title: A practical way to diagnosis personality disorder: a proposal.
abstract: General criteria for the diagnosis of personality disorder are provided based on rating a few items describing four core features of personality disorder: (a) low Self-directedness, (b) low Cooperativeness, (c) low Affective Stability, and (d) low Self-transcendence. These core features correspond closely with the basic concept of personality disorder in DSM-IV and are based on specific items easy for clinicians to rate in a short time. Criteria are also provided for rating severity of personality disorganization and for subtyping based on a profile of three additional dimensions corresponding to core features of DSM-IV clusters A, B, and C. This approach should facilitate efficient screening in clinical practice, encourage an understanding of the development of comorbidity as a self-organizing process, and provide a theory-driven basis for therapeutic planning with drugs and psychotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. clon@tci.wustl.edu
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Cloninger
mesh_terms: D015897:Comorbidity; D006801:Humans; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales