Ten-Year Rank-Order Stability of Personality Traits and Disorders in a Clinical Sample

Abstract

Objective: This study compares the 10-year retest stability of normal traits, pathological traits, and personality disorder dimensions in a clinical sample.

Method: Ten-year rank-order stability estimates for the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality, and Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders were evaluated before and after correcting for test-retest dependability and internal consistency in a clinical sample (N = 266).

Results: Dependability-corrected stability estimates were generally in the range of.60-.90 for traits and.25-.65 for personality disorders.

Conclusions: The relatively lower stability of personality disorder symptoms may indicate important differences between pathological behaviors and relatively more stable self-attributed traits and imply that a full understanding of personality and personality pathology needs to take both traits and symptoms into account. The five-factor theory distinction between basic tendencies and characteristic adaptations provides a theoretical framework for the separation of traits and disorders in terms of stability in which traits reflect basic tendencies that are stable and pervasive across situations, whereas personality disorder symptoms reflect characteristic maladaptations that are a function of both basic tendencies and environmental dynamics.