Interview of Personality Organization - Revised) is an interview assessing personality organization across five major functional domains (identity, object relations, defenses, aggression, moral values). In contrast to a-theoretical models, the STIPO-R offers a theoretically grounded conceptualization of personality pathology based on object-relations theory. This study tests psychometric properties of the interview across mixed psychiatric patients (N = 180) and community individuals (N = 170) in Italy. Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicated that a bifactor model with five specific factors and a general factor had good fit. The latent scores discriminated between patients and controls, while some specific dimensions differentiated those with PDs from other psychiatric patients. The STIPO-R had sensible correlations with criterion measures, including maladaptive personality traits and symptom distress. Finally, a network analysis on the mean scores of the STIPO-R suggested no major difference in the network structure between patients and controls, indicating that the dimensions of defenses, aggression, and identity were the most interconnected in the networks. The STIPO-R appears to be a valid tool to assess personality impairment, and a good operationalization of the psychodynamic theory of personality pathology upon which it is built.

The dimensional approach to psychiatric symptoms, including the general psychopathology factor (p-factor), has gained increasing attention for its potential to elucidate pathophysiology and inform treatment. However, comprehensive assessment of transdiagnostic psychiatric symptoms remains particularly challenging, especially in Japan. The DSM-5 Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure (DSM-XC) was developed to capture a broad spectrum of symptoms across disorders, yet its validity in assessing both specific symptoms and the p-factor remains underexplored. This study examined the reliability and validity of the DSM-XC in a general population sample in Japan. The results demonstrated that the total DSM-XC score exhibited high internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity with self-reported psychiatric measures. However, item-level analysis revealed that several items had low test-retest reliability. Moreover, factor analysis indicated that the DSM-XC primarily captures internalizing symptoms rather than general psychopathology. These findings suggest that while the DSM-XC may serve as an indirect indicator of the p-factor, its ability to directly measure the p-factor itself and assess specific symptoms requires further scrutiny. Although the DSM-XC provides a convenient tool for partly evaluating general and specific symptoms, its limitations underscore the need for further refinement to achieve a more comprehensive assessment of psychopathology.

Suicide among post-9/11 U.S. military veterans has increased dramatically, with effective identification of veteran suicide risk remaining a national priority. We investigated the utility of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 (MMPI-3) in assessing suicide risk within this population. Participants were 189 post-9/11 veterans, predominantly male (75.1%) and White/Caucasian (77.8%), who completed the MMPI-3 and self-report measures of suicidality. In this cross-sectional study, we compared MMPI-3 profiles of veterans reporting a lifetime history of suicidal ideation only or suicide attempts to those who did not, with a focus on the Suicidal/Death Ideation (SUI) scale and markers of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. One-way ANOVAs revealed large effect sizes for SUI in differentiating veterans who reported no suicidal ideation from those with suicide attempts (d = 3.33) and those with suicidal ideation only (d = 1.81), as well as veterans who reported suicidal ideation only from those who also reported past suicide attempts (d = .88). With a few exceptions, markers of internalizing (e.g., Demoralization [RCd]) significantly differentiated the no suicidal ideation group from the suicidal ideation only (ds = .52-1.12) and suicide attempt groups (ds = .48-1.59), while markers of externalizing (e.g., DISC) differentiated the suicidal ideation only and suicide attempt groups (ds = .50-.60). Analyses also revealed very large correlations between SUI and the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms-II (IDAS-II) Suicidality scale (r = .74), and Self-Harm Inventory (r = .51). The SUI scale incremented the RC scales and other SP scales in predicting IDAS-II Suicidality scores (11%-16% additional variance) and SHI scores (2%-4% additional variance). These findings underscore the clinical utility of the MMPI-3, particularly the SUI scale, in comprehensive suicide risk assessments.

Using data from three Chinese samples (Ns = 611, 403, 299) collected using both monolingual and bilingual designs, we evaluated the psychometric properties and factor structure of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory 3 (FFI-3), the short form of the NEO Personality Inventory 3 (PI-3), for use in Chinese communities. Although the FFI-3 contains only a quarter of the 240 items of the PI-3, exploratory structural equation modeling revealed that it maintained the five-factor structure of the long form and achieved acceptable levels of internal consistency, cross-language validity, and test-retest reliability. The correlation coefficients between the short-form factors and the corresponding long-form factors were all above .86, indicating a strong association between the short and long versions of the scale. Taken together, our findings suggest that the FFI-3 is a viable tool for mapping personality in Chinese communities.

