Advancements in Measuring Criterion A of the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD)

The Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD; APA, 2013) Criterion A describes the severity of personality impairment, meant to represent what all personality disorders share in common. Recently there have been several new measures developed to capture this core of personality dysfunction. This symposium brings together several lines of research examining existing measures of Criterion A and new ways to measure Criterion A. Abby Mulay and colleagues examined relationships between the newly developed spectra scales of Mulay et al. (2019) and Sellbom et al. (2018) from the family of MMPI instruments and the Severity Indices of Personality Problems (SIPP-118). Using these comparisons as a starting point, this study explores the development of a scale to assess Criterion A of the AMPD. Melanie Glatz and John Kurtz examine the LPFS-SR, and present findings in support of greater discriminant validity of the four element scores using relevant measures from the social-personality research literature. Chloe Bliton and colleagues examined the structure and criterion validity of three Criterion A self-report measures. Michael Roche investigated the criterion validity of Criterion A measures in relation to mental health utilization and psychopathology dimensions in a college sample. Finally, Nicholas Jacobson and Iain Sheerin applied deep learning models to predict the level of observer rated and self-reported level of personality functioning (Criterion A) based on undergraduate participant's life story narratives. They discuss the predictive accuracy of these models to this application as well as the most important characteristics which influence model predictions. These talks highlight the advancements in conceptualization and assessment of Criterion A in the AMPD.