title: Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO): preliminary psychometrics in a clinical sample.
abstract: In this article, we describe the development and preliminary psychometric properties of the Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO), a semistructured interview designed for the dimensional assessment of identity, primitive defenses, and reality testing, the three primary content domains in the model of personality health and disorder elaborated by Kernberg (1984; Kernberg & Caligor, 2005). Results of this investigation, conducted in a clinical sample representing a broad range of personality pathology, indicate that identity and primitive defenses as operationalized in the STIPO are internally consistent and that interrater reliability for all 3 content domains is adequate. Validity findings suggest that the assessment of one's sense of self and significant others (Identity) is predictive of measures of positive and negative affect, whereas the maladaptive ways in which the subject uses his or her objects for purposes of regulating one's self experience (Primitive Defenses) is predictive of measures of aggression and personality disorder traits associated with cluster B personality disorders. We discuss implications of these findings in terms of the theory-driven and trait-based assessment of personality pathology.
authors.affiliation: Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Columbia Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, New York, NY 10017, USA. bs2137@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Barry L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: Eve
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Caligor
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Clarkin
authors.forename: Kenneth L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Critchfield
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Horz
authors.forename: Verna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: MacCornack
authors.forename: Mark F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Lenzenweger
authors.forename: Otto F
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Kernberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009519:New York City; D010554:Personality Disorders; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics; D012647:Self-Assessment; D055815:Young Adult