Personality disorder in university students: a multitrait-multimethod matrix study.
The present study examined the prevalence of personality disorders (PDs) in a sample of first-year university students. The three self-report measures used to assess personality disorders were the (a) Coolidge Axis II Inventory (CATI); (b) Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II); and (c) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Personality Disorder Scale (MMPI-PD). The prevalence of PD was estimated by including the number of participants above the cut-off scores selected for each of the three PD instruments. The results indicate prevalence in the range of 0% to 16% for the males, and approximately 1% to 26% for the females. These findings generally confirm the prevalence range of 5% to 15% reported in other investigations of nonpatient samples. With few exceptions, the three tests are generally consistent in their estimates of PD prevalence of all the 11 personality disorders. The multitrait-multimethod matrix reveals that the disorders are generally positively correlated with each other on all the three tests, suggesting considerable construct overlap. Specifically, passive-aggressive and schizotypal disorders produce the most convergent correlations. On the MMPI-PD, however, schizoid is a relatively more discriminant disorder.
Sinha
B K
BK
Department of Psychology and Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E9. biren.sinha@ualberta.ca
Watson
D C
DC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*