Psychometric Qualities of the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology – Short Form for Adolescents

A growing body of research recognizes the occurrence and validity of personality pathology during adolescence as well as its relevance as a developmental precursor of adult personality pathology.The present study recognizes the need for a comprehensive and concise instrument to assess the dimensions of personality pathology in adolescents. Therefore, the psychometric qualities of an abbreviated version of the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology - Basic Questionnaire for Adolescents (DAPP-BQ-A), which has been denoted as the DAPP - Short Form for Adolescents (DAPP-SF-A), were examined.The factorial structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, discriminative validity, and classification accuracy of the DAPP-SF-A scales were examined in three samples: 1596 non-referred adolescents; 166 adolescents referred to inpatient and outpatient mental health services; and 58 referred and general population adolescents.Despite a reduction in the number of items by 50% (from 290 to 144 items), the promising psychometric qualities established for the DAPP-BQ-A were replicated for the DAPP-SF-A.The results of this study are promising regarding the qualities of the DAPP-SF-A and its utility in both clinical and research settings. In addition, the equivalence of the instruments for adolescents and (young) adults enables the investigation of developmental trajectories across different life stages

Associations of specific and multiple types of childhood abuse and neglect with personality pathology among adolescents referred for mental health services

The present study investigated the unique association between five types of childhood abuse and neglect and 18 lower-order dimensions of personality pathology, and using latent classes analysis (LCA) explored patterns of childhood abuse or neglect experiences. Further differences across latent classes on personality pathology traits, personality disorder symptom count and a diagnosis of personality disorder were examined. Participants were 178 adolescents and young adults (12–22 years; M = 16.02, 65.7% girls; 83% Axis I/II disorder) from the Netherlands referred for mental health services. Emotional abuse was uniquely associated with 11 personality pathology traits; sexual and physical were associated with three and four traits, respectively. LCA yielded three classes, namely, severe maltreatment (class 1), low-moderate emotional maltreatment and sexual abuse (class 2), and least maltreatment (class 3). After controlling for age, gender, presence of any Axis I disorder, multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that classes with more types of maltreatment experiences and higher severity (classes 1 and 2) endorsed more personality pathology traits, personality disorder symptom counts and a diagnosis of a personality disorder than the least maltreatment class. Findings have theoretical and clinical implications entailing the identification of patterns of maltreatment types and related personality pathology traits among youth

Associations of specific and multiple types of childhood abuse and neglect with personality pathology among adolescents referred for mental health services

The present study investigated the unique association between five types of childhood abuse and neglect and 18 lower-order dimensions of personality pathology, and using latent classes analysis (LCA) explored patterns of childhood abuse or neglect experiences. Further differences across latent classes on personality pathology traits, personality disorder symptom count and a diagnosis of personality disorder were examined. Participants were 178 adolescents and young adults (12–22 years; M = 16.02, 65.7% girls; 83% Axis I/II disorder) from the Netherlands referred for mental health services. Emotional abuse was uniquely associated with 11 personality pathology traits; sexual and physical were associated with three and four traits, respectively. LCA yielded three classes, namely, severe maltreatment (class 1), low-moderate emotional maltreatment and sexual abuse (class 2), and least maltreatment (class 3). After controlling for age, gender, presence of any Axis I disorder, multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that classes with more types of maltreatment experiences and higher severity (classes 1 and 2) endorsed more personality pathology traits, personality disorder symptom counts and a diagnosis of a personality disorder than the least maltreatment class. Findings have theoretical and clinical implications entailing the identification of patterns of maltreatment types and related personality pathology traits among youth

Rethinking Theory of Mind in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder

Background: The sociocommunicative problems in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are traditionally linked to impairments in Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to ascribe mental states to others. Although ToM impairments are consistently reported in young children with ASD, findings on more advanced ToM understanding in older individuals with high-functioning ASD (HFASD) are less straightforward. Therefore, we assessed the advanced ToM abilities of a large sample of school-aged children and adolescents with HFASD (n = 194; 6-20 years) and compared them to a typically developing (TD) comparison group (n = 60). Methods: Participants' advanced ToM was assessed with five social stories containing second-order false beliefs, display rules, double bluff, faux pas, and sarcasm. Results: Participants with HFASD performed equally well on each of the ToM stories as their TD peers. Consistent age effects were noticed with adolescents outperforming the children. Furthermore, advanced ToM was positively associated with participants' age, verbal abilities, and general reasoning abilities. Conclusions: Counter to what the ToM theory of ASD would predict, school-aged children and adolescents with HFASD seem to be able to master the theoretical principles of advanced mental state reasoning. However, they may still fail to apply these theoretical principles during everyday social interactions. © 2012 The Authors

Testing links between childhood positive peer relations and externalizing outcomes through a randomized controlled intervention study

In this study, the authors used a randomized controlled trial to explore the link between having positive peer relations and externalizing outcomes in 758 children followed from kindergarten to the end of 2nd grade. Children were randomly assigned to the Good Behavior Game (GBG), a universal classroombased preventive intervention, or a control condition. Children’s acceptance by peers, their number of mutual friends, and their proximity to others were assessed annually through peer ratings. Externalizing behavior was annually rated by teachers. Reductions in children’s externalizing behavior and improvements in positive peer relations were found among GBG children, as compared with control-group children. Reductions in externalizing behavior appeared to be partly mediated by the improvements in peer acceptance. This mediating role of peer acceptance was found for boys only. The results suggest that positive peer relations are not just markers, but they are environmental mediators of boys’ externalizing behavior development. Implications for research and prevention are discussed

Associations between Arab Mothers’ Self-Efficacy and Parenting Attitudes and their children’s Externalizing and Internalizing Behaviors:Gender Differences and the Mediating Role of Corporal Punishment

In this study we examined the association between Arab mothers’ self-efficacy and parenting attitudes and their children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and whether these associations are mediated by the use of corporal punishment. Further, we examined whether the child’s gender moderates these associations. We included 2380 mothers of kindergartners who answered a questionnaire assessing levels of self-efficacy, attitudes on corporal punishment, use of corporal punishment, and their children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Using structural equation modeling we tested for the mediation by corporal punishment of the association between self-efficacy, attitudes on corporal punishment and children’s behaviors. We further tested possible moderation by gender of the model. Results supported the hypothesized mediation effect of corporal punishment. Results suggest that mothers’ low self-efficacy and attitudes supporting corporal punishment were associated with elevated likelihood of use of corporal punishment which, in turn was associated with elevated levels of child’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors. No moderation by gender of this pathway was found, suggesting that boys and girls react similarly to the use of corporal punishment by their mothers. Interventions aimed at helping Arab mothers understand the impact of their behavior and guide them toward effective disciplinary strategies are suggested