The personality disorders (PDs) described in DSM-IV are a set of discreet psychiatric categories, but similarities between features characterizing PDs and normal personality trait dimensions have repeatedly been pointed out. Both personality disorders and traits are construed as enduring dispositions that affect behavior and experience in a wide variety of contexts; both are likely to have a substantial genetic basis. Widiger and colleagues made detailed predictions linking PDs to the 30 specific traits (or facets) measured by the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). Data from the People's Republic of China were examined to provide a rigorous test of the cross-cultural validity of Widiger and colleagues? hypotheses. Patients (N = 1,926; 54.5% male) were recruited from 13 psychiatric hospitals and clinics in 10 cities in the People's Republic of China. They completed the NEO-PI-R and a PD questionnaire, and a subset were diagnosed by a clinician. Of the 119 hypotheses, 87 (73%) were supported when the self-report questionnaire was used, and 63 of the 87 confirmed hypotheses were replicated when clinical judgments were used as criteria. Overall, these data provide strong support for Widiger and colleagues? (1994) hypotheses. Prototypical Personality Profiles for DSM-IV Personality Disorders. Personality disorders (PDs) are usually construed as psychiatric categories characterized by a unique configuration of traits and behaviors. To generate clinical hypotheses from normal personality trait scores, profile agreement statistics can be calculated using a prototypical personality profile for each PD. Multimethod data from 1.909 psychiatric patients in the People's Republic of China were used to examine the accuracy of such hypotheses in the Interpretive Report of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Profile agreement indices from both self-reports and spouse ratings were significantly related to PD symptom scores derived from questionnaires and clinical interviews. However, accuracy of diagnostic classification was only modest to moderate, probably because PDs are not discrete categorical entities. Together with other literature, these data suggest that the current categorical system should be replaced by a more comprehensive system of personality traits and personality-related problems.
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