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Toward a More Nuanced Perspective on Detachment: Differentiating Schizoid and Avoidant Personality Styles through Qualities of the Self-Representation

Taylor & Francis
Journal of Personality Assessment
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The degree to which schizoid and avoidant personality styles represent unique variants of interpersonal detachment remains controversial. This study contrasted core traits associated with schizoid versus avoidant personalities in a mixed-sex sample of 221 community adults, using the five traits that comprise the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD). The International Personality Disorders Examination Screening Questionnaire was used to assess schizoid and avoidant personality traits; the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 was used to assess negative affectivity, detachment, antagonism, disinhibition, and psychoticism. As expected, schizoid and avoidant scores were both positively associated with AMPD detachment scores (rs were .68 and .57, respectively). Regression analyses confirmed that, in addition to detachment, high levels of negative affectivity and low levels of disinhibition were uniquely predictive of avoidant personality traits, whereas low levels of antagonism were uniquely predictive of schizoid personality traits. The present findings support the distinctiveness of these two contrasting expressions of detachment.
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This study sought to empirically examine some assumptions of contemporary psychoanalytic, attachment, and interpersonal personality theories by linking characteristics of mental representations of self and others (parents) to current levels of interpersonal adjustment in a nonclinical sample. To evaluate the mental representations of self and others, participants completed the Assessment of Qualitative and Structural Dimensions of Object Representations (S. J. Blatt, E. S. Chevron, D. M. Quinlan, C. E. Schaffer, & S. Wein, 1992) and the Assessment of Self Descriptions (S. J. Blatt, S. A. Bers, & C. E. Schaffer, 1993). Participants also completed the Experiences in Close Relationships (K. A. Brennan, C. L. Clark, & P. R. Shaver, 1998) questionnaire to assess dimensions of adult attachment and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems–Circumplex Scales (L. E. Alden, J. S. Wiggins, & A. L. Pincus, 1990) to assess current interpersonal adjustment. Our results suggest that (a) unique patterns of thematic and structural qualities of parental and self-representations are associated with interpersonal adjustment and (b) adult attachment mediates the relationship between object relations and interpersonal adjustment. These results cannot be explained by method invariance and support contemporary theories of mental representations, highlighting their pantheoretical and integrative nature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Externalizing and internalizing problems as measured on the Youth Self Report (YSR; Achenbach, 1991a) among early adolescent boys and girls were related to the conceptual level (CL; Blatt, Chevron, Quinlan, Schaffer, & Wein, 1988) with which children described their mothers and fathers. Scoring of these descriptions using the Children's version (CORI; Waniel, Besser, & Priel, 2006) of the Object Relations Inventory (ORI; Blatt et al., 1988) indicated that higher CL in descriptions of mother than of father was significantly related to the intensity of externalizing problem behaviors in boys. Conversely, higher CL in descriptions of father than of mother was significantly related to the intensity of internalizing problems in girls. These results are discussed in terms of the process of identity consolidation and its relationship to the emergence of problem behaviors in early adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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While most abnormal psychology texts seem to aim solely for breadth, the acclaimed Oxford Textbook of Psychopathology aims for depth, with a focus on adult disorders and special attention given to the personality disorders. Almost a decade has passed since the first edition was published, establishing itself as an unparalleled guide for professionals and graduate students alike, and in this second edition, esteemed editors Paul H. Blaney and Theodore Millon have once again selected the most eminent researchers in abnormal psychology to cover all the major mental disorders, allowing them to discuss notable issues in the various pathologies which are their expertise. This collection exposes readers to exceptional scholarship, a history of psychopathology, the logic of the best approaches to current disorders, and an expert outlook on what future researchers and mental health professionals will be facing in the years to come. With extensive coverage of personality disorders and issues related to classification and differential diagnosis, this volume will be exceptionally useful for all mental health workers, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers, and as a textbook focused on understanding psychopathology in depth, as well as a valuable guide for graduate psychology students and psychiatric residents.
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This is a brief overview of my “neuropsychoanalytic” perspective on the unconscious. It should make clear how much psychoanalysis has to gain from incorporating the findings of neuroscientific disciplines studying the same part of nature—the workings of the human mind. I hope it makes equally clear what useful new perspectives can be cast on current issues in cognitive neuroscience, if they, in turn, incorporate the findings of psychoanalysis.
