Incremental validity of positive and negative valence in predicting personality disorder

The Meaning and Clinical Implications of Low MMPI-3 Self-Importance Scores

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 (MMPI-3) includes two self-concept-oriented scales: Self-Doubt (SFD), a measure of low self-esteem, and Self-Importance (SFI), a measure of beliefs that one has special attributes and abilities. Past research has demonstrated that SFD and SFI measure related but distinct constructs. The present study focused on explicating the meaning and clinical implications of low SFI scores. Using three clinical samples (private practice and community mental health and private practice neuropsychology clinics), we investigated whether the presence of interpretable low SFI scores (< 39 T) in the context of interpretable SFD elevations (≥ 65 T) is associated with distinctive MMPI-3 findings, and whether low SFI scores add clinically meaningful information in predicting relevant extra-test criteria. Consistent meaningful findings were obtained with respect to implications of low SFI scores for assessment of depression- and social engagement-related constructs. Additionally, the full range of SFI scores was meaningfully and negatively correlated with depressive disorder diagnoses and suicidal ideation but yielded very small correlations with suicide attempt and nonmeaningful correlations with diagnoses of Social Anxiety or Avoidant Personality Disorder. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses showed that SFI scores could meaningfully increment other related MMPI-3 scales in predicting diagnosed depressive disorders, albeit with small effect sizes.

Personality Dimensions of Serbian Lifeguards

According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global drowning report (2017), drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide. Drowning can occur anywhere there is water: oceans, seas, lakes, pools, bathtubs, rivers or water collection on the side of the road, etc. In many countries, there are drowning prevention programs for children and adults. The two most commonly used strategiesagainst drowning are the presence of lifeguards in public places and the use of protected areas that could prevent most of the drownings. The main aim of the present study is to examine the individual differences in a Big Five plus Two (BF+2) personality traits in lifeguards and non-lifeguards (including students). The subsample of lifeguards represented 122 male respondents who were, at the time of the survey, licensed as lifeguards (60.9%) or were in training for lifeguards—candidates (39.1%). The subsample of students represented 138 male respondents who were studying at the University of Novi Sad. The results indicate that lifeguards in comparison to students are more extraverted, open to experience, and conscientious, less neurotic, and aggressive. Both positive and negative valence are higher in student subsample. All of the above traits are desirable traits for people working as lifeguards.

The role of the DSM-5 personality trait model in moving toward a quantitative and empirically based approach to classifying personality and psychopathology

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) represents a watershed moment in the history of official psychopathology classification systems because it is the first DSM to feature an empirically based model of maladaptive personality traits. Attributes of patients with personality disorders were discussed by the DSM-5 Personality and Personality Disorders Work Group and then operationalized and refined in the course of an empirical project that eventuated in the construction of the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5). We review research to date on the DSM-5 trait model, with a primary aim of discussing how this kind of research could serve to better tether the DSM to data as it continues to evolve. For example, studies to date suggest that the DSM-5 trait model provides reasonable coverage of personality pathology but also suggest areas for continued refinement. This kind of research provides a way of evolving psychopathology classification on the basis of research evidence as opposed to clinical authority.

Deriving an empirical structure of personality pathology for DSM-5

The DSM-IV model of personality disorders is composed of trait sets arranged into 10 theoretically distinct, polythetically assessed categories, with little regard for how the traits comprising these disorders are interrelated and structured. Research since the publication of DSM-III has shown that this model is untenable. The question is not whether this model needs revision; rather, the question is how to move from the existing DSM-IV framework to a model better connected with data. Empirically-based models of personality trait variation provide a starting point for DSM-5, and ongoing research will be used to delineate further the empirical structure of personality traits in the pathological range. The ultimate goal is to frame future DSMs in a way that is maximally useful for clinicians as well as researchers. It is also critical to understand that the DSM-5 is intended to be a living document that will facilitate novel inquiry and clinical applications, as opposed to a document designed to promote and perpetuate a fixed set of constructs. Thus, we view a proposed trait system as a first step on a path to a well-validated, clinically-useful structure.