The DAPP-BQ in The Netherlands: factor structure and relationship with basic personality dimensions

Convergence of the dimensional assessment of personality pathology (DAPP-BQ) and the five-factor personality inventory for the international classification of diseases 11th edition (FFiCD) in the context of the five-factor model and personality disorders

The current manuscript presents the convergence of the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology (DAPP-BQ), using its short form the DAPP-90, and the Five-Factor Personality Inventory for International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), the FFiCD, in the context of the five-factor personality model and the categorical approach of personality disorders (PDs). The current manuscript compares the predictive validity of both the FFiCD and the DAPP-90 regarding personality disorder scales and clusters. Results demonstrate a very high and meaningful convergence between the DAPP-90 and the FFiCD personality pathology models and a strong alignment with the FFM. The DAPP-90 and the FFiCD also present an almost identical predictive power of PDs. The DAPP-90 accounts for between 18% and 47%, and the FFiCD between 21% and 47% of PDs adjusted variance. It is concluded that both DAPP-90 and FFiCD questionnaires measure strongly similar pathological personality traits that could be described within the frame of the FFM. Additionally, both questionnaires predict a very similar percentage of the variance of personality disorders.

Predictors of suicidal ideation severity among treatment-seeking young people with major depressive disorder: The role of state and trait anxiety

OBJECTIVE

Depression and suicidal ideation are closely intertwined. Yet, among young people with depression, the specific factors that contribute to changes in suicidal ideation over time are uncertain. Factors other than depressive symptom severity, such as comorbid psychopathology and personality traits, might be important contributors. Our aim was to identify contributors to fluctuations in suicidal ideation severity over a 12-week period in young people with major depressive disorder receiving cognitive behavioural therapy.

METHODS

Data were drawn from two 12-week randomised, placebo-controlled treatment trials. Participants (N = 283) were 15-25 years old, with moderate to severe major depressive disorder. The primary outcome measure was the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire, administered at baseline and weeks 4, 8 and 12. A series of linear mixed models was conducted to examine the relationship between Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire score and demographic characteristics, comorbid psychopathology, personality traits and alcohol use.

RESULTS

Depression and anxiety symptom severity, and trait anxiety, independently predicted higher suicidal ideation, after adjusting for the effects of time, demographics, affective instability, non-suicidal self-injury and alcohol use.

CONCLUSIONS

Both state and trait anxiety are important longitudinal correlates of suicidal ideation in depressed young people receiving cognitive behavioural therapy, independent of depression severity. Reducing acute psychological distress, through reducing depression and anxiety symptom severity, is important, but interventions aimed at treating trait anxiety could also potentially be an effective intervention approach for suicidal ideation in young people with depression.

Psychosocial adversity and emotional instability: an application of gene–environment interaction models

A central idea in personality theory is that events in childhood have an effect on the development of personality. The present study applied models of gene–environment interaction that demonstrate how environmental conditions may moderate genetic variability in a population and/or the influence of other environmental effects. Results showed that perceived levels of family conflict and maternal indulgence moderated the genetic influences underlying emotional instability, a central feature of borderline personality disorder. The analyses identified a wide variety of environmental influences that moderate the variability in the liability to emotional instability, such as perceived levels of parental bonding, family functioning, and exposure to nonassaultive traumatic events. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Differentiating normal, abnormal, and disordered personality

Interest in the interface between normality and psychopathology was renewed with the publication of DSM‐III more than 20 years ago. The use of a separate axis to classify disorders of personality brought increased attention to these conditions. At the same time, the definition of personality disorder as inflexible and maladaptive traits stimulated interest in the relationship between normal and disordered personality structure and functioning. The evidence suggests that the traits delineating personality disorder are continuous with normal variation and that the structural relationships among these traits resemble the structures described by normative trait theories. Recognition that personality disorder represents the extremes of trait dimensions emphasizes the importance of differentiating normal, abnormal, and disordered personality. It is argued that while abnormal personality may be considered extreme variation, personality disorder is more than statistical variation. A definition of personality disorder is suggested based on accounts of the adaptive functions of personality. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Assessment of personality problems among patients with substance use disorders

Aim

Several studies have shown that personality disorders (PDs) are frequently occurring among patients with substance use disorders (SUDs). A development from research of co-occurrence estimates in this patient group investigates personality problems as dimensional constructs, which seek to capture the core of personality pathology. The aim of our study was to explore whether personality problems might be assessed among SUD patients in early stages of treatment. We also sought to investigate personality problem severity among Norwegian adult SUD patients.

