Ten-year stability and latent structure of the DSM-IV schizotypal, borderline, avoidant, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders

J Abnorm Psychol. 2009 Aug;118(3):507-19. doi: 10.1037/a0016478.

Abstract

Evaluation of the validity of personality disorder (PD) diagnostic constructs is important for the impending revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Prior factor analytic studies have tested these constructs in cross-sectional studies, and models have been replicated longitudinally, but no study has tested a constrained longitudinal model. The authors examined 4 PDs in the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders study (schizotypal, borderline, avoidant, and obsessive-compulsive) over 7 time points (baseline, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 4 years, 6 years, and 10 years). Data for 2-, 4-, 6- and 10-year assessments were obtained in semistructured interviews by raters blind to prior PD diagnoses at each assessment. The latent structure of the 4 constructs was differentiated during the initial time points but became less differentiated over time as the mean levels of the constructs dropped and stability increased. Obsessive-compulsive PD became more correlated with schizotypal and borderline PD than with avoidant PD. The higher correlation among the constructs in later years may reflect greater shared base of pathology for chronic personality disorders.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Borderline Personality Disorder / classification
  • Borderline Personality Disorder / diagnosis*
  • Borderline Personality Disorder / psychology
  • Cohort Studies
  • Compulsive Personality Disorder / classification
  • Compulsive Personality Disorder / diagnosis*
  • Compulsive Personality Disorder / psychology
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / classification
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / diagnosis
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / psychology
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Models, Psychological
  • Personality Disorders / classification
  • Personality Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Personality Disorders / psychology
  • Prospective Studies
  • Psychometrics / statistics & numerical data
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Schizotypal Personality Disorder / classification
  • Schizotypal Personality Disorder / diagnosis*
  • Schizotypal Personality Disorder / psychology
  • Sex Factors
  • Young Adult