Assessing Criterion A in adolescents using the Semistructured Interview for Personality Functioning DSM-5

Accumulating evidence supports the reliability and validity of the diagnosis of personality disorders (PDs) in adolescents, but whether the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), criteria are optimal to capture and help detect emerging PDs in this age-group remains controversial. The Level of Personality Functioning Scale (LPFS), included in the alternative model for personality disorders, may provide a more developmentally sensitive way to identify impaired personality features in young people. This study investigates the feasibility of the LPFS in adolescents by examining the psychometric properties of the Semistructured Interview for Personality Functioning DSM-5 in a clinical sample of referred adolescents (N = 84) and in a community sample (N = 12). Additionally, referred adolescents completed self-report questionnaires pertaining to symptom severity, personality functioning, and personality traits. In general, good interrater reliability and internal consistency were observed, and the associations with external variables largely followed theoretical prediction. Interestingly, and in contrast to data on adults, we found no significant associations between the LPFS scores on the one hand and traditional DSM-5 PD diagnoses in the clinical sample on the other (except for borderline PD criteria). In discussing these findings, we argue that the assessment of personality functioning may be better suited for detecting personality pathology in adolescence than the traditional Section II criteria.