Design

Personality problems were assessed using the self-report questionnaire Severity Indices of Personality Problems (SIPP-118). The study sample consisted of 155 SUD patients currently in treatment at detoxification sections at Oslo University Hospital.

Results

Though psychometric evaluation of the SIPP-118, we found that personality problems could be assessed with high levels of internal consistency and convergent validity in SUD patients during detoxification. This is an important contribution to the discussion concerning time and context of personality pathology assessment in the SUD treatment field. The results indicated that SUD patients have personality problems at a level of severity comparable to previously investigated PD patient samples, and significantly more severe than personality problems found in normal population samples. This indicates that personality problems are a common, as well as a detrimental, feature among SUD patients, which further points towards considering these in all aspects of SUD treatment.

Conclusions

Assessing personality problems early in treatment may enable a more integrated approach to SUD treatment targeting personality problems and substance-related problems.

Dimensions of Personality Pathology in Adolescence: Longitudinal Associations With Big Five Personality Dimensions Across Childhood and Adolescence

To investigate validity of the dimensions that underlie pathological personality in adolescence, we delineated the hierarchical structure of the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Short Form-Adolescent version (DAPP-SF-A; Tromp & Koot, 2008) and examined longitudinal associations with Big Five personality dimensions assessed four times from middle childhood to late adolescence. A total of 426 adolescents provided self-reports on the DAPP-SF-A (age M = 18.6, SD = 1.17; 53% female). Mothers provided information on their child's personality eleven, eight, five, and three years earlier. Previous findings on the hierarchical structure of the DAPP-BQ replicated up to the four-component solution (emotional dysregulation, dissocial behavior, inhibition, and compulsivity). In the solution, a thought disturbance component emerged. Interestingly, the five-component solution already showed most differentiated associations with childhood personality in middle childhood. Childhood personality dimensions predicted four out of five adolescent pathological personality traits, indicating continuity of normal and abnormal personality across childhood and adolescence.

Effectiveness of Short-Term Inpatient Psychotherapy Based on Transactional Analysis With Patients With Personality Disorders: A Matched Control Study Using Propensity Score

Controlled studies on the effectiveness of inpatient psychotherapy with patients with personality disorders (PD) are rare. This study aims to compare 3-month short-term inpatient psychotherapy based on transactional analysis (STIP-TA) with other psychotherapies (OP) up to 36-month follow-up. PD patients treated with STIP-TA were matched with OP patients using the propensity score. The primary outcome measure was general psychiatric symptomatology; secondary outcomes were psychosocial functioning and quality of life. In 67 pairs of patients, both STIP-TA and OP showed large symptomatic and functional improvements. However, STIP-TA patients showed more symptomatic improvement at all time points compared to OP patients. At 36 months, 68% of STIP-TA patients were symptomatically recovered compared to 48% of OP patients. STIP-TA outperformed OP in terms of improvements in general psychiatric symptomatology and quality of life. Superiority of STIP-TA was most pronounced at 12-month follow-up, but remained intact over the course of the 3-year follow-up.

The Dimensional Assessment of Personality Psychopathology Basic Questionnaire: shortened versions item analysis

This study has been designed to evaluate and replicate the psychometric properties of the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Psychopathology-Basic Questionnaire (DAPP-BQ) and the DAPP-BQ short form (DAPP-SF) in a large Spanish general population sample. Additionally, we have generated a reduced form called DAPP-90, using a strategy based on a structural equation modeling (SEM) methodology in two independent samples, a calibration and a validation sample. The DAPP-90 scales obtained a more satisfactory fit on SEM adjustment values (average: TLI > .97 and RMSEA < .04) respect to full DAPP-BQ and the 136-item version. According to the factorial congruency coefficients, the DAPP-90 obtains a similar structure to the DAPP-BQ and the DAPP-SF. The DAPP-90 internal consistency is acceptable, with a Cronbach's alpha mean of .75. We did not find any differences in the pattern of relations between the two DAPP-BQ shortened versions and the SCL-90-R factors. The new 90-items version is especially useful when it is difficult to use the long version for diverse reasons, such as the assessment of patients in hospital consultation or in brief psychological assessments.

