[A dimensional diagnostic approach using the "Assessment of DSM-IV Personality Disorders (ADP-IV)" Questionnaire]

The ADP-IV is a self-assessment instrument of personality disorders providing categorical as well as dimensional diagnoses. The German translation of the Dutch original has already shown sufficient reliability as well as a rather weak convergent validity of categorical diagnoses. This study investigates the validity of the dimensional assessment of personality disorders.

Four hundred patients and a community sample of 385 subjects completed the ADP-IV. A SCID-II interview and an expert consensus rating were also performed in 210 patients. Norms for patients and the community sample were calculated by using z-transformation. Receiver operator curves (ROC) were employed for the determination of cut-offs for categorical diagnoses on the basis of the dimensional scores.

The ROC analyses resulted in negative predictive values of 99 % for the five most frequent personality disorders in the sample; in contrast, positive predictive values were low.

The instrument is well suited for screening purposes, allowing for a reliable exclusion of personality disorders. For diagnosing personality disorders, however, clinical interviewing remains necessary. Norms and a dimensional personality disorder profile provide hints concerning the presence of pathological personality traits with respect to the reference group. The ADP-IV represents the only German-language questionnaire for the assessment of DSM-IV personality disorders which has been sufficiently validated. It is freely available on the internet at http://zmkweb.uni-muenster.de/einrichtungen/proth/dienstleistungen/psycho/diag/index.html.