Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry: An Interpersonal Approach to Construct Validation.

The present study applied the interpersonal perspective in testing the narcissistic admiration and rivalry concept (NARC) and examining the construct validity of the corresponding Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ). Two undergraduate samples (Sample 1: = 290; Sample 2: = 188) completed self-report measures of interpersonal processes based in the interpersonal circumplex (IPC), as well as measures of related constructs. In examining IPC correlates, the authors used a novel bootstrapping approach to determine if admiration and rivalry related to differing interpersonal profiles.

Issues resolved and unresolved in pathological narcissism.

Narcissism is one of the oldest personality constructs, and yet debates about its definition and structure have been a topic of intense debate over the past decade. Recent independent reviews of the literature have proposed conceptually identical triarchic structural models of individual differences in pathological narcissism. In each model entitlement serves as the core of the construct, and its expression is moderated by basic personality/temperament to manifest in exhibitionism or vulnerability.

Depression impacts the physiological responsiveness of mother-daughter dyads during social interaction.

Background: Maternal depression is associated with increased risk of psychiatric illness in offspring. While risk may relate to depressed mothers' difficulties regulating emotions in the context of interacting with offspring, physiological indicators of emotion regulation have rarely been examined during mother-child interactions-and never among mother-adolescent dyads in which both mother and adolescent have histories of major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods: We examined changes in high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), an indicator of parasympathetic (vagal) function that has been related to depression, stress, social engagement, and emotion regulation, in 46 mother-daughter dyads (23 in which both mother and daughter had an MDD history and 23 never-depressed controls).

Longitudinal validation of general and specific structural features of personality pathology.

Theorists have long argued that personality disorder (PD) is best understood in terms of general impairments shared across the disorders as well as more specific instantiations of pathology. A model based on this theoretical structure was proposed as part of the DSM-5 revision process. However, only recently has this structure been subjected to formal quantitative evaluation, with little in the way of validation efforts via external correlates or prospective longitudinal prediction.

Modeling Heterogeneity in Momentary Interpersonal and Affective Dynamic Processes in Borderline Personality Disorder.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a diagnosis defined by impairments in several dynamic processes (e.g., interpersonal relating, affect regulation, behavioral control).

Advancing the Assessment of Dynamic Psychological Processes.

Most commonly used clinical assessment tools cannot fully capture the dynamic psychological processes often hypothesized as core mechanisms of psychopathology and psychotherapy. There is therefore a gap between our theories of problems and interventions for those problems and the tools we use to understand clients. The purpose of this special issue is to connect theory about clinical dynamics to practice by focusing on methods for collecting dynamic data, statistical models for analyzing dynamic data, and conceptual schemes for implementing dynamic data in applied settings.

Stability and fluctuation of personality disorder features in daily life.

Very little is known about the daily stability and fluctuation of personality pathology. To address this gap in knowledge, we investigated the naturalistic manifestation of personality pathology over the course of 100 days. A group of individuals (N = 101) diagnosed with any personality disorder (PD) completed a daily diary study over 100 consecutive days (Mdn = 94 days, range = 33-101 days).

Bridging the Nomothetic and Idiographic Approaches to the Analysis of Clinical Data.

The nomothetic approach (i.e., the study of interindividual variation) dominates analyses of clinical data, even though its assumption of homogeneity across people and time is often violated.

Momentary patterns of covariation between specific affects and interpersonal behavior: Linking relationship science and personality assessment.

Relationships are among the most salient factors affecting happiness and wellbeing for individuals and families. Relationship science has identified the study of dyadic behavioral patterns between couple members during conflict as an important window in to relational functioning with both short-term and long-term consequences. Several methods have been developed for the momentary assessment of behavior during interpersonal transactions.

Trait positive and negative emotionality differentially associate with diurnal cortisol activity.

Inter-individual variability in metrics of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) activity, such as the slope of the diurnal decline in cortisol, cortisol awakening response (CAR), and total cortisol output, have been found to associate inversely with trait ratings of extraversion and positive affect (E/PA) and positively with neuroticism and negative affect (N/NA) in some, but not all, investigations. These inconsistencies may partly reflect varied intensity of cortisol sampling among studies and reliance on self-rated traits, which are subject to reporting biases and limitations of introspection. Here, we further examined dispositional correlates of HPA activity in 490 healthy, employed midlife volunteers (M age=43 years; 54% Female; 86% white).

PTSD symptom course during the first year of college.

Objectives: In this study we examined patterns of transition in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms over the 1st year of college. We also examined 2 factors that might predict these transitions: trauma exposure and alcohol involvement.

Method: Matriculating students (N = 944; 65% female) completed assessments of PTSD, trauma exposure, and alcohol use and consequences multiple times in their freshman year.

Examining the Dynamic Structure of Daily Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior at Multiple Levels of Analysis.

Psychiatric diagnostic covariation suggests that the underlying structure of psychopathology is not one of circumscribed disorders. Quantitative modeling of individual differences in diagnostic patterns has uncovered several broad domains of mental disorder liability, of which the Internalizing and Externalizing spectra have garnered the greatest support. These dimensions have generally been estimated from lifetime or past-year comorbidity patters, which are distal from the covariation of symptoms and maladaptive behavior that ebb and flow in daily life.

Beyond Description in Interpersonal Construct Validation: Methodological Advances in the Circumplex Structural Summary Approach.

The interpersonal circumplex is a well-established structural model that organizes interpersonal functioning within the two-dimensional space marked by dominance and affiliation. The structural summary method (SSM) was developed to evaluate the interpersonal nature of other constructs and measures outside the interpersonal circumplex. To date, this method has been primarily descriptive, providing no way to draw inferences when comparing SSM parameters across constructs or groups.

