Verification of five-factor models and reference scores for personality dysfunction and trait domains of the Personality Assessment Questionnaire for ICD-11 (PAQ-11), revised version

A brief self-reported measure of the Personality Assessment Questionnaire for the 11th edition of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Disease (ICD-11) (PAQ-11) was developed to evaluate ICD-11 personality traits. The aim of this study was to investigate the validity of the revised PAQ-11 version (PAQ-11R) with an additional item in the Dissociality domain and thresholds for the severity of personality dysfunction and domains. Study 1 examined the construct validity of the PAQ-11R in 192 university students in Korea. Study 2 estimated tentative reference scores of personality dysfunction and domains of the PAQ-11R in 91 patients in Korea. In study 1, the PAQ-11R had a five-factor structure and the revised Dissociality scale had better convergent and discriminant validities than the previous version. In study 2, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of the PAQ-11R identified a threshold score of 35. Reference scores for domains were estimated as 15 for Negative Affectivity, 10 for Detachment, 8 for Anankastia, and 5 each for Disinhibition and Dissociality. These scores contribute to severity of personality disturbance but remain qualifiers only; they are not diagnostic. The results suggest that the PAQ-11R is useful as a quick assessment tool for identifying the domains of personality dysfunction in clinical practice in harmony with the ICD-11 guidelines.

Special section: Self-other distinction in personality disorders

Problems with self- and interpersonal functioning are defining features of personality disorders (PDs) that seem to stem from impairments in self-other distinction (SOD), that is, the sociocognitive capacity to distinguish between one's own and others' mental and physical experiences. There has been recent renewed interest in this topic across a wide range of fields, from clinical psychology to social neuroscience and experimental psychology. This special section on "Self-Other Distinction in Personality Disorders" is therefore very timely, particularly given the shift to dimensional views of personality pathology with an emphasis on impairment in self and relatedness. In this editorial, we first summarize the various research traditions concerning the potential role of SOD impairment in PDs, including recent advancements in social neuroscience and experimental psychology focusing on the mechanisms that might underlie SOD. We then discuss the main contributions of the five highly innovative articles in this special section. Together, these articles highlight the potential value of a focus on PDs through the lens of SOD impairments in order to better understand key features of this group of disorders, such as emotional contagion, perspective-taking difficulties, blurred embodied self-other boundaries, and self-other coordination difficulties. Our increasing insights into SOD problems can also be expected to increase the effectiveness of treatments for PDs and related conditions. Yet, much work remains to be done in this area, and we end this editorial by discussing a number of potential avenues for translational research in this regard. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).