Personality theory for psychiatrists

Also known as Five-factor model · Big Five personality · Temperament and character · Dimensional personality · AMPD · PID-5 · Level of personality functioning · Trait theory psychiatry

Exam-exhaustive fellowship reference on personality theory for psychiatrists — trait models (FFM/Big Five, Cloninger), psychodynamic and cognitive-interpersonal frames, continuum to personality disorder, AMPD and ICD-11 dimensional models, assessment, formulation, and clinical application. FRANZCP-primary, globally tagged.

medium16 referencesUpdated 26 July 202614 min readVerification in progress

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10 MCQs

Meet the patient

A 28-year-old woman arrives after an overdose. The referral reads "borderline traits — probably personality". On the ward she is furious one minute, tearful the next, and convinced the team is about to abandon her. Her partner rings to add that she has been "like this since her teens" — but also that she lost her job and stopped sleeping two weeks ago.^[8]^[13]

Two questions are now live on every ward round that touches her, and both are exam questions: is this trait or state? and is that label earning her care, or blocking it? The rest of this topic is the consultant-depth answer to both.^[7]^[13]

References16Show

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[2]Goldberg LR The structure of phenotypic personality traits Am Psychol, 1993.PMID 8427480
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[11]Kotov R, Krueger RF, Watson D, et al. The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP): A dimensional alternative to traditional nosologies J Abnorm Psychol, 2017.PMID 28333488
[12]Samuel DB, Widiger TA A meta-analytic review of the relationships between the five-factor model and DSM-IV-TR personality disorders: a facet level analysis Clin Psychol Rev, 2008.PMID 18708274
[13]Tyrer P, Reed GM, Crawford MJ Classification, assessment, prevalence, and effect of personality disorder Lancet, 2015.PMID 25706217
[14]Bach B, First MB Application of the ICD-11 classification of personality disorders BMC Psychiatry, 2018.PMID 30373564
[15]Bender DS, Morey LC, Skodol AE Toward a model for assessing level of personality functioning in DSM-5, part I: a review of theory and methods J Pers Assess, 2011.PMID 22804672
[16]Roberts BW, Walton KE, Viechtbauer W Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies Psychol Bull, 2006.PMID 16435954