The essential features of the general criteria for personality disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), are based on impairments in self and interpersonal functioning (criterion A) and pathological personality traits (criterion B). The current study investigated the relationship between criteria A and B in a German psychiatric sample (N = 149). Criterion A was measured by the General Assessment of Personality Disorder (GAPD); criterion B, by the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology (DAPP) and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). There was a significant relationship between the GAPD, the DAPP, and the NEO-PI-R. The DAPP and NEO-PI-R domains increased the predictive validity of the GAPD (by 7.5% and 14.6%, respectively). The GAPD increased the variance explained by the DAPP by 1.5% and by the NEO-PI-R by 6.5%. The results suggest a substantial relationship between criteria A and B. Criterion B shows incremental validity over criterion A but criterion A only in part over criterion B. Future research should investigate whether it is possible to assess functional impairment apart from personality traits.

Recent developments in the classification of personality disorder, especially moves toward more dimensional systems, create the need to assess general personality disorder apart from individual differences in personality pathology. The General Assessment of Personality Disorder (GAPD) is a self-report questionnaire designed to evaluate general personality disorder. The measure evaluates 2 major components of disordered personality: self or identity problems and interpersonal dysfunction. This study explores whether there is a single factor reflecting general personality pathology as proposed by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.), whether self-pathology has incremental validity over interpersonal pathology as measured by GAPD, and whether GAPD scales relate significantly to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. [DSM-IV]) personality disorders. Based on responses from a German psychiatric sample of 149 participants, parallel analysis yielded a 1-factor model. Self Pathology scales of the GAPD increased the predictive validity of the Interpersonal Pathology scales of the GAPD. The GAPD scales showed a moderate to high correlation for 9 of 12 DSM-IV personality disorders.

Criteria to differentiate personality disorder from extremes of normal personality variations are important given growing interest in dimensional classification because an extreme level of a personality dimension does not necessarily indicate disorder. The DSM-5 proposed classification of personality disorder offers a definition of general personality disorder based on chronic interpersonal and self/identity pathology. The ability of this approach to differentiate personality disorder from other mental disorders was evaluated using a self-report questionnaire, the General Assessment of Personality Disorder (GAPD). This measure was administered to a sample of psychiatric patients (N = 149) from different clinical sub-sites. Patients were divided into personality disordered and non-personality disordered groups on the basis of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders (SCID-II). The results showed a hit rate of 82% correct identified patients and a good accuracy of the predicted model. There was a substantial agreement between SCID-II interview and GAPD personality disorder diagnoses. The GAPD appears to predict personality disorder in general, which provides support of the DSM-5 general diagnostic criteria of personality disorder.