Marsha L. Schroeder

Factorial structure of traits delineating personality disorders in clinical and general population samples.

Categorical and dimensional models for classifying personality disorders were evaluated by comparing the structure of personality pathology in a clinical sample (n = 158) with the structure in a general population sample (n = 274). Subjects completed 100 personality scales. Separate factor analyses revealed similar structures in the 2 samples. An underlying structure in a combined sample showed limited agreement with the concepts of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1987). Fifteen factors were retained: Generalized Distress, Rejection, Restricted Expression, Compulsivity, Stimulus Seeking, Insecure Attachment, Diffidence, Intimacy Problems, Oppositionality, Interpersonal Disesteem, Conduct Problems, Cognitive Dysfunction, Affective Reactivity, Narcissism, and Social Apprehensiveness. The results are consistent with a dimensional representation of personality disorder.

Categorical distinctions in the study of personality disorder : implications for classification

This article discusses the historical underpinnings of psychiatric classification and examines empirical evidence relevant to (a) whether personality disorders are distinct from each other and from normal personality and (b) whether personality disorders should be classified separately from other mental disorders. At the phenotypic level, research evidence strongly supports the use of a dimensional model to delineate personality disorders; evidence about their genotypic representation is less conclusive though still supportive. Neither empirical nor rational arguments indicate strong justification for separating personality disorders from other mental disorders, as has been done in both the third and fourth editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Distinctions between abnormal and disordered personality are considered, and suggestions are made for more satisfactory diagnostic classificatory schemes.

Dimensions of Personality Disorder and Their Relationships to the Big Five Dimensions of Personality.

Researchers have suggested that personality disorders (PDs) could be better understood with a dimensional model than with the DSM-IIII-R categorical system. The authors conceptualized PDs as extreme expressions of personality functioning. Dimensional measures of aspects of PD were developed for the present study on the basis of previous factor-analytic investigations. The authors examined the convergence of these measures with Costa and McCraes «Big Five» factors in a sample of 300 general-population subjects

Convergence of Two Systems for Assessing Specific Traits of Personality Disorder.

Two samples of normal-range individuals (N = 237) completed the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (L. A. Clark, 1993a) and the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Basic Questionnaire (W. J. Livesley & D. Jackson, in press), each of which assesses traits relevant to personality disorder. Convergence between the 2 instruments was examined at both the level of broad factors and the level of specific scales that had been matched previously on a conceptual basis (L. A. Clark & W. J. Livesley, 1994). Four of 5 higher order factors resembled dimensions of the 5-factor approach to personality, and a strong convergent and discriminant pattern was found between matched scales of the 2 instruments. Moreover, considerable specific trait variance remained after nonspecific (higher order) variance was accounted for. The results are interpreted as supporting a replicable structure of maladaptive personality traits at both levels of the hierarchy.

Inferential procedures for correlation coefficients corrected for attenuation

A model and computational procedure based on classical test score theory are presented for determination of a correlation coefficient corrected for attenuation due to unreliability. Next, variance-covariance expressions for the sample estimates defined earlier are derived, based on application of the delta method. Results of a Monte Carlo study are presented in which the adequacy of the derived expressions was assessed for a large number of data forms and potential hypotheses encountered in the behavioral sciences. It is shown that, based on the proposed procedures, confidence intervals for single coefficients are reasonably precise. Two-sample hypothesis tests, for both independent and dependent samples, are also accurate. However, for hypothesis tests involving a larger number of coefficients than two—both independent and dependent—the proposed procedures require largens for adequate precision. Results of a preliminary power analysis reveal no serious loss in efficiency resulting from correction for attenuation. Implications for practice are discussed.

Development and Application of a Quickly-Scored In-Basket Exercise in an Organizational Setting

This article contains a description of the development of an In-Basket exercise designed to be scored quickly by unsophisticated workers. Results are presented of a study using this In-Basket exercise, along with other measures, in a large-scale industrial setting to predict first-level supervisory performance. Reliability results suggested that the two scored dimensions of this exercise possess adequate reliability for most purposes. Correlations with other predictive measures indicated that the exercise dimensions have moderate relationships with certain intellectual variables, but few with personality traits. Concurrent validities with various performance criteria indicated that the In-Basket dimensions provide predictive information about supervisory performance and represent a worthwhile component of a supervisory/management assessment battery.

Validity of a Large-Scale Assessment Battery in an Industrial Setting

This article contains a description of a validity study carried out with 238 employees of a large telephone company. Cognitive ability tests, including measures of general intelligence, reading, writing, vocabulary, quantitative ability, and two divergent production abilities, were given. Two personality inventories, the CPI and 16PF, were employed. Two administrative-skills measures derived from a locally-constructed In-Basket exercise completed the battery. A small number of interpretively and predictively useful molar personality/motivational scales were derived using factor analysis. Then these scales and those from the other domains were correlated with a number of supervisory performance criteria obtained by an independent performance appraisal. Some measures from each of the domains of the assessment battery were found to be significantly related to certain aspects of criterion performance.

Inferential Theory for Partially Disattenuated Correlation Coefficients.

Four measurement designs are presented for use with correlation coefficients corrected, in one variable, for attenuation due to unreliability—coefficients that we term partially disattenuated correlation coefficients. Asymptotic expressions are derived for the variances and covariances of the estimates accompanying each design. Empirical simulation results that bear on the preceding mathematical developments are then presented. In addition to providing insights into the distributions of the estimates, the empirical results demonstrate satisfactory Type I error control for typical inferential applications. Power is shown to be equal to or greater than that of corresponding product-moment correlations in three of the four designs. Implications for practice are discussed.

Inferential procedures for multifaceted coefficients of generalizability

A two-facet measurement model with broad application in the behavioral sciences is identified, and its coefficient of generalizability (CG) is examined. A normalizing transformation is proposed, and an asymptotic variance expression is derived. Three other multifaceted measurement models and CGs are identified, and variance expressions are presented. Next, an empirical investigation of the procedures follows, and it is shown that, in most cases, Type I error control in inferential applications is precise, and that the estimates are relatively efficient compared with the correlation coefficient. Implications for further research and for practice are noted. In an Appendix, four additional models, CGs, and variance expressions are presented.

Two Fortran Programs for Testing Hypotheses about Fully Disattenuated Correlation Coefficients: Atteni and Attend

Recent advances in the development of asymptotic theory concerning correction coefficients corrected for attentuation due to unreliability have resulted in large-sample inferential procedures where none existed before. The present article describes two FORTRAN programs written for mainframe use. The first of these is for use with disattenuated correlations obtained from independent samples; the second is for inferential tests with dependent-sample coefficients.