A comparative analysis of personality pathology profiles among patients with pure depressive-, pure anxiety-, and pure somatoform disorders

BACKGROUND

Depressive-, anxiety-, and somatoform disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders. The assessment of comorbid personality pathology or traits in these disorders is relevant, because it can lead to the exacerbation of them or to poorer remission rates. To date, no research findings have been published on the comparison of these three prevalent patient groups with regard to comorbid dimensional personality pathology.

METHODS

Data of participants (18-60 years) came from a web-based Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM) programme. The present study used baseline data and was designed to compare personality pathology profiles between three separate outpatient groups: pure anxiety disorders (n=1633), pure depressive disorders (n=1794), and pure somatoform disorders (n=479). Personality pathology was measured with the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Short Form (DAPP-SF).

RESULTS

The pure depressive disorder group, in comparison to the other two disorder groups, exhibited the worst psychopathological and functional health image and most personality pathology. In the pure anxiety disorder group, the highest mean was found for the personality trait Anxiousness; and in the pure depressive disorder group for the traits Identity problems, Affective lability, Anxiousness, and Restricted expression.

LIMITATIONS

The cross-sectional nature of the study limits the conclusions that can be drawn.

CONCLUSIONS

The assessment of comorbid personality pathology in depressive-, anxiety-, somatoform disorders is clinically relevant, whether a patient has a personality disorder or not. This way, treatment could partly be focused on specific personality traits that may be counterproductive for treatment outcome, especially in depressive disorders.

Effectiveness of Psychotherapy in Personality Disorders Not Otherwise Specified: A Comparison of Different Treatment Modalities

OBJECTIVE

Although personality disorder not otherwise specified (PDNOS) is highly prevalent and associated with a high burden of disease, only a few treatment studies in this patient group exist. This study is the first to investigate the effectiveness of different modalities of psychotherapy in patients with PDNOS, i.e., short-term (up to 6 months) and long-term (more than 6 months) outpatient, day hospital, and inpatient psychotherapy.

METHOD

A total of 205 patients with PDNOS were assigned to one of six treatment modalities. Effectiveness was assessed over 60 months after baseline. The primary outcome measure was symptom severity, and the secondary outcome measures included psychosocial functioning and quality of life. The study design was quasi-experimental, and the multiple propensity score was used to control for initial differences between treatment groups.

RESULTS

All treatment modalities showed positive outcomes, especially in terms of improvements of symptom severity and social role functioning. At 12-month follow-up, after adjustment for initial differences between the treatment groups, short-term outpatient psychotherapy and short-term inpatient psychotherapy showed most improvement and generally outperformed the other modalities concerning symptom severity. At 60 months after baseline, effectiveness remained but observed differences between modalities mostly diminished.

CONCLUSION

Patients with PDNOS benefit from psychotherapy both at short-term and long-term follow-up. Short-term outpatient psychotherapy and short-term inpatient psychotherapy seem to be superior to the other treatment modalities at 12-month follow-up. At 60-month follow-up, treatments showed mostly comparable effectiveness.

KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGES

The effectiveness of different modalities of psychotherapy in patients with PDNOS (i.e., short-term vs long-term; outpatient versus day hospital versus inpatient psychotherapy) has not yet been compared. Different modalities of psychotherapy are effective for patients with PDNOS, and positive effects remain after 5 years. In patients with PDNOS short-term (less than 6 months) outpatient psychotherapy and short-term inpatient psychotherapy seem to be superior to the four other treatment modalities at 12-month follow-up. At 60-month follow-up, treatments showed mostly comparable effectiveness.

Day Hospital Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT-DH) versus treatment as usual in the treatment of severe borderline personality disorder: protocol of a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Severe borderline personality disorder is associated with a very high psychosocial and economic burden. Current treatment guidelines suggest that several manualized treatments, including day hospital Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT-DH), are effective in these patients. However, only two randomized controlled trials have compared manualized MBT-DH with treatment as usual. Given the relative paucity of data supporting the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of MBT-DH, the possible influence of researcher allegiance in one of the trials, and potential problems with the generalization of findings to mental health systems in other countries, this multi-site randomized trial aims to investigate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of manualized MBT-DH compared to manualized specialist treatment as usual in The Netherlands.

