Development and Validation of the Interview of Personality Organization Processes in Adolescence (IPOP-A)

Unpacking the p-factor. Associations Between Maladaptive Personality Traits and General Psychopathology in Female and Male Adolescents

Adolescence is a period of rapid physical, psychological, and neural maturation that makes youth vulnerable to emerging psychopathology, highlighting the need for improved identification of psychopathology risk indicators. Recently, a higher-order latent psychopathology factor (p-factor) was identified that explains latent liability for psychopathology beyond internalizing and externalizing difficulties. However, recent proposals suggest reconceptualizing the p-factor model in terms of impairments in personality encompassing difficulties in both self-regulation (borderline features) and self-esteem (narcissistic features), but this remains untested. To address this, this study examined the p-factor structure and the contribution of borderline and narcissistic features using two cross-sectional data collections. In Study 1, 974 cisgender adolescents (63% assigned females at birth; age range: 13-19; Mage = 16.68, SD = 1.40) reported on internalizing and externalizing problems (YSR) to test via structural equation models (SEM) different theoretical models for adolescent psychopathology. In Study 2, 725 cisgender adolescents (64.5% assigned females at birth; age range: 13-19; Mage = 16.22, SD = 1.32) reported internalizing and externalizing problems (YSR), borderline personality features (BPFSC-11), and narcissistic personality traits (PNI), to explore, via SEM, the contribution of borderline and narcissistic traits to the p-factor and accounting for gender differences. Results confirmed the utility of a bi-factor model in adolescence. Furthermore, findings highlighted the contribution of borderline features and narcissistic vulnerability to general psychopathology. The study provides the first evidence supporting a p-factor model reconceptualized in terms of personality impairments encompassing difficulties in self-regulation and self-esteem in adolescents.

Empirical Developments in Transference-Focused Psychotherapy

OBJECTIVE

Transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP) is an empirically supported individualized psychotherapy for patients with borderline personality disorder. This review highlights its development and current status.

METHODS

A review of the theoretical background underpinning TFP and empirical advances in the development of TFP provide perspective.

RESULTS

Otto Kernberg's object relations model of personality and its implications for assessment and diagnosis of personality disorders are described. The authors review the programmatic research that has been developed and has demonstrated the efficacy of TFP. In view of the empirical studies that have demonstrated the successful outcomes and processes of TFP for patients with borderline personality disorder, compared with other approaches, TFP has been applied to a broader range of difficulties related to patients' self-functioning and interpersonal functioning across the range of severities in personality pathology, consistent with the Alternative DSM-5 Model for Personality Disorders. The authors discuss borderline personality organization in the context of interpersonal, neurocognitive, and self-regulatory dysfunction, including preliminary findings.

CONCLUSIONS

The theoretical and empirical advances in TFP lead to future directions for research evaluating personality disorder and its treatment.

Problematic internet use as a moderator between personality dimensions and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in adolescence

Digital technology use plays an essential role in adolescents' psychological adjustment, impacting their mental health and well-being. In this scenario, Problematic Internet Use (PIU) is a risky condition for developing behavioral addiction in adolescence. Most of the research on PIU in adolescence focus on dimensions that may amplify or buffer it, finding significant associations between PIU and interpersonal problems with peers, maladaptive personality traits, low self-esteem, emotion dysregulation, and increasing psychological difficulties. It has been suggested that PIU might represent a maladaptive coping strategy to tackle problematic psychosocial functioning. In this line, the current cross-sectional study focused on PIU's role in the association between personality dimensions and internalizing/externalizing problems. Two-hundred thirty-one middle and late adolescents (age range 15-19 years; 62% Female) attending public junior high schools in Italy completed the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Adolescent Personality Structure Questionnaire (APS-Q), and the Youth Self Report (YSR). Moderation analyses were used to test the hypothesis that higher PIU amplifies the relationship between maladaptive personality dimensions and psychological symptoms. Results indicated that only high PIU influenced the relationship between difficulties in building significant relationships with peers and internalizing problems. Conversely, PIU buffered the relationship between difficulties in adolescents' sense of self (identity) and internalizing problems and the association between aggression regulation and internalizing problems, supporting the role of PIU as a maladaptive coping strategy. These findings encourage accurately evaluating PIU as a risk factor in adolescence: (1) considering how high PIU's presence should impact the relationship between adolescent personality and the quality of their relationships with peers; (2) acknowledging the role of PIU as a regulation strategy for identity difficulties and aggression dysregulation.