Reliability and validity of the German version of the Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO).
BACKGROUND
The assessment of personality organization and its observable behavioral manifestations, i.e. personality functioning, has a long tradition in psychodynamic psychiatry. Recently, the DSM-5 Levels of Personality Functioning Scale has moved it into the focus of psychiatric diagnostics. Based on Kernberg's concept of personality organization the Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO) was developed for diagnosing personality functioning. The STIPO covers seven dimensions: (1) identity, (2) object relations, (3) primitive defenses, (4) coping/rigidity, (5) aggression, (6) moral values, and (7) reality testing and perceptual distortions. The English version of the STIPO has previously revealed satisfying psychometric properties.


METHODS
Validity and reliability of the German version of the 100-item instrument have been evaluated in 122 psychiatric patients. All patients were diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and were assessed by means of the STIPO. Moreover, all patients completed eight questionnaires that served as criteria for external validity of the STIPO.


RESULTS
Interrater reliability varied between intraclass correlations of .89 and 1.0, Crohnbach's α for the seven dimensions was .69 to .93. All a priori selected questionnaire scales correlated significantly with the corresponding STIPO dimensions. Patients with personality disorder (PD) revealed significantly higher STIPO scores (i.e. worse personality functioning) than patients without PD; patients cluster B PD showed significantly higher STIPO scores than patients with cluster C PD.


CONCLUSIONS
Interrater reliability, Crohnbach's α, concurrent validity, and differential validity of the STIPO are satisfying. The STIPO represents an appropriate instrument for the assessment of personality functioning in clinical and research settings.
Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, A-1090 Wien, Austria. stephan.doering@meduniwien.ac.at
Stephan
S
Doering
Markus
M
Burgmer
Gereon
G
Heuft
Dina
D
Menke
Brigitta
B
Bäumer
Margit
M
Lübking
Marcus
M
Feldmann
Susanne
S
Hörz
Gudrun
G
Schneider
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires