Compared to traditional DSM personality disorder (PD) diagnostic categories, dimensional representations of PD provide a more comprehensive framework from which to understand and conceptualize maladaptive personality functioning (Clark, 2007; Widiger & Trull, 2007), consistent with the RDoC emphasis on dimensional models relative to traditional DSM syndromes. The five-factor model (FFM) of personality is widely regarded as the leading dimensional model of personality, and is supported by an extensive amount of empirical support spanning over 30 years. The FFM consists of 30 lower-order facet scales (as conceptualized by McCrae and Costa, 2003) from which both high and low levels can be used to describe PD. FFM descriptions of PD have been shown to account for the variance of all ten categorical DSM PD types (Livesley, 2001; Miller, 2012). In addition, personality science has demonstrated that normal range domains and facets of the FFM significantly predict disease and mortality (Dixon-Gordon, Whalen, Layden, & Chapman, 2015; Friedman & Kern, 2014; Smith & Mackenzie, 2006). However, symptoms of personality disorder have even larger associations with health outcomes (Gleason, Weinstein, Balsis, & Oltmanns, 2014). Recently, FFM- based dimensional measures of PD have been developed (Widiger, Lynam, Miller, & Oltmanns, 2012), providing an exciting opportunity to measure PD within the comprehensive framework of the FFM. The present line of research will incorporate this novel analytic and conceptual approach into an ongoing longitudinal study of a representative sample of 1,630 older adults in the St. Louis area. FFM-PD measures of neuroticism, conscientiousness, and extraversion (the Five-Factor Borderline, Obsessive-Compulsive, and Avoidant Inventories, respectively), which are most frequently associated with health (Smith, Williams, & Segerstrom, 2015) will be employed. Structural Equation Modeling will be used to compare the predictive and incremental validity of FFM PD measures with and over DSM PD measures and normal personality measures in the longitudinal prediction of self- and informant-reported general health status, major disease (including cancer, diabetes, and lung and heart disease), biological markers of stress and inflammation (e.g., cortisol, interleukin- 6, tumor necrosis factor-?, and C reactive protein), and mortality. The dimensional FFM PD measurement perspective will provide incremental validity over traditional measures of PD and normal personality measures in the prediction of these both subjective and objective measures of health. Results will be imperative to developing a comprehensive framework for understanding the longitudinal relationship between maladaptive PD traits and risk of physical disease and mortality in older adults. This proposal will provide the PI with the opportunity to unite two cutting-edge personality research laboratories, while advancing knowledge about the relationship between personality and health, and developing research skills and clinical training that will facilitate the goal of conducting and disseminating personality research as an academic professor.
The present study examines the usefulness of a dimensional model of maladaptive personality traits in comparison to DSM personality disorder types for the prediction of important subjectively and objectively measured health outcomes (such as physical disease, stress reactivity, health functioning, and mortality) in an ongoing longitudinal study of a representative sample of older adults in St. Louis. The goal of the project is to develop scientific understanding of the relationships between maladaptive personality traits and health across time. Implications of the present research include providing a more comprehensive knowledge of the connection between personality and health, testing the utility of a dimensional model of personality disorder, and ultimately informing recent developing clinical treatments of maladaptive personality traits that could potentially reduce the long-term risk of deleterious health problems for many individuals.
| Oltmanns, Joshua R; Widiger, Thomas A (2018) Assessment of fluctuation between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism: Development and initial validation of the FLUX scales. Psychol Assess 30:1612-1624 |
| Oltmanns, Joshua R; Smith, Gregory T; Oltmanns, Thomas F et al. (2018) General Factors of Psychopathology, Personality, and Personality Disorder: Across Domain Comparisons. Clin Psychol Sci 6:581-589 |
| Crego, Cristina; Oltmanns, Joshua R; Widiger, Thomas A (2018) FFMPD scales: Comparisons with the FFM, PID-5, and CAT-PD-SF. Psychol Assess 30:62-73 |
| Oltmanns, Joshua R; Widiger, Thomas A (2018) A self-report measure for the ICD-11 dimensional trait model proposal: The personality inventory for ICD-11. Psychol Assess 30:154-169 |
| Widiger, Thomas A; Crego, Cristina; Rojas, Stephanie L et al. (2018) Basic personality model. Curr Opin Psychol 21:18-22 |
| Oltmanns, Joshua R; Crego, Cristina; Widiger, Thomas A (2018) Informant assessment: The Informant Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory. Psychol Assess 30:31-42 |
| Widiger, Thomas A; Oltmanns, Joshua R (2017) The General Factor of Psychopathology and Personality. Clin Psychol Sci 5:182-183 |
| Widiger, Thomas A; Oltmanns, Joshua R (2017) Neuroticism is a fundamental domain of personality with enormous public health implications. World Psychiatry 16:144-145 |
