title: Development and Validation of the Treatment Attrition-Retention Scale for Personality Disorders.
abstract: This study is an investigation of the psychometric properties of the Treatment Attrition-Retention Scale for Personality Disorders (TARS-PD), an instrument developed to identify patients with personality disorder (PD) at risk of early dropout from psychotherapy. In a first study, assessment files from 320 patients referred for PD evaluation at an outpatient clinic were examined to assess the instrument's inter-rater reliability, construct validity, and discriminant validity. Results showed that the global scale could be scored with excellent reliability. Exploratory factor analysis identified five factors: Narcissism, Psychopathy, Secondary gains, Low motivation, and Cluster A features. A second study focused on the scale's predictive validity. The TARS-PD showed high specificity (94%) in identifying dropouts, using a cut-off of ≥ 10. Both global and factor scores from the TARS-PD were significant predictors of treatment status (dropout vs. continuation) at 6 months. The scale should be considered promising for PD evaluation and treatment planning.
authors.affiliation: Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Canada.|Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Québec, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Dominick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gamache
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Québec, Québec, Canada.|Université Laval, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Savard
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Québec, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lemelin
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Québec, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Evens
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Villeneuve
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult