Interpersonal dysfunction: Capturing the core of personality disorder

• Applicant: Dr. Johanna Hepp
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 492768360

Current diagnostic systems, such as the tenth edition of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10), describe twelve specific categories of personality disorders. With the introduction of ICD-11 in January 2022, the diagnosis of personality disorders will be reformed, as ICD-11 will include only a single diagnosis of personality disorder (PD) that can be coded as mild, moderate or severe. The core criteria of the new PD diagnosis are impairment of self-referential functions (e.g., impaired self-esteem or self-image) and interpersonal dysfunction (e.g., the inability to form and maintain relationships); both used for the global PD severity score. In addition to the severity level, the ICD-11 PD diagnosis allows for optional specification of the maladaptive personality traits negative affectivity, detachment, dissociality, disinhibition, and anankastia.The project aims are to investigate whether people with higher PD severity indeed experience more interpersonal problems in everyday life, whether different maladaptive traits are associated with different types of interpersonal problems, and which contexts interpersonal problems tend to occur in. Participants carry a study phone while they go about their daily lives and report the frequency and quality of their interactions, their interaction style (e.g. agreeable or aggressive), the occurrence of negative and positive events (e.g. quarrel or affection), and their emotional reactions to them. Additionally, they respond to questions about the context of the interaction (e.g. whether they were at home vs. at work, with their partner vs. with a stranger). In addition to the study phone, participants wear a sensor that continuously records their heart rate throughout the study. This data is used to assess physiological reactions to different social situations. In addition to the assessment in daily life, the study program comprises two laboratory studies that assess how healthy participants and participants with PD react to positive and negative social stimuli. Again, participants’ self-reports (e.g., their emotional reactions to the stimulus presentation) and their heart rate are measured. Findings from this program could help guide the process of adapting existing treatment approaches to different PD severity levels and trait combinations, and could further help to identify high-risk contexts for interpersonal problems.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: USA
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Timothy J. Trull, Ph.D.