Background The evidence suggests that personality traits are hierarchically organized with more specific or lower-order traits combining to form more generalized higher-order traits. Agreement exists across studies regarding the lower-order traits that delineate personality disorder but not the higher-order traits. This study seeks to identify the higher-order structure of personality disorder by examining the phenotypic and genetic structures underlying lower-order traits. Methods Eighteen lower-order traits were assessed using the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Disorder–Basic Questionnaire in samples of 656 personality disordered patients, 939 general population subjects, and a volunteer sample of 686 twin pairs. Results Principal components analysis yielded 4 components, labeled Emotional Dysregulation, Dissocial Behavior, Inhibitedness, and Compulsivity, that were similar across the 3 samples. Multivariate genetic analyses also yielded 4 genetic and environmental factors that were remarkably similar to the phenotypic factors. Analysis of the residual heritability of the lower-order traits when the effects of the higher-order factors were removed revealed a substantial residual heritable component for 12 of the 18 traits. Conclusions The results support the following conclusions. First, the stable structure of traits across clinical and nonclinical samples is consistent with dimensional representations of personality disorders. Second, the higher-order traits of personality disorder strongly resemble dimensions of normal personality. This implies that a dimensional classification should be compatible with normative personality. Third, the residual heritability of the lower-order traits suggests that the personality phenotypes are based on a large number of specific genetic components.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/articlepdf/204348/yoa7424.pdf

The 1982 interpersonal circle: An analysis of DSM-III personality disorders.

Phenotypic and Genetic Structure of Traits Delineating Personality Disorder

Differing conceptions of personality disorders inherent in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Personality Disorder Scales and the Personality Adjective Checklist were evaluated within the context of the circuraplex model of interpersonal behavior and the 5-factor model of personality in a sample of 581 university students'. Conceptions of personality disorders were strongly and clearly related to dimensions of normal personality traits. Although the circumplex model illuminated conceptions of some of the disorders, the full 5-factor model was required to capture and clarify the entire range of personality disorders. Implications of these findings are discussed with reference to (a) personality disorders and personality traits and (b) suggestions for assessment of personality disorders.

Conceptions of Personality Disorders and Dimensions of Personality

Personality Disorders: Current Concepts and Classical Foundations. Contemporary Perspectives. Assessment and Therapy of the Personality Disorders. The Antisocial Personality. The Avoidant Personality. The Obsessive-Compulsive Personality. The Dependent Personality. The Histrionic Personality. The Narcissistic Personality. The Schizoid Personality. The Schizotypal Personality. The Paranoid Personality. The Borderline Personality. Personality Disorders from the Appendix of DSM-IV. Personality Disorders from the Appendix of DSM-III-R. References. Indexes.

Personality Disorders in Modern Life

A description of the DSM-IV personality disorders with the five-factor model of personality.

To understand a construct means to set it within an appropriate «nomological net» of lawful relations. For measures of interpersonal constructs, the interpersonal circumplex provides a nomological system of great potential for validating constructs and their measures. Three multidimensional measures-of dependency, empathy, and narcissism-were subjected to an interpersonal analysis, and construct parameters and similarities were estimated by using formulas derived from the circumplex model. The results offered a distinctly interpersonal perspective on the construct validity of the respective measures

The 1982 interpersonal circle: An analysis of DSM-III personality disorders.

Citations

Phenotypic and Genetic Structure of Traits Delineating Personality Disorder

Conceptions of Personality Disorders and Dimensions of Personality

Personality Disorders in Modern Life

A description of the DSM-IV personality disorders with the five-factor model of personality.

Construct validity of interpersonal personality measures : the interpersonal circumplex as a nomological net

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