Personality disorder: a new global perspective

Personality disorder is now being accepted as an important condition in mainstream psychiatry across the world. Although it often remains unrecognized in ordinary practice, research studies have shown it is common, creates considerable morbidity, is associated with high costs to services and to society, and interferes, usually negatively, with progress in the treatment of other mental disorders. We now have evidence that personality disorder, as currently classified, affects around 6% of the world population, and the differences between countries show no consistent variation. We are also getting increasing evidence that some treatments, mainly psychological, are of value in this group of disorders. What is now needed is a new classification that is of greater value to clinicians, and the WPA Section on Personality Disorders is currently undertaking this task.     

Personality Consistency in Dogs: A Meta-Analysis

Personality, or consistent individual differences in behavior, is well established in studies of dogs. Such consistency implies predictability of behavior, but some recent research suggests that predictability cannot be assumed. In addition, anecdotally, many dog experts believe that ‘puppy tests’ measuring behavior during the first year of a dog''s life are not accurate indicators of subsequent adult behavior. Personality consistency in dogs is an important aspect of human-dog relationships (e.g., when selecting dogs suitable for substance-detection work or placement in a family). Here we perform the first comprehensive meta-analysis of studies reporting estimates of temporal consistency of dog personality. A thorough literature search identified 31 studies suitable for inclusion in our meta-analysis. Overall, we found evidence to suggest substantial consistency (r = 0.43). Furthermore, personality consistency was higher in older dogs, when behavioral assessment intervals were shorter, and when the measurement tool was exactly the same in both assessments. In puppies, aggression and submissiveness were the most consistent dimensions, while responsiveness to training, fearfulness, and sociability were the least consistent dimensions. In adult dogs, there were no dimension-based differences in consistency. There was no difference in personality consistency in dogs tested first as puppies and later as adults (e.g., ‘puppy tests’) versus dogs tested first as puppies and later again as puppies. Finally, there were no differences in consistency between working versus non-working dogs, between behavioral codings versus behavioral ratings, and between aggregate versus single measures. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.     

Personality disorders in the elderly: diagnostic aspects

This article describes the usefulness of the DSM personality disorders. In conclusion the presence of personality disorders during a lifetime is not always an enduring pattern of (the same) conduct disorders. Despite this, the DSM describes a static course of mainly interpersonal behaviour. Next to this, the utility of the DSM-Axis-II assessment and general personality assessment in relation to older adults will be discussed. In general these instruments are not very suitable for the assessment of the disposition and gravity of personality disorders in the elderly. It is proposed to develop specific profiles with regard to personality disorders in the elderly by applying the Delphi-technique on existing personality assessment. A Delphi panel of experts in the field of personality pathology in older adults can be asked to mention a certain personality disorder and describe this on a certain personality selfreport list, like the shortened version of the TCI.     

Rheumatoid Arthritis and Personality: A Controlled Study

Evidence in support of claims for the existence of a special relationship between personality and rheumatoid arthritis is conflicting. In this study four groups—one of patients with early rheumatoid arthritis, one of patients with chronic rheumatoid arthritis, one of neurotic patients, and a normal control group—were compared by means of the Maudsley Personality Inventory (M.P.I.) and a neurotic trait in childhood (N.T.C.) score. Both arthritis groups had a lower M.P.I. neuroticism score than the normal control group, with greater significance in the chronic arthritis group. The neurotic group had a significantly higher neuroticism score than the other three groups. Both arthritis groups had a lower extraversion score than normal controls, again with greater significance in the chronic arthritis group. The neurotic group scored significantly less than normal controls on the extraversion scale and intermediately between the early and chronic arthritis groups. There was no significant difference between the arthritis groups and the normal control group in the N.T.C. score, but it was significantly increased in the neurotic group.These findings suggest that people with rheumatoid arthritis differ significantly in personality from normal and from neurotic people, that the differences are accentuated with chronicity in the rheumatoid process, and that the differences develop as a result of the arthritis.     

Lucid Dreaming and Personality: A Replication.

This article reports an investigation of personality variables that may be associated with the reporting of lucid dreaming. The present study confirmed that lucid dreamers, both frequent and occasional (n = 26), were more internal on J. Rotter's (1966) locus of control measure and scored higher on J. Cacioppo and R. Petty's (1982) need for cognition measure than did nonlucid dreamers (n = 24). Frequent but not occasional lucid dreamers were more field independent on H. A. Witkin et al.'s (1971) Group Embedded Figures Test than the nonlucid dreamers. Need for cognition, internality on locus of control, and field independence all correlated with each other. The results can be argued to show a continuity between styles of waking and dreaming personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and Electrodermal Response Lability: An Interpretation

Electrodermal response (EDR) lability is a psychophysiological trait reflecting stable individual differences in electrodermal activation as indexed by frequency measures of phasic EDR activity. There is no consistent evidence that EDR lability reflects dispositional or clinical anxiety. However, EDR lability appears to be related to individual differences in the overt expression of emotional and antagonistic impulses. Greater EDR lability is associated with a relatively undemonstrative and agreeable disposition, whereas greater EDR stability is associated with a relatively expressive and antagonistic disposition. The inverse relationship between EDR lability and the expression of emotional and antagonistic impulses suggests that EDR lability may reflect individual differences in the effortful control of such expression. This hypothesis is consistent with cognitive effort interpretations of phasic EDR activity, with evidence of the sensitivity of phasic EDR activity to capacity-demanding tasks, and with evidence of reduced spare capacity among EDR labile individuals under cognitive challenge. Individual differences in effortful self-control may explain the association of greater EDR lability with essential hypertension and greater EDR stability with forms of antisocial behavior.