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In recent years there has been increasing emphasis on evidence-based practice in psychology (EBPP), and as is true in most health care professions, the primary focus of EBPP has been on treatment. Comparatively little attention has been devoted to applying the principles of EBPP to psychological assessment, despite the fact that assessment plays a central role in myriad domains of empirical and applied psychology (e.g., research, forensics, behavioral health, risk management, diagnosis and classification in mental health settings, documentation of neuropsychological impairment and recovery, personnel selection and placement in organizational contexts). This article outlines the central elements of evidence-based psychological assessment (EBPA), using the American Psychological Association's tripartite definition of EBPP as integration of the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences. After discussing strategies for conceptualizing and operationalizing evidence-based testing and evidence-based assessment, 6 core skills and 3 meta-skills that underlie proficiency in psychological assessment are described. The integration of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences is discussed in terms of the complex interaction of patient and assessor identities and values throughout the assessment process. A preliminary framework for implementing EBPA is offered, and avenues for continued refinement and growth are described.
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This study presents a model of psychic change in personality disorders focusing on three dimensions: felt safety, mentalization and self-object relations. Based upon this model a hospitalization-based therapy program was created. Four scales to measure these three dimensions on the Object Relation Interview are discussed: the Felt Safety Scale, the Reflective Functioning Scale and the Bion Grid Scale and the Differentiation-Relatedness Scale. A naturalistic symptom outcome study of the program showed a large effect on both symptoms and personality functioning. Furthermore, trajectory based on pre-treatment patient characteristics (i.e., anaclitic versus introjective personality styles). Importantly, we also found a relation between symptomatic and personality change and change in felt safety and object relations. At 5-year follow-up, patients showed sustained improvement in symptomatic distress and further improvement in terms of personality and interpersonal functioning. Copyright © 2015 Institute of Psychoanalysis.
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Background: One of the aims of the World Health Organization/Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration joint program on psychiatric diagnosis and classification is the development and standardization of diagnostic assessment instruments for use in clinical research worldwide. The International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE) is a semistructured clinical interview compatible with the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, and the DMS-III-R classification systems. This is the first report of the results of a field trial to investigate the feasibility of using the IPDE to assess personality disorders worldwide.Methods: The IPDE was administered by 58 psychiatrists and clinical psychologists to 716 patients enrolled in clinical facilities at 14 participating centers in 11 countries in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. To determine interrater reliability, 141 of the IPDEs (20%) were independently rated by a silent observer. To determine temporal stability, 243 patients (34%) were reexamined after an average interval of 6 months.Results: The IPDE proved acceptable to clinicians and demonstrated an interrater reliability and temporal stability roughly similar to instruments used to diagnose the psychoses, mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders.Conclusion: It is possible to assess personality disorders with reasonably good reliability in different nations, languages, and cultures using a semistructured clinical interview that experienced clinicians find relevant, meaningful, and user-friendly.
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Interpersonal dependency has been linked to psychological distress, depression, help seeking, treatment compliance, and sensitivity to interpersonal cues in adult samples. However, there is a dearth of research focusing on dependency in child and adolescent samples. The current study examined the construct validity of a measure of interpersonal dependency. We look to investigate how interpersonal dependency and detachment relate to behavioral problems, subjective well-being, interpersonal problems, and global symptom severity in adolescent inpatients. Destructive overdependence (DO) and dysfunctional detachment (DD) were positively related to interpersonal distress, behavioral problems, and symptom severity and negatively related to psychological health and well-being. Healthy dependency (HD) was associated with fewer behavioral problems and less symptom severity, and positively related to subjective well-being. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
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Although the construct validity and clinical utility of separate schizoid and avoidant personality disorder (PD) categories has been controversial since avoidant PD was first introduced in DSM-III, few studies have compared individuals with schizoid versus avoidant features on variables relevant to their contrasting personality dynamics. Those few investigations that exist have yielded inconclusive results. In this study a mixed-sex sample of nonclinical participants (N = 123) completed the International Personality Disorder Examination Screening Questionnaire (IPDE-SQ) and self-report measures of attachment style, defense style, empathy, internalized shame, need to belong, rejection sensitivity, and social anhedonia. High levels of social anhedonia were uniquely predictive of schizoid features; high levels of need to belong and internalized shame were uniquely predictive of avoidance. These findings support retaining the two PD categories in future versions of the DSM. Supplementary analyses revealed that among women—but not men—schizoid and avoidant traits were positively and significantly intercorrelated; it may be that women show more of a blended schizoid–avoidant profile, whereas men display the more prototypical categorical profile where either schizoid or avoidant features predominate.
