Screening for personality disorder with the Standardised Assessment of Personality: Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS): further evidence of concurrent validity.
BACKGROUND
The assessment of personality disorders (PD) is costly and time-consuming. There is a need for a brief screen for personality disorders that can be used in routine clinical settings and epidemiological surveys.


OBJECTIVE
To test the validity of the Standardised Assessment of Personality: Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS) as a screen for PD in a clinical sample of substance abusers.


METHODS
Convergent validity of the SAPAS with both categorical and dimensional representations of personality disorders was estimated.


RESULTS
In this sample, the SAPAS correlated well with dimensional representations of cluster A and C personality disorders, even after controlling for ADHD symptoms, anxiety/depression symptoms and recent substance use. The SAPAS was also significantly associated with total number of PD criteria, although correlation with categorical measures of PD was weak.


CONCLUSIONS
The SAPAS is an valid brief screen for PD as assessed dimensionally.
Hesse
Morten
M
Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research, University of Aarhus, Denmark. mh@crf.au.dk
Moran
Paul
P
D000328:Adult; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015897:Comorbidity; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires