An empirically derived classification of adolescent personality disorders

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Psychology
• Adolescent Mental Health
• Personality Disorders

Background:

• Adolescent personality pathology diagnosis lacks empirically grounded, clinically relevant approaches.
• Existing diagnostic systems may not fully capture the nuances of adolescent personality development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe an empirically derived approach for diagnosing adolescent personality pathology.
• To establish a clinically relevant and empirically grounded diagnostic framework for adolescents.

Main Methods:

• A national sample of 950 psychiatrists and psychologists used the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure-II-A for Adolescents (SWAP-II-A).
• Factor analysis identified personality groupings in adolescents.
• A second independent sample validated the findings with additional measures.

Main Results:

• Ten clinically coherent adolescent personality descriptions were identified, organized into three higher-order clusters: internalizing, externalizing, and borderline-dysregulated.
• A higher-order personality strengths factor was also identified.
• The diagnostic approach demonstrated high interrater agreement, minimal comorbidity, and strong correlations with other measures.

Conclusions:

• The findings support the significance of personality diagnosis in adolescents.
• The study provides an empirically based and clinically useful approach to adolescent personality diagnosis.