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Several personality disorders have been prominent in the clinical literature but have been inadequately recognized in the diagnostic manuals. This group includes masochistic, self-defeating, depressive, and vulnerably narcissistic personality disorders. The theoretical and empirical relationship of these disorders is reviewed. It is proposed that the construct of malignant self-regard may account for the similarities among them. The construct describes these personality types as being fundamentally related through problematic manifestations of self-structure. The article discusses the diagnostic value of such a construct and the implications of a psychodynamically informed framework for classifying personality pathology.
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G*Power (Erdfelder, Faul, & Buchner, 1996) was designed as a general stand-alone power analysis program for statistical tests commonly used in social and behavioral research. G*Power 3 is a major extension of, and improvement over, the previous versions. It runs on widely used computer platforms (i.e., Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Mac OS X 10.4) and covers many different statistical tests of the t, F, and chi2 test families. In addition, it includes power analyses for z tests and some exact tests. G*Power 3 provides improved effect size calculators and graphic options, supports both distribution-based and design-based input modes, and offers all types of power analyses in which users might be interested. Like its predecessors, G*Power 3 is free.
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Quality of object relations and self-concept reflect clinically relevant aspects of personality functioning, but their prediction as suitability factors for psychotherapies of different lengths has not been compared. This study compared their prediction on psychiatric symptoms and work ability in short- and long-term psychotherapy. Altogether 326 patients, 20-46 years of age, with mood and/or anxiety disorder, were randomized to short-term (solution-focused or short-term psychodynamic) psychotherapy and long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy. The Quality of Object Relations Scale (QORS) and the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB) self-concept questionnaire were measured at baseline, and their prediction on outcome during the 3-year follow-up was assessed by the Symptom Check List Global Severity Index and the Anxiety Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory and by the Work Ability Index, Social Adjustment Scale work subscale and the Perceived Psychological Functioning scale. Negative self-concept strongly and self-controlling characteristics modestly predicted better 3-year outcomes in long-term therapy, after faster early gains in short-term therapy. Patients with a more positive or self-emancipating self-concept, or more mature object relations, experienced more extensive benefits after long-term psychotherapy. The importance of length vs. long-term therapy technique on the differences found is not known. Patients with mild to moderate personality pathology, indicated by poor self-concept, seem to benefit more from long-term than short-term psychotherapy, in reducing risk of depression. Long-term therapy may also be indicated for patients with relatively good psychological functioning. More research is needed on the relative importance of these characteristics in comparison with other patient-related factors.
Article
Interpersonal dependency—the tendency to look to others for nurturance, guidance, protection, and support, even in situations where autonomous functioning is possible—has become associated with passivity, immaturity, and dysfunction in the minds of mental health professionals. However, research suggests that dependent persons behave quite actively—even aggressively—in certain contexts. Although dependency is associated with certain forms of dysfunction (e.g., perpetration of domestic violence when close relationships are threatened), it is also linked with an array of adaptive behaviors (e.g., conscientiousness in complying with medical and psychotherapeutic treatment regimens). The cognitive/interactionist (C/I) model of interpersonal dependency provides a framework for understanding contextual variations in dependency-related responding: Although dependent behaviors vary from situation to situation based on perceived opportunities and risks, the dependent person’s core beliefs (a perception of oneself as helpless and weak) and motives (a desire to strengthen ties to potential caregivers) remain constant. Here I discuss theoretical and practical implications of the C/I model and summarize current trends in research on interpersonal dependency.
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In meta-analytic studies where one wishes to estimate magnitude of effects based on multiple investigations, it is important to recognize that Kendall's Tau, often considered equivalent to Spearman's Rho as an ordinal measure of correlation, in fact has a different metric. This article reviews formulae for converting Tau to Rho, Pearson's r, r2, Fisher's Zr, and Cohen's standardized range of means index of effect size, as well as presents a table of the values corresponding to Tau coefficients from 0 through 1.
