Assessment of pathological personality traits and gender characteristics by Personality Inventory for DSM-5 in a psychiatric and a normal sample

Background: The DSM-5 describes two types of classification of personality disorders: a categorical and a dimensional classification. The alternative model of personality disorders in the DSM-5 determines new diagnostic criteria for personality disorders with a criterion B describing the presence of pathological personality facets. For the assessment of these domains and facets, the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5) was created.

Methods: A sample of patients receiving psychiatric care (n=239) and a normal sample (n=226) were involved in the study. The two samples did not differ significantly regarding gender, age, and the levels of education. The PID-5 was applied to assess the pathological domains and facets.

Results: Psychiatric patients scored significantly higher on four out of five PID domains compared to the members of the general population. Regarding the PID facets, the two study groups differed significantly in 18 out of 25 facets. Regarding the PID domains and facets, gender differences were found in the clinical sample: Negative Affectivity was more typical for women, while Antagonism was more dominant for men. Women receiving psychiatric care were cha - rac terized by Emotional Lability and Anxiousness, while Manipulativeness, Deceitfulness, Callousness and Risk Taking were more dominant for men of the clinical sample.

Conclusions: Our results confirmed the applicability of the dimensional personality model. The PID-5 can discriminate between psychiatric and normal samples. Our findings suggested that in the case of the general population, traditional gender characteristics disappeared, while psychiatric patients seemed to preserve the traditional gender roles.