Abstract
This study demonstrates inherent features in the DSM-III diagnostic criteria for personality disorders (i.e., overlapping diagnoses and heterogeneous symptomatology) that limit efforts to identify a sensitive and specific MMPI profile for the borderline personality disorder. A sample of 71 inpatients was administered an MMPI and a semistructured interview that systematically evaluated each of 81 symptoms for the 11 DSM-III personality disorders. Interrater reliability was substantially higher than has been obtained with unstructured interviews. The effect on the borderline MMPI profile of (a) variation in the number of borderline symptoms and (b) overlap with the schizotypal, histrionic, and antisocial diagnoses was demonstrated. We discuss implications with respect to a prototypal model of classification.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 540-553 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Personality Assessment |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1986 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We wish to thank Mike Nichols, Katy McClure, Art Shechet, and especially, John Terrell for their help in the data collection, and Doug Snyder for reviewing an earlier version of this manuscript. We also wish to thank Chris Friley, Tatiana Jafarzadeh, Wendell Perry, Betsy Kopitzke, Annette Witt, Bess Mink, Trish Lamb, Sandy Winer, and Sam Scott for conducting interviews and/or coding audiotapes. This research was supported in part through a University of Kentucky Summer Research Fellowship.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
