The Multiple Self-States Model (MSSM) of Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) conceptualizes identity disturbances in personality, particularly borderline personality disorder. The Personality Structure Questionnaire (PSQ) has been devised to measure deficits in personality integrity and represent an assessment measure of the MSSM. A spectrum of multiplicity in the self and dissociation is implied within the MSSM with gradation from borderline personality to dissociative identity disorder. The construction, psychometric properties, reliability, validity and clinical utility of the PSQ as a measure of the MSSM are described based on data from the present study and that of Broadbent, Clarke and Ryle (The Personality Structure Questionnaire: a brief self-report measure of personality integration. Unpublished manuscript) and its relationship to psychological constructs of identity integrity is investigated. A series of non-clinical and clinical groups of participants were administered the PSQ and other standardized measures. The PSQ was shown to be a reliable self-report measure and factor analysis revealed it to be unidimensional and to correlate convergently 60 P. Pollock et al.with multiplicity, dissociation and constructs related to identity disturbance. Regression analysis indicated the PSQ to be predicted by greater multiplicity. The PSQ, in combination with other constructs, also discriminated between diagnosed clinical groups (psychotherapy patients, borderline personality disorder and dissociative identity disorder). The PSQ is shown to be a brief, psychometrically sound self-report measure of identity disturbance as conceptualized by the MSSM in CAT. The applicability of the PSQ and its relevance to the concepts of multiplicity and dissociation within the MSSM of CAT are discussed.

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Objectives. The present study aimed to consider the extent to which post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurs after homicide and to examine characteristics of the offence and the offender which contribute to the development of these symptoms. It was proposed that type of violence (reactive versus instrumental) would be related to PTSD symptoms. Using Blackburn's typology of violent offenders, it was also hypothesized that primary and secondary psychopath, controlled and inhibited types would demonstrate differing forms of violence, prevalences and patterns of post‐traumatic stress symptoms following the homicide. Method. Eighty homicide perpetrators were allocated equally to the four offender types based on their profiles on the Special Hospitals Assessment of Personality and Socialisation (SHAPS). Each offender completed the Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder Interview and the violence displayed during the index offence was classified as either reactive or instrumental. Results. Of the total sample, 52% met criteria for current PTSD. Reactive violence and reporting that the offence was traumatic were related to a current diagnosis of PTSD. Differing prevalences and patterns of PTSD symptoms were noted for Blackburn's offender types. Primary psychopaths showed instrumental violence and were the least traumatized. Secondary psychopaths were the most symptomatic, but not necessarily due to involvement in the homicide. Controlled and inhibited types both typically displayed reactive violence and had higher levels of current PTSD symptoms related to involvement in the offence itself. Conclusions. The extent to which PTSD follows homicide is a function of both personality type and form of violence. The results can be understood in terms of the cognitive model of Meichenbaum (1996) and also the defining dimensions of Blackburn's typology.

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