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This article discusses the need for more satisfactory implicit measures in consumer psychology and assesses the theoretical foundations, validity, and value of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) as a measure of implicit consumer social cognition. Study 1 demonstrates the IAT's sen-sitivity to explicit individual differences in brand attitudes, ownership, and usage frequency, and shows their correlations with IAT-based measures of implicit brand attitudes and brand re-lationship strength. In Study 2, the contrast between explicit and implicit measures of attitude toward the ad for sportswear advertisements portraying African American (Black) and Euro-pean American (White) athlete-spokespersons revealed different patterns of responses to ex-plicit and implicit measures in Black and White respondents. These were explained in terms of self-presentation biases and system justification theory. Overall, the results demonstrate that the IAT enhances our understanding of consumer responses, particularly when consumers are either unable or unwilling to identify the sources of influence on their behaviors or opinions.
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Schizoid personality disorder (ScPD) is one of the "odd cluster" or "cluster A" personality disorders in DSM-IV. In the present article, the authors review information pertaining to the psychometric characteristics of ScPD as gleaned from a search of relevant publications as well as from databases of personality disorder study groups. Comparatively little evidence exists for the validity and reliability of ScPD as a separate, multifaceted personality disorder. Some authors, moreover, have contended that the group of patients termed "schizoid" actually fall into two distinct groups-an "affect constricted" group, who might better be subsumed within schizotypal personality disorder, and a "seclusive" group, who might better be subsumed within avoidant personality disorder. The research-based justification for retaining ScPD as an independent diagnosis is sufficiently sparse for it to seem reasonable to remove ScPD from the list of personality disorders in DSM-V, and instead to invite clinicians to code for schizoid traits using a dimensional model.
Article
Objective: To discover the validity indices and establish the most adequate cut off point when using the IPDE questionnaire on a sample of prison inmates. Materials and methods: A transversal study was carried out on a correlatively selected sample of 100 inmates at two prisons in Madrid. Evaluation instruments, a questionnaire for demographic, prison and toxicological data and a complete interview and IPDE assessment questionnaire (version DSM-IV) were utilised as well as a conditional probability study of the IPDE questionnaire with different cut off points based on the use of the IPDE interview as the "gold standard". Results: The cut off point of 3 or more non-coincident answers showed low specificity (2.5%) for the presence of one or more personality disorders, and low sensitivity to antisocial (56.7%) and borderline (58.8%) personality disorders. Discusion: The IPDE questionnaire of little use amongst the studied prison population when the habitual reference standards were applied due to the very high number of false positives that were produced. The best validity indices for identifying one or more personality disorders are obtained with a probable cut off point being equal to 4 or more answers that do not coincide with those expected. The IPDE questionnaire was of no great benefit for the inmates in this study because, even when using the habitual cut off point of 3 or more non-coincident questions, sensibility to antisocial and borderline personality disorders, which are the most common PDs amongst the sample group, was found to be low.
Article
during the past 50 years, there has been a tremendous amount of empirical research examining the influence of the parent–child relationship on risk for psychopathology in children, adolescents, and adults / review research that examines the parental representations–psychopathology relationship in order to determine whether dysfunctional parental representations are in fact associated with increased risk for psychopathology discuss . . . three phases in the evolution of psychoanalytic object relations theory [with regard to the parent–child relationship] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Argues that concept-formation in the analysis of sociological data proceeds neither from observation to category, nor from category to observation, but in both directions at once and in interaction. The distinctive character of concepts in empirical social science derives from this dual theoretical and empirical character. The process is one in which concepts are formed and modified both in the light of empirical evidence and in the context of theory. Both theory and evidence can exercise compelling influence on what emerges.-from Author
Article
Self-knowledge has never been a central topic; in empirical psychology. There are pockets of research on self-knowledge in different subdisciplines of the field, but until now there has been little communication between them. I believe that these areas will converge in the next few years into a cohesive study of how people form judgments about their past, current, and future selves and about the accuracy of these judgments. I discuss theoretical developments in this area, the costs of poor self-knowledge, how people can know themselves better, and some of the obstacles to the study of self-knowledge. © 2009 Association for Psychological Science.