METHODS/DESIGN

The trial is being conducted at two sites in The Netherlands. Patients with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and a score of ≥ 20 on the Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index were randomly allocated to MBT-DH or treatment as usual. The MBT-DH program consists of a maximum of 18 months' intensive treatment, followed by a maximum of 18 months of maintenance therapy. Specialist treatment as usual is provided by the City Crisis Service in Amsterdam, a service that specializes in treating patients with personality disorders, offering manualized, non-MBT interventions including family interventions, Linehan training, social skills training, and pharmacotherapy, without a maximum time limit. Patients are assessed at baseline and subsequently every 6 months up to 36 months after the start of treatment. The primary outcome measure is the frequency and severity of manifestations of borderline personality disorder as assessed by the Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index. Secondary outcome measures include parasuicidal behaviour, symptomatic distress, social and interpersonal functioning, personality functioning, attachment, capacity for mentalizing and quality of life. Cost-effectiveness is assessed in terms of the cost per quality-adjusted life year. Outcomes will be analyzed using multilevel analyses based on intention-to-treat principles.

DISCUSSION

Severe borderline personality disorder is a serious psychological disorder that is associated with high burden. This multi-site randomized trial will provide further data concerning the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of MBT-DH for these patients.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

NTR2175.

Personality and personality disorders in urban and rural Africa: results from a field trial in burkina faso

When conducting research in different cultural settings, assessing measurement equivalence is of prime importance to determine if constructs and scores can be compared across groups. Structural equivalence implies that constructs have the same meaning across groups, metric equivalence implies that the metric of the scales remains stable across groups, and full scale or scalar equivalence implies that the origin of the scales is the same across groups. Several studies have observed that the structure underlying both normal personality and personality disorders (PDs) is stable across cultures. Most of this cross-cultural research was conducted in Western and Asian cultures. In Africa, the few studies were conducted with well-educated participants using French or English instruments. No research was conducted in Africa with less privileged or preliterate samples. The aim of this research was to study the structure and expression of normal and abnormal personality in an urban and a rural sample in Burkina Faso. The sample included 1,750 participants, with a sub-sample from the urban area of Ouagadougou (n = 1,249) and another sub-sample from a rural village, Soumiaga (n = 501). Most participants answered an interview consisting of a Mooré language adaptation of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory and of the International Personality Disorders Examination. Mooré is the language of the Mossi ethnic group, and the most frequently spoken local language in Burkina Faso. A sub-sample completed the same self-report instruments in French. Demographic variables only had a small impact on normal and abnormal personality traits mean levels. The structure underlying normal personality was unstable across regions and languages, illustrating that translating a complex psychological inventory into a native African language is a very difficult task. The structure underlying abnormal personality and the metric of PDs scales were stable across regions. As scalar equivalence was not reached, mean differences cannot be interpreted. Nevertheless, these differences could be due to an exaggerated expression of abnormal traits valued in the two cultural settings. Our results suggest that studies using a different methodology should be conducted to understand what is considered, in different cultures, as deviating from the expectations of the individual’s culture, and as a significant impairment in self and interpersonal functioning, as defined by the DSM-5.

Further evidence for the fifth higher trait of personality pathology: a correlation study using normal and disordered personality measures

Studies between disordered personality and the Big-Five or the Alternative Five-Factor model of normal personality have consistently shown four higher traits. The fifth higher trait, relating to Openness to Experience or Impulsive Sensation Seeking was less supported. The culture-free Nonverbal Personality Questionnaire (NPQ) might help us to characterise the fifth higher trait. We therefore tried the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology (DAPP), the NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R), the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ) and the NPQ in 253 healthy participants. Our results yielded five factors, four of which resembled the previous ones. The fifth one, namely Peculiarity Seeking, was defined by NPQ and NEO-PI-R Openness to Experience, ZKPQ Impulsive Sensation Seeking and DAPP Stimulus Seeking. Whether the fifth factor is linked to the schizotypal personality disorder as proposed remains unanswered.

