title: The DAPP-SF as a screener for personality disorder in a forensic setting.
abstract: Studies on the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Short Form (DAPP-SF) have shown its ability to identify treatment-seeking patients with personality disorders. This study focuses on its screening potential for personality disorder in 89 criminal suspects (77 men, 12 women; M age = 37.0 years) undergoing residential pretrial psychological assessments in a high-security setting. It was expected that Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality (SIDP-IV) criteria met for personality disorder(s) would be associated with higher DAPP-SF scores. A floor effect was found in DAPP-SF scores: The forensic population reported less personality pathology than the general population. Only moderate associations between DAPP-SF and SIDP-IV outcome were found. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that some DAPP-SF subscales did not exceed chance level in their ability to screen for personality disorders. It is concluded that the DAPP-SF has limited usefulness as a screener for personality disorders in a forensic pretrial setting. Alternative forensic screening instruments are presented.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Research and Education, Netherlands Institute of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology , Utrecht , The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marleen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spaans
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rinne
authors.forename: Edwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Beurs
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Spinhoven
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D057237:Criminals / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult