Validation of the SASB Introject Surface in a Norwegian clinical and nonclinical sample

In this study, we examined the reliability and construct validity of the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior Introject Surface, Intrex long form A (SASB-IS; Benjamin, 1995) in 2 Norwegian samples. The fit of the 8 SASB-IS scales to the structural requirements of a circumplex model with relaxed equal spacing constraints was reasonably good in an outpatient sample, but poor in a normal reference sample. The deviations from the equal spacing based on an ideal circumplex model, however, seem to have minimal implications for the utility of the instrument in clinical assessment. The reliability of the SASB-IS was acceptable on most scales, but two scales had unacceptable low reliability. Correspondence with external criteria supported the validity of the SASB-IS in both samples. Profile patterns related to different segments of the introject circumplex model were systematically related to severity of psychopathology: Hostile and accepting patterns of self-relatedness formed polar opposites; control patterns and intermediate patterns gave intermediate pathology scores.