Neuroticism, Negative Affect, and Negative Affect Instability: Establishing Convergent and Discriminant Validity Using Ecological Momentary Assessment

Few investigations have examined the role of affective instability within a broad model of general personality functioning. The present study employed self-report and ecological momentary assessments (EMA) to examine the relations between self-reported Five-Factor Model Neuroticism, EMA average negative affect, and EMA negative affect instability. Results suggest that Neuroticism and negative affect instability are related yet distinct constructs, and that Neuroticism better represents average negative affect across time. Results also suggest that negative affect instability is related to low Agreeableness and specific externalizing facets of Neuroticism, such as Angry Hostility and Impulsiveness. The implications of these findings and potential areas for future research are discussed.

A short form of the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Basic Questionnaire (DAPP-BQ): the DAPP-SF

A short form of the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Basic Questionnaire (DAPP-BQ), called the DAPP-SF, is presented, consisting of 136 of the original 290 items. It was established in a community sample that the factor structure of the DAPP-SF is highly congruent with the structure of the DAPP-BQ. The 18 DAPP-SF scales, which were found to be highly reliable, turned out to correlate substantially with the DAPP-BQ scales, even after applying a necessary correction, as the DAPP-SF was developed in the same sample used to investigate the Dutch DAPP-BQ. The higher-order convergent validity of the DAPP-SF was demonstrated by correlating the DAPP-SF scales and factors with Van Kampen's 5DPT. The same factor structure as found in the community sample of patients with personality disorder, also demonstrating that the agreement between the DAPP-SF and the DAPP-BQ is not dependent on the use of shared data. Finally, following Bagge and Trull [Bagge, C.L., Trull, T.J., 2003. DAPP-BQ: Factor structure and relations to personality disorder symptoms in a non-clinical sample. Journal of Personality Disorders 17, 19-32], specific predictions were tested concerning differences in means on the 18 scales between 10 diagnostic groups in the sample of patients with personality disorder. Results supported the validity of the DAPP-SF with respect to its lower-order structure. Finally, for practical purposes, preliminary norms are presented for females and males from the community in two different age groups.

The Behavioral Genetics of Personality Disorder

Behavioral genetics research has opened a new window on understanding personality disorder. The earliest studies were focused on establishing the relative contributions of genes and the environment in these disorders. Although these studies provided solid evidence of the importance of genetic and environmental influences on personality disorder and showed that all aspects of personality disorder are subject to genetic influence, heritability studies are limited because they are not helpful in explicating causal mechanisms. More recent research has focused on the relative contributions of the covariation of personality disorder diagnoses and traits, which allows one to examine etiological relationships. These developments are leading to major changes in ideas about what constitutes the environment and nature of the interplay between genes and environment. The present review examines major themes in this growing body of research in the context of current issues in the personality disorders.

Factor structure of the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Basic Questionnaire and its relationship with the revised NEO personality inventory in a Japanese sample

The Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology, Basic Questionnaire (DAPP-BQ) was developed to assess 18 personality traits that provide a systematic representation of personality disorder. This study investigates the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the DAPP-BQ and the relationship between the DAPP-BQ and Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) in a heterogeneous general population sample (n = 1485). Internal consistency (coefficient alpha) and test-retest reliability over a 3-week period was satisfactory for all scales. Factor analysis yielded 4 factors labeled "emotional dysregulation," "dissocial behavior," "inhibition," and "compulsivity" that accounted for 76.0% of the total variance. Subsequently, we investigated the relationships between the 18 dimensions and the 5 dimensions of the NEO-PI-R in a second heterogeneous general population sample (n = 717). Combined factor analysis of the 2 scales again yielded 4 factors accounting for 70.4% of the total variance. Finally, we used multiple regression analyses to examine the extent to which the 5 NEO-PI-R scales could be used to predict individual DAPP-BQ scales. These indicated that the NEO-PI-R does not have content that covers some DAPP-BQ dimensions, especially conduct problems, narcissism, and stimulus seeking.

