Public Stigma and Continuum Beliefs Across Personality Disorder Severity Levels.

Stigmatizing attitudes toward persons with personality disorders are common. Preliminary evidence suggests that continuum beliefs (the view that presented symptoms lie on a continuum with normality) are associated with reduced personality disorder stigma. This study aimed to evaluate whether this association holds across the entire spectrum of personality disorder severity and whether greater personality disorder severity is linked to higher stigma. A general population sample (N = 848) completed questions about a vignette depicting mild, moderate, or severe personality disorder severity. Higher continuum beliefs were associated with a lower desire for social distance from persons with mild, moderate, or severe personality disorder. In addition, continuum beliefs were higher, and the desired social distance was lower toward a person with mild than a person with moderate or severe personality disorder. Thus, fostering continuum beliefs might aid in combating personality disorder stigma, including toward severely affected persons who experience strong stigmatization.

Associations of continuum beliefs with personality disorder stigma: correlational and experimental evidence.

PURPOSE: A pervasive and deeply entrenched stigma of personality disorders exists. For other mental disorders, a large body of research suggests that continuum beliefs (i.e., the endorsement of continuum perspectives on mental health and psychopathology) stimulate more favorable attitudes toward affected persons. Additionally, mental disorder classification systems increasingly incorporate continuous personality disorder models. Yet, it is unclear how continuum beliefs are related to personality disorder stigma. This study evaluated the link of continuum beliefs with personality disorder stigma based on correlational and experimental data. METHODS: A large general population sample (N = 848) completed self-report measures of continuum beliefs regarding personality disorders, desired social distance, and prejudice toward persons with personality disorders. Additionally, participants were randomly presented with information supporting a continuous or a dichotomous view of personality disorders. RESULTS: Continuum beliefs were associated with lower desired social distance (r = - 0.19) and prejudice (r = - 0.22). Additionally, the brief continuum intervention was associated with increased continuum beliefs (d = 0.99) and decreased desired social distance (d = - 0.14) and prejudice (d = - 0.17). Finally, the intervention effects on desired social distance and prejudice were mediated by continuum beliefs. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that highlighting continuum views on personality disorders in public communication and interventions might reduce personality disorder stigma.

Six-month stability and predictive validity of the personality inventory for ICD-11.

BACKGROUND: The International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11) personality disorder model comprises, among other elements, five maladaptive personality trait domains (negative affectivity, detachment, dissociality, disinhibition, anankastia). Recently, the personality inventory for ICD-11 (PiCD) has emerged as one of the most widely used measures of these ICD-11 personality trait domains. METHODS: The current study contributed to the validation of the PiCD validation by exploring its stability and predictive links with psychological distress over 6 months in a sample of 206 German community adults. RESULTS: The PiCD trait domain scales displayed strong differential (all r ≥ .80) and absolute stability (all |d| ≤ .09). Additionally, PiCD negative affectivity predicted depression, anxiety, and stress, and PiCD detachment predicted depression over 6 months beyond baseline. CONCLUSION: In sum, this study demonstrated the stability of the PiCD trait domain scores, supporting their utility for capturing relatively stable traits as described in the ICD-11. Additionally, we provided the first evidence for the predictive validity of some of the PiCD trait domain scores.