Assessment of Criterion A

Abstract

The diagnostic concept of Personality Disorder (PD) is changing. A dimensional PD concept that focuses on severity of impairment of personality functioning was introduced in the DSM 5 Section III in 2013 and is adopted by the upcoming ICD-11 in a similar manner. Several reliable, valid and useful instruments to assess personality functioning (Criterion A) either as self-report, expert rating or clinical interview were developed in the past years. This article gives a latest state-of-the-art overview of these measures. It underlines the importance of multi-informant multi-method assessment of, and a longitudinal perspective on PD pathology and the importance of standardized inclusion of PD individuals in studies to increase the significance of research findings.