Dimensions of Personality Pathology in Adolescents: Psychometric Properties of the DAPP-BQ-A

• Published in: Journal of personality disorders Vol. 22; no. 6; pp. 623 - 638
• Main Authors: Tromp, Noor B., Koot, Hans M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Guilford 01.12.2008; Guilford Press
• Subjects: Accuracy; Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior - psychology; Adolescents; Adults; Antisocial Personality Disorder - diagnosis; Biological and medical sciences; Comorbidity; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Health services; Human subjects; Humans; Juvenile Delinquency - psychology; Juvenile Delinquency - statistics & numerical data; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Mental Health; Mental health care; Personality; Personality Disorders - diagnosis; Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data; Personality Problems; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics; Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems; Psychopathology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reproducibility of Results; Severity of Illness Index; Studies; Techniques and methods; Human; Test validation; Factor analysis; Questionnaire; Follow up study; Adolescent; Internal consistency; Psychometrics; Test reliability; Intertrial interval; Personality disorder
• ISSN: 0885-579X; 1943-2763
• DOI: 10.1521/pedi.2008.22.6.623

This study aimed to contribute to the dimensional approach to personality pathology by addressing the applicability of a personality pathology questionnaire, originally developed for adults, in adolescent samples. The psychometric properties of the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Basic Questionnaire for Adolescents (DAPP-BQ-A) were studied in two samples including 170 adolescents referred for mental health services and 1,628 nonreferred adolescents, respectively. Factor analysis resulted in a strong replication of the original structure, retaining four factors (Emotional Dysregulation, Dissocial Behavior, Inhibitedness, and Compulsivity), which could be further organized into a two-dimensional structure with factors identifiable as Internalizing and Externalizing, suggesting a possible link between personality and psychopathology. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability proved to be satisfactory for all lower-order dimensions, with the exception of Intimacy Problems. Several of these dimensions showed considerable promise in differentiating nonreferred adolescents, referred adolescents without and referred adolescents with a personality disorder. The present findings underscore the need for a developmental perspective on personality pathology. Promising aspects of the dimensional approach to personality pathology in adolescence are discussed.