Changes in the level of personality functioning in inpatient psychotherapy

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Kraus ◽  
Gerhard Dammann ◽  
Myriam Rudaz ◽  
Isa Sammet ◽  
Danielle Jeggle ◽  
...  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hill ◽  
Sarah Jones ◽  
Lisa Williams ◽  
Jayne Morriss

Cross-situational emotionality is a well-established dimension of personality, however the ability to modulate emotional expression by social domain is also a key aspect of personality functioning. We describe a self-report measure, the Domain Emotional Expression Profile (DEEP), designed to assess 5 emotions and behaviours in relation to 5 social domains, and report 2 studies. Study 1 (N = 166 students) assessed construct validity based on predictions from attachment theory regarding distress expression, and explored other emotions and domains. Study 2 (N = 279 students) tested hypotheses based on findings from Study 1 and explored the status of friendship interactions. In Study 1, mean distress-expression comfort-seeking scores in family and partner interactions were substantially higher than in work and in a social (e.g. party) situation consistent with the attachment based prediction (p < .001). In exploratory analyses mean anger expression scores were similarly higher in family and partner relationships than in work and social situations. However distress expression was higher in partner than family interactions (p = .008) which was not the case for anger expression. Study 2 replicated these findings from Study 1, and indicated an intermediate position for friendships between family and partner, and work and social interactions. We report support for the construct validity of the DEEP and replicated evidence regarding the partitioning of anger expression across domains, together with new indications of friendship processes. This method of profiling emotional expression and behaviours across social contexts offers a way of characterising individual differences, including those associated with psychopathology.


Medicina ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 627
Author(s):  
Christina Frederiksen ◽  
Ole André Solbakken ◽  
Rasmus Wentzer Licht ◽  
Carsten René Jørgensen ◽  
Maria Rodrigo-Domingo ◽  
...  

Background and Objectives: Emotional dysfunction is considered a key component in personality disorders; however, only few studies have examined the relationship between the two. In this study, emotional dysfunction was operationalized through the Affect Integration Inventory, and the aim was to examine the relationships between the level of affect integration and the levels of symptom distress, interpersonal problems, and personality functioning in patients diagnosed with personality disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition. Materials and Methods: Within a hospital-based psychiatric outpatient setting, 87 patients with personality disorder referred for treatment were identified for assessment with the Affect Integration Inventory and other measures (e.g., the Symptom Checklist-90, Revised, the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems 64 circumplex version, and the Severity Indices of Personality Problems). Results: The analyses revealed that problems with affect integration were strongly and statistically significantly correlated with high levels of symptom distress, interpersonal problems, and maladaptive personality functioning. Additionally, low scores on the Affect Integration Inventory regarding discrete affects were associated with distinct and differentiated patterns of interpersonal problems. Conclusion: Taken together, emotional dysfunction, as measured by the Affect Integration Inventory, appeared to be a central component of the pathological self-organization associated with personality disorder. These findings have several implications for the understanding and psychotherapeutic treatment of personality pathology. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of considering the integration of discrete affects and their specific contributions in the conceptualization and treatment of emotional dysfunction in patients with personality disorders.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Hörz-Sagstetter ◽  
Ludwig Ohse ◽  
Leonie Kampe

Abstract Purpose of Review The concept of personality functioning (Alternative DSM-5 Model of Personality Disorders) has led to increased interest in dimensional personality disorder diagnosis. While differing markedly from the current categorical classification, it is closely related to the psychodynamic concepts of personality structure and personality organization. In this review, the three dimensional approaches, their underlying models, and common instruments are introduced, and empirical studies on similarities and differences between the concepts and the categorical classification are summarized. Additionally, a case example illustrates the clinical application. Recent Findings Numerous studies demonstrate the broad empirical basis, validated assessment instruments and clinical usefulness of the dimensional concepts. Their advantages compared to the categorical approach, but also the respective differences, have been demonstrated empirically, in line with clinical observations. Summary Evidence supports the three dimensional concepts, which share conceptual overlap, but also entail unique aspects of personality pathology, respectively.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carsten Spitzer ◽  
Steffen Müller ◽  
André Kerber ◽  
Joost Hutsebaut ◽  
Elmar Brähler ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-272
Author(s):  
Diana Diamond ◽  
Frank Yeomans ◽  
John R. Keefe

In this article, we provide an overview of transference-focused psychotherapy for patients with pathological narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder (TFP-N). In TFP-N we have modified and refined the tactics and techniques of TFP, an evidence-based treatment for borderline personality disorder, to meet the specific challenges of working with patients with narcissistic personality pathology whose retreat from reality into an illusory grandiosity makes them particularly difficult to engage in treatment. We first describe a model of narcissistic pathology based on considerations of psychological structure stemming from object relations theory. This model provides a unifying understanding of the core structure of narcissistic pathology, the pathological grandiose self, that underlies the impairments in self and interpersonal functioning of those with narcissistic pathology across the levels of personality organization (from high functioning to borderline to malignant). We then delineate the clinical process of working with patients with pathological narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder. Starting with the assessment process, using a detailed clinical example, we guide the reader through the progression of TFP-N as it helps the patient move from the distorted, unintegrated sense of self underlying the narcissistic presentation to the more integrated, realistic sense of self that characterizes healthier personality functioning. In TFP-N the focus on the disturbed interpersonal patterns of relating in the here and now of the therapeutic interaction is the vehicle to diminish grandiosity and improve relatedness, thereby effecting enduring changes in mental representation and real-world functioning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 209 (5) ◽  
pp. 353-361
Author(s):  
Roberto Pedone ◽  
Anna Maria Barbarulo ◽  
Livia Colle ◽  
Antonio Semerari ◽  
Pietro Grimaldi

1979 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 270-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Garnets ◽  
Joseph H. Pleck

This paper first reviews three different theoretical constructs concerning the psychological significance of sex role related characteristics in personality functioning: sex role identity, androgyny, and sex role transcendence. A new conceptual analysis concerning sex-typing, sex role strain analysis, is presented. According to this analysis, the relationship between sex role related personality characteristics and psychological adjustment, especially self-esteem, is moderated by two variables: perception of the ideal member of the same sex, and sex role salience. These two variables; taken in conjunction with real self-concept, generate five sex role strain outcomes. The constructs of sex role identity, androgyny, and sex role transcendence are interpreted in terms of this sex role strain analysis. The implications of this analysis for current research and for understanding the dynamics of both individual and social change in sex roles are briefly described.


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