A Psychometric Evaluation of the Brief Form of the PID-5 in an Inpatient Adolescent Sample

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe mental disorder characterized by dysfunction related to conceptualizations of the self and interpersonal processes. Research suggests that BPD may first emerge in adolescence and persist into adulthood, which makes this period of development particularly relevant within the field of personality disorder (PD) research. In an effort to continue expanding research in this area, the most recent iteration of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; APA, 2013) includes a new hybrid model of PD in Section III, “Emerging Measures and Models”. In this approach, PD are specified by two broad criteria: Criterion A, which notes impairment in at least two areas of personality functioning in domains of the self (i.e., instability of self-image or personal goals) and interpersonal processes (i.e., empathy or intimacy), and Criterion B, which outlines five pathological personality traits that appear to be indicative of personality pathology and disorders (i.e., Antagonism, Disinhibition, Negative Affectivity, Psychoticism, and Detachment). DSM-5 Section III proposes that BPD may best be captured by the three maladaptive traits of Negative Affectivity, Disinhibition, and Antagonism (APA, 2013). The Personality Inventory for DSM-5, Brief Form (PID-5-BF; Krueger et al. 2012) is a 25-item self-report questionnaire that was developed as a means of assessing the presence and severity of the five maladaptive personality traits outlined in this proposed model of PD in DSM-5 Section III. Though there is evidence to suggest that the PID-5-BF demonstrates adequate psychometric properties within adult and adolescent samples, the clinical utility of the PID-5-BF has not yet been explored in a sample of American, inpatient adolescents with formally diagnosed mental illnesses including BPD. Considering the above, the aims of the present study were to (1) assess the relationship between PID-5-BF pathological traits and theoretically similar measures of BPD (i.e., BPFS-C, BPFS-P, and PAI-BOR) and (2) establish diagnostic accuracy of the PID-5-BF as it pertains to BPD in an inpatient sample (n = 126) of adolescents aged 12- to 17-years-old. Results indicated that DSM-5 personality traits were highly correlated with self-report measures of BPD, suggesting good construct validity. However, the parent-report BPD measure, the BPFS-P, demonstrated notably fewer significant correlations with each of the five proposed traits. In terms of diagnostic accuracy, Negative Affectivity emerged as the single best predictor of BPD rather than a cluster of the three proposed traits outlined in Section III (i.e., Antagonism, Disinhibition, and Negative Affectivity). The results of this study suggest that, while DSM-5 traits as captured by the PID-5-BF are associated with self-reported BPD features, this particular brief measure should not be utilized as an independent diagnostic instrument for BPD. Results were discussed in relation to our understanding of pathological personality traits, maladaptive interpersonal behaviors, diagnostic accuracy, and self-injurious or damaging behavior.Psychology, Department o