Literature Update

Abstract

Introduction: This study investigates the role of harm avoidance (HA) as a possible risk factor in the familiality of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). HA is considered to be a genetically influenced personality trait with an increasingly understood neuroanatomical basis. Method: 75 subjects with OCD from hospital sites and a community sample and their 152 first degree relatives and 75 age and sex matched controls with their 143 first degree relatives were evaluated with structured clinical interviews (DSM-IV). HA was assessed with Cloninger's Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ). Results: Subjects with OCD had higher scores of HA than controls (p ≤ 0.001). First degree relatives of OCD cases also showed higher HA than relatives of control subjects (p = 0.001).These results remained stable when comparing only OCD subjects versus controls (p ≤ 0.001) and relatives of OCD cases versus relatives of controls (p = 0.005) without current comorbid disorders. Limitations: The investigation of HA alone does not allow to disentangle the transmission of biological versus psychological factors related to an elevated level of anxiety in families of OCD cases. Conclusion: This is the first study to extent previous findings of elevated HA in OCD cases to their first degree relatives. Thus, HA may partially mediate the familial risk for OCD.

Abstract

Psychopathy is an important personality construct, particularly within forensic settings. However, the first comprehensive description of psychopathic personalities was based on non-criminal, civil psychiatric patient samples. Case reports included highly maladaptive individuals but also suggested that milder traits can be found in persons with considerable success in life. More recent studies suggested that the interpersonal traits of psychopathy might be of advantage to achieve professional success but less successful in other important domains of life. This study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that some features of psychopathy are related to life-success in a community sample of 304 men at age 48. This hypothesis was not confirmed. Despite strong similarities with narcissistic personality disorder traits which have been demonstrated to have beneficial effects on life-success, the interpersonal domain was not related to "status and wealth" or "successful intimate relationships". Impulsiveness and antisocial behavior negatively predicted "status and wealth", and affective deficiency was negatively associated with both aspects of a successful life. It is concluded that psychopathic traits do not contribute to a successful life and that the findings cast doubt on the existence of the successful psychopath.

Abstract

The present study investigated the preliminary psychometric characteristics of an English translation of a new five factor model of psychopathology, the five-dimensional personality test (5DPT). Internal scale reliabilities were good (median α = .86, n = 683) and test-retest reliability was excellent (r = .92, n = 67, one-week interval), replicating findings from a previous study of the Dutch version of the 5DPT. The 5DPT exhibited sufficient construct validity with a measure of Karen Horney's tridimensional theory (Horney-Coolidge Tridimensional Inventory) and a measure of personality disorders (Coolidge Axis II Inventory) to warrant further study.

Abstract

No abstract available

Abstract

A growing body of research has suggested that narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) contains 2 factors or types: overt/grandiose and covert/vulnerable. A recent factor analysis of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), NPD symptoms supported a similar 2-factor model. The present research tested this proposed 2-factor solution against a 1-factor solution (N = 289; 72% patients) using both confirmatory factor analysis and an examination of associations between the resultant factors and theoretically relevant criteria (other personality disorders; depression, anxiety). The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported a 1-factor solution. Likewise, the 2 factors each yielded a similar pattern of correlations with relevant criteria. Together, these results argue against a 2-factor structure for the current DSM-IV NPD symptoms. Given the broader research literature suggesting a 2-factor structure of narcissism, strategies for assessing both overt/grandiose and covert/vulnerable forms of narcissism in DSM-V are discussed.