3-007 - Personality Pathology in Adolescence and Its Links with Developmental Outcomes

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The existence of personality disorders in adolescents has long been doubted, partly because personality disorder symptoms were thought to represent normative transient disruptions (Shiner & Allen, 2013). However, there is now strong evidence that adolescent personality disorders are prevalent, non-normative, and stable across time and thus worth of more intensive study. Because there are numerous problems with using categorical diagnoses to define this form of disorder (e.g., Widiger, 2005), dimensional approaches examining a continuum from normal to abnormal personality have gained popularity. This is reflected in the newest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5; APA, 2013), in which such a dimensional trait model is included.
This international symposium brings together three studies using clinical and normative samples to show the relevance of dimensional approaches to personality pathology for explaining individual differences in adolescent functioning. Presentation 1 examines linkages between DSM-5 pathological traits and the key developmental task of adolescence: identity formation. Presentation 2 investigates the role of adolescents’ relationships with parents and peers in buffering the adverse effects of DSM-5 traits on quality of life. Presentation 3 employs a psychopathological trait model specifically developed for children and adolescents (i.e., the DIPSI), and examines whether these traits moderate the impact of the sex hormone testosterone on adolescent externalizing behavior. Our discussant, an expert in adolescent personality pathology, will discuss how these three studies contribute to our increasing knowledge of adolescent personality pathology and its substantial impact on adolescent functioning.

Sub Unit

• Social, Emotional, Personality

Chair

• Theo Klimstra, Tilburg University

Discussant

• Rebecca L Shiner, Colgate University

Individual Presentations

• Associations of Dimensions of Identity and Formation With DSM-5 Personality Pathology Traits in Adolescence - Presenting Author: Theo Klimstra, Tilburg University; Koen Luyckx, Catholic University of Louvain

• The mediational role of interpersonal relationships in the link between adolescents’ personality pathology and quality of life - Presenting Author: Marcel van Aken, Utrecht University; Danique van den Hanenberg, Utrecht University, Leiden University; Paul T. van der Heijden, Reinier van Arkel groep; Christel Hessels, Reinier van Arkel groep; Barbara De Clercq, Ghent University

• Personality Elucidates Associations Between Testosterone and Adolescent Externalizing Behavior - Presenting Author: Kathleen Reardon, University of Houston; Jennifer L. Tackett, University of Houston