The Hierarchical Structure and Construct Validity of the PID-5 Trait Measure in Adolescence

The DSM-5 may be the first edition that enables a developmental perspective on personality disorders because of its proposal to include a trait assessment in the Axis II section. The current study explores the reliability, structure, and construct validity of the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5; Krueger, Derringer, Markon, Watson, & Skodol, 2012) in adolescents, a measure that assesses the proposed DSM-5 traits. A community sample of Flemish adolescents (N = 434; 44.7% male) provided self-reports on the PID-5 and the Dimensional Personality Symptom Itempool (DIPSI; De Clercq, De Fruyt, Van Leeuwen, & Mervielde, 2006). Results indicate an acceptable reliability for the majority of the PID-5 facets and a tendency toward structural convergence of the adolescent PID-5 structure with the adult proposal. Convergent validity with age-specific facets of personality pathology was generally supported, but discriminant validity appeared to be low. Beyond the findings that support the applicability of the PID-5 in adolescents, developmental issues may be responsible for specific differences in the adolescent PID-5 structure, the rather poor discriminant validity of the PID-5, and the lower reliability of a small number of PID-5 facets. These results indicate that further research on the validity of the PID-5 in younger age groups is required.