title: Concurrent and predictive validity of the personality disorder diagnosis in adolescent inpatients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The authors investigated the concurrent and predictive validity of the DSM-III-R diagnosis of personality disorder in adolescents by means of baseline and follow-up assessments of inpatients treated at the Yale Psychiatric Institute.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred sixty-five hospitalized adolescents were reliably assessed by using a structured interview for personality disorder diagnoses as well as two measures of impairment and distress--the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale and the SCL-90-R. Two years after initial assessment, 101 subjects were independently reassessed with the same measures; their functioning was also assessed at this time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline, adolescents with personality disorders were significantly more impaired than those without personality disorders. At follow-up, adolescents with a personality disorder diagnosis at baseline had used significantly more drugs and had required more inpatient treatment during the follow-up interval. Over time, the scores on the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale and SCL-90-R of adolescents diagnosed with a personality disorder at baseline became more similar to the scores of adolescents without a personality disorder.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The diagnosis of personality disorder in adolescent inpatients has good concurrent validity; however, the predictive validity of the diagnosis is mixed.
authors.affiliation: Yale Psychiatric Institute, New Haven, Conn., USA. klevy@gc.cuny.edu
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Grilo
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mattanah
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Garnet
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Quinlan
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Edell
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: McGlashan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design