Criteria A and B of the Alternative DSM-5 Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) Capture Borderline Personality Features Among Adolescents

Abstract

The recent development of a dimensional view toward personality disorder opens up the field of personality research based on the constructs of personality functioning (Criterion A) and maladaptive personality traits (Criterion B) as core components of personality pathology. However, little is known about the roles of these aspects in relation to borderline personality features during adolescence. The current study aimed at exploring the associations of Criterion A and B and their contribution in predicting borderline personality features in adolescence. A sample of 568 adolescents aged 11–17 (M = 14.38, SD = 1.57; 42.4% males) from different backgrounds (community-based, psychiatric inpatients, and youth forensic care) completed a set of questionnaires among which were measures of personality functioning, maladaptive personality traits, and borderline personality features. The findings reveal that Criterion A and B are strongly interrelated and both are significant in predicting borderline personality features in adolescents. Further, the results showed the incremental value of Criterion A beyond the level of underlying psychopathology and maladaptive personality traits suggesting the distinctive function of Criterion A to capture the features of borderline personality. These findings extend the knowledge about the dimensional aspects of personality pathology in adolescence. The implications in relation to the new personality disorder model in the ICD-11 are highlighted.

Practical implications of ICD-11 personality disorder classifications

“…The two diagnostic models are advantageous in differentiating PDs from other mental disorders [31]. They can also be utilized to detect the association between personality features and patients' readmission and mortality risk [32,33], and they are applicable to old people [34] and adolescents [35]. In addition, both ICD-11 and DSM-5-AMPD possess advantages over the categorical system in PD treatment, which is largely compatible with the Schema Therapy model [36].…”

Personality traits as risk factors for relapse or recurrence in major depression: a systematic review

“…The ICD-11 takes a dimensional approach and emphasizes severity and functional impact (10,62). Likewise, the DSM-5 has adopted the maladaptive personality traits and the level of personality functioning as key features of personality pathology (63,64), but it remains a categorical diagnosis in that system.…”