Charles Manson, notorious for his involvement in the gruesome Tate-LaBianca murders of 1969, remains a polarizing figure. His case has divided not only the public but also clinicians and researchers, resulting in a wide array of diagnoses from personality disorders to schizophrenia. To shed light on this longstanding debate, this study employs a novel approach to systematically assess moment-to-moment dyadic interpersonal exchanges between Manson and several interviewers over a 21-year span. Utilizing Continuous Assessment of Interpersonal Dynamics (CAID), we analyzed seven video-recorded interviews of Manson from 1972 to 1993. Unified Structural Equation Modeling revealed a consistent pattern of dominant and cold interpersonal behavior. Manson demonstrated high agency (dominance) and low communion (warmth) across all interactions but also the capacity for strategic interpersonal behaviors and goal-directed communication, contrasting with disorganized patterns typically associated with schizophrenia. Simulation Modeling Analysis revealed a progressive intensification and rigidity of dominant-cold interpersonal patterns over time. Our findings suggest that Manson's interpersonal style aligns more with severe personality pathology, particularly features of malignant narcissism, rather than a primary psychotic disorder. The study offers a new methodology to investigate complex cases of severe psychopathology and highlights the potential of assessing momentary interpersonal processes in forensic and clinical settings.

Multivariate base rates (MBR) of elevations are an emerging psychometric paradigm for enhanced interpretation of multiscale self-report data. The aims of this study were to calculate and compare MBR of scale/subscale elevations on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) and determine the ability of MBR to differentiate between mood disorders (n = 524, k = 3), military-based posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; n = 252, k = 2), and coached PTSD-simulator (n = 160, k = 1) groups. Overall, having at least one standard (T ≥ 70) and skyline elevation on clinical scales and clinical subscales was common across the groups. However, differential abnormal elevation thresholds emerged for each group. For instance, it was unusual (i.e., MBR < 10%) for the mood disorders group to have ≥ 1 (9.7%) and for the genuine PTSD group to have ≥ 3 (9.1%) skyline-elevated clinical scales. For subscales, it was unusual for the mood and PTSD groups to have ≥ 3 (7.6%) and ≥ 7 (8.3%) skyline-elevated clinical subscales, respectively. Conversely, PTSD simulators commonly yielded profiles with standard- and skyline elevations on nearly all clinical scales and subscales. MBR cutoffs identified from receiver-operating characteristic curve analyses yielded robust sensitivity (.650-.806) and specificity (.833-.984) in differentiating genuine PTSD and mood disorder groups from PTSD simulators. MBR are useful in differentiating genuine from simulated psychopathology, consistent with broader scale-based infrequency approaches.

The Dispositional Insight Test (DIT) is designed to assess a person's knowledge representations of personality and behavior expressions in different situational contexts. Despite its usefulness for professionals who regularly assess people, the factor structure of the DIT and measurement properties in different national populations have yet to be tested. Here, we report on the dimensionality and cross-cultural equivalence of the full and short Dispositional Insight Test (DIT and DIT-S), a novel measure of an important but understudied concept. Participants were students and their acquaintances in three countries from distinct world regions (n = 817 in the Netherlands, 434 in New Zealand, and 437 in South Africa), who completed the test online. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis for categorical outcomes supported a higher order dimensional structure comprising three factors: trait induction, trait extrapolation, and trait contextualization. Invariance testing showed this structure to be equivalent across the three cultural groups. The DIT exhibited expected correlations with cognitive ability. Future cross-cultural research on the DIT and its correlates is invited.

In this article, we present three studies designed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Regulatory Emotional Self-efficacy Scale at Work (RESE-W). In Study 1 (N = 1735), we tested and confirmed a bifactorial structure comprised of one general and two specific dimensions across the six scale items. In Study 2 (N = 211), we investigated the relations of the RESE-W with emotional dynamics at work by estimating its associations with emotional variability, inertia, granularity, and baseline levels. In Study 3 (N = 294), we examined the scale's convergent and external validity, as well as the incremental predictive value of the RESE-W compared to other measures of emotional regulation abilities. Results supported the validity of the instrument and its utility in predicting individuals' emotional functioning within applied settings.

Object relations (OR) scales were recently developed for the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank by Rucker and Krishnamurthy (2023). This study examined the psychometric properties of these scales with N = 160 psychiatric inpatients by evaluating the factor structure, internal reliability, and criterion validity with instruments measuring object relations features. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated a two-factor model was a better fit than a one-factor model; however, neither were excellent fits. Interrater reliability was excellent for the Self-Representation (r = .95), Other-Representation (r = .96), and Total OR scales (r = .97). Internal consistency reliability for the Total OR scale was acceptable at α = .72, but Self-Representation (α = .67) and Other-Representation (α = .58) subscales were in the clinically suboptimal range. Construct validity analyses demonstrated several conceptually relevant convergences with scales from the Inventory for Personality Organization and Bell Object Relations and Reality Testing Inventory, but unconvincing divergences. Group differences in RISB OR scores were observed between inpatients with and without a personality disorder. Altogether, these findings provide mixed psychometric support for the RISB OR scales and raise doubts about their use as standalone instruments. Results suggest a need for continued reevaluation, if not refinement.