Pathways to schizophrenic psychosis: a LISREL-tested model of the unfolding of the schizophrenic prodrome

In this article a literature-based model (the Schizotypic Syndrome Questionnaire [SSQ] model) is presented that gives a description of the temporal unfolding of the schizophrenic prodrome. As a guiding principle for the selection of the symptoms in the model, the hypothesis was held that the main prodromal features determine each other in terms of cause and effect. Furthermore, the developmental pathways between the symptoms were not allowed to be in conflict with the usual observation that negative symptoms precede psychotic-like ones nor--at least in broad outline--with J.P. Docherty, D.P. van Kammen, S.G. Siris, and S.R. Marder's (1978) description of the various onset stages in the development of a schizophrenic psychosis. For the definitive version of the SSQ model, 12 symptoms were selected (e.g., affective flattening, suspicion, and delusional thinking). After specifying the paths to be estimated, the model was examined in two randomly drawn samples from a total community-based sample of 771 normal subjects and in the total sample itself, in each case resulting in adequate fit values. Moreover, all postulated pathways were found to be significantly different from zero. The use of a normal sample was based on the continuum hypothesis. Given the present-day discussions concerning the tenability of the schizophrenia concept, the model's implications with respect to that issue are particularly emphasized. Furthermore, the concept of the schizophrenia prodrome itself is critically discussed.

The genetic and environmental basis of the relationship between schizotypy and personality: a twin study

The clinical phenotype commonly referred to as schizotypy is used in two different ways in psychiatric practice. One usage emphasizes psychosis-proneness where schizotypy is considered part of the schizophrenia spectrum. The other emphasizes personality aberrations and is classed as a personality disorder. The present study provides evidence that schizotypy is a unitary construct and that features like schizophrenia and personality share a common genetic basis. A sample of 102 monozygotic and 90 dizygotic general population twin pairs completed measures of psychosis-proneness and traits delineating personality disorder. Multivariate genetic analyses showed that the observed relationship between psychotic and personality features is caused almost entirely by common genetic factors. Environmental factors appear to be unique to each measure. On the basis of these findings, it is suggested that the environment mediates change in personality function to psychosis as proposed by Meehl's original concept of schizotaxia.

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.

A comparison of personality function among patients with seasonal depression, nonseasonal depression, and nonclinical participants

Although a large body of research has accumulated concerning the relationship between nonseasonal depression and personality, comparatively few studies have examined the relationship between seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and personality. This study compared dimensional aspects of personality in patients diagnosed with SAD (N = 60), nonseasonal depression (N = 273), and nonclinical controls (N = 297) using the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology (DAPP-BQ; Livesley & Jackson, in press). Analysis by ANCOVA indicated that significant between-group differences occurred in several of the 18 DAPP-BQ dimensions, with patients with SAD exhibiting personality psychopathology that was intermediate between the nonclinical sample and patients with nonseasonal depression. The results demonstrated that the traits associated with seasonal and nonseasonal depression differ in degree, not kind.

DAPP-BQ: factor structure and relations to personality disorder symptoms in a non-clinical sample

We assessed the factor structure of the DAPP-BQ (Livesley & Jackson, in press), as well as the relations between DAPP-BQ higher- and lower-order personality trait scores and DSM-IV (APA, 2000) personality disorder symptoms in a sample of approximately 300 nonclinical young adults. The four-factor structure of the DAPP-BQ was replicated, and DAPP-BQ higher-order and lower-order scores were related to personality disorder symptoms in predictable ways. Finally, regression analyses revealed that specific DAPP-BQ traits accounted for variance in individual personality disorder scores above and beyond comorbid personality disorder symptoms.

The structure of traits delineating personality disorder in a Chinese sample

The present study examined the factorial structure of a Chinese language version of the self-report Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology Questionnaire in 581 adults. Four factors were extracted (Emotional Dysregulation, Dissocial, Inhibition, and Compulsivity) that are similar to the factors extracted in the scales' normative clinical and general population samples from North America (factor comparability coefficients range from .88 to .96), supporting the idea that this trait structure is invariant across diverse populations. The internal consistency of the scales (Cronbach's alpha) was satisfactory across age and gender groups with the exception of the Intimacy Problems scale. Possible explanations for the poor internal consistency of the Intimacy Problems scale, such as cultural differences in social factors influencing marital and romantic relationships in Chinese populations, as opposed to other populations are discussed.