Severity Indices of Personality Problems-Short Form in Old-Age Psychiatry: Reliability and Validity

J Pers Assess. 2021 Mar-Apr;103(2):174-182. doi: 10.1080/00223891.2020.1743710. Epub 2020 Apr 8.

Abstract

The Severity Indices of Personality Problems (SIPP; Verheul et al., 2008) is a popular self-report questionnaire that measures severity of maladaptive personality functioning. Two studies demonstrated the utility of the short form (SIPP-SF) among older adults but validation in clinical settings is lacking. Therefore, we examined the psychometric properties of the SIPP-SF in a large sample of older adult Dutch outpatients (N = 124; age range = 60-85 years, M = 69.8, SD = 5.3). The SIPP-SF domains showed good to excellent internal reliability (Cronbach's α = .75-.91) and effectively discriminated between participants with and without a personality disorder, as assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II). Convergent validity of the SIPP-SF was examined with instruments for measuring personality pathology among older adults (Informant Personality questionnaire [HAP]; Gerontological Personality Disorders Scale [GPS]). The GPS generally correlated with the SIPP-SF domains in expected directions, with small to large effect sizes. For the HAP, only 1 scale correlated with all SIPP-SF domains. No associations were found between the SIPP-SF and psychiatric symptomatology as measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). The SIPP-SF appears to be a promising instrument for assessing maladaptive personality functioning among older adult outpatients.

Publication types

  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
  • Female
  • Geriatric Psychiatry / standards
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Personality Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Personality Tests / statistics & numerical data*
  • Personality*
  • Psychometrics / instrumentation
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Self Disclosure
  • Self Report
  • Severity of Illness Index*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires