Psychometric Properties of the Inventory of Personality Organization for Adolescents

Empirical typology of adolescent personality organization

“…Consistent with results of previous studies suggesting that personality pathology in adolescents is stable throughout adulthood (Courtney‐Seidler et al, 2013) but may vary in symptomatology and severity when compared to adults, as well as recent findings regarding personality structure differences between adolescents and adults in non‐clinical samples (Biberdzic et al, 2017), we hypothesized that evidence for a three‐level model of PO would remain robust in adolescents, but would present specific differences in their clinical presentations. More specifically, we expected identity disturbance to be more generalized across the different POs in adolescents, and narcissistic features and poor moral functioning to be more specific of the BPO level (see Biberdzic et al, 2017).…”

“…Consistent with results of previous studies suggesting that personality pathology in adolescents is stable throughout adulthood (Courtney‐Seidler et al, 2013) but may vary in symptomatology and severity when compared to adults, as well as recent findings regarding personality structure differences between adolescents and adults in non‐clinical samples (Biberdzic et al, 2017), we hypothesized that evidence for a three‐level model of PO would remain robust in adolescents, but would present specific differences in their clinical presentations. More specifically, we expected identity disturbance to be more generalized across the different POs in adolescents, and narcissistic features and poor moral functioning to be more specific of the BPO level (see Biberdzic et al, 2017). Considering that the adolescents in this study were also from a community sample, we hypothesized the existence of a normal, a neurotic, and a borderline level of PO, with individuals with a normal level of PO showing more integrated identities, more mature/less primitive defenses, intact reality testing, lower rates of aggression, and better moral functioning than those with neurotic and borderline levels of PO.…”

“…Items are rated on a 5‐point Likert‐type scale ranging from never true to always true . The IPO‐A has shown high internal consistency on all five dimensions used in this study (ID Cronbach's α = .91; PD Cronbach's α = .88; RT Cronbach's α = .90; AGG Cronbach's α = .91; MOR Cronbach's α = .88) as well as high convergent validity (Biberdzic et al, 2017).…”

“…IPO-A (Biberdzic et al, 2013) The IPO-A is a 42-item self-report questionnaire designed to measure the five dimensions of PO in adolescents. This version was obtained following the validation of the initial 91-item version (Biberdzic et al, 2017), which consisted of the five original dimensions and of an added (i.e. empirically derived) subscale measuring instability of goals.…”

“…These findings suggest an association between PO and psychopathological symptoms and features of PDs, and emphasize the clinical significance of the core dimensions of PO for understanding personality pathology. Although similar empirical evidence among adolescent populations is scarce, the importance of assessing PO in youth has recently been supported, with results from a recent study indicating (1) significantly lower levels of identity integration, (2) higher use of primitive defenses, (3) higher impairment of reality testing, (4) higher levels of aggression, and (5) poorer moral functioning in a non-clinical sample of adolescents compared to a non-clinical sample of young adults (Biberdzic, Ensink, Normandin, & Clarkin, 2017), hence suggesting potential differences between these two populations with regard to the core dimensions of PO. However, it remains unknown whether these features, in adolescents, are empirically related to the theorized levels of PO as reported in adults (Fischer-Kern et al, 2010), and whether these levels of PO are associated with indicators of maladjustment and psychopathology in adolescents.…”