Predicting problematic alcohol use with the DSM-5 alternative model of personality pathology.

High comorbidity between personality disorders and alcohol use disorders appears related to individual differences in underlying personality dimensions of behavioral undercontrol and affective dysregulation. However, very little is known about how the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edition; DSM-5) Section III trait model of personality pathology relates to alcohol problems or how the strength of the relationship between personality pathology and alcohol problems changes with age and across gender. The current study examined these questions in a sample of 877 participants using the General Assessment of Personality Disorder to assess general personality dysfunction, the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 to measure specific traits, and the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) to assess problematic alcohol use.

On the Measure and Mismeasure of Narcissism: A Response to "Measures of Narcissism and Their Relations to DSM-5 Pathological Traits: A Critical Reappraisal".

Narcissism continues to suffer from a lack of consensual definition. Variability in the definition is reflected in the growing multitude of measures with oftentimes diverging nomological nets. Although the themes of narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability appear to have achieved reasonable agreement on their central importance, the lower order structure of each is not well understood and debates remain about how (and whether) they can be integrated into a coherent whole.

Personality Correlates of Midlife Cardiometabolic Risk: The Explanatory Role of Higher-Order Factors of the Five-Factor Model.

Varying associations are reported between Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality traits and cardiovascular disease risk. Here, we further examine dispositional correlates of cardiometabolic risk within a hierarchical model of personality that proposes higher-order traits of Stability (shared variance of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, inverse Neuroticism) and Plasticity (Extraversion, Openness), and we test hypothesized mediation via biological and behavioral factors. In an observational study of 856 community volunteers aged 30-54 years (46% male, 86% Caucasian), latent variable FFM traits (using multiple-informant reports) and aggregated cardiometabolic risk (indicators: insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, blood pressure, adiposity) were estimated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Daily Interpersonal and Affective Dynamics in Personality Disorder.

In this naturalistic study, the authors adopt the lens of interpersonal theory to examine between- and within-person differences in dynamic processes of daily affect and interpersonal behaviors among individuals (N = 101) previously diagnosed with personality disorders who completed daily diaries over the course of 100 days. Dispositional ratings of interpersonal problems and measures of daily stress were used as predictors of daily shifts in interpersonal behavior and affect in multilevel models. Results indicate that ∼40%-50% of the variance in interpersonal behavior and affect is due to daily fluctuations, which are modestly related to dispositional measures of interpersonal problems but strongly related to daily stress.

Developmental Trajectories of Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms and Psychosocial Functioning in Adolescence.

In recent years, major gains toward understanding the emergence of borderline personality disorder (BPD) pathology, which is typically first noted during adolescence, have been made. Simultaneously, a profound shift has occurred in the adult personality pathology literature, in which empirical evidence rebuts the idea that personality disorders (PDs) are intractable disorders that do not develop or otherwise change over time, and therefore cannot be treated. The present study addresses a gap in our understanding of within-person change in BPD symptoms across adolescence and contributes to the limited literature on outcomes associated with adolescent BPD.

Correction to "Evidence for the Criterion Validity and Clinical Utility of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory".

In our article "Evidence for the Criterion Validity and Clinical Utility of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory" (2012), we provided incorrect values for the r(contrast-cv) coefficients we presented in Table 1. In the current report, we provide correct r(contrast-cv) values in Table 1 and discuss the implications of our updated results, particularly with respect to how these results differ from our initial report.

Extraversion and the Rewarding Effects of Alcohol in a Social Context.

The personality trait of extraversion has been linked to problematic drinking patterns. Researchers have long hypothesized that such associations are attributable to increased alcohol-reward sensitivity among extraverted individuals, and surveys suggest that individuals high in extraversion gain greater mood enhancement from alcohol than those low in extraversion. Surprisingly, however, alcohol administration studies have not found individuals high in extraversion to experience enhanced mood following alcohol consumption.

The structure of personality pathology: Both general ('g') and specific ('s') factors?

Recent editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) conceptualize personality disorders (PDs) as categorical constructs, but high PD co-occurrence suggests underlying latent dimensions. Moreover, several borderline PD criteria resemble Criterion A of the new DSM-5 Section III general criteria for personality pathology (i.e.

Attachment and social cognition in borderline personality disorder: Specificity in relation to antisocial and avoidant personality disorders.

Theory and research point to the role of attachment difficulties in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Attachment insecurity is believed to lead to chronic problems in social relationships, attributable, in part, to impairments in social cognition, which comprise maladaptive mental representations of self, others, and self in relation to others. However, few studies have attempted to identify social-cognitive mechanisms that link attachment insecurity to BPD and to assess whether such mechanisms are specific to the disorder.

Personality, negative affect coping, and drinking alone: a structural equation modeling approach to examine correlates of adolescent solitary drinking.

Aims: This study examined the personality traits of negative emotionality and constraint and the ability to resist drinking during negative affective states as correlates of solitary drinking in adolescence. We hypothesized that higher levels of negative emotionality and lower levels of constraint would predict solitary drinking and that these relationships would be mediated by the ability to resist drinking in response to negative emotions.

Design: Structural equation modeling was used to fit a path model from the personality traits of negative emotionality and constraint to solitary drinking status through intermediate effects on the ability to resist drinking during negative emotions using cross-sectional data.

Personality Pathology and Interpersonal Problem Stability.

Personality disorders (PDs) are often described as stable, which ignores the important dynamic processes and shifts that are observed clinically in individuals with PD. The current study examined patterns of variability in problematic interpersonal functioning, a core feature of personality pathology. Participants (N = 150) were assessed for personality pathology at baseline and also completed the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex Scales at baseline and every 3 months over the course of a year.