Open AccessThe International Personality Disorder Examination Questionnaire (IPDEQ): preliminary data on its utility as a screener for anxious personality disorder
Author(s) -
Slade Tim,
Peters Lorna,
Schneiden Vivienne,
Andrews Gavin
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
international journal of methods in psychiatric research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.275
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1557-0657
pISSN - 1049-8931
DOI - 10.1002/mpr.37
Subject(s) - personality , psychology , generalizability theory , personality disorders , clinical psychology , sadistic personality disorder , anxiety , personality assessment inventory , avoidant personality disorder , psychiatry , 16pf questionnaire , big five personality traits , developmental psychology , big five personality traits and culture , social psychology
The present study assessed the utility of the International Personality Disorder Examination Questionnaire (IPDEQ) as a screener for ICD‐10 personality disorders in a sample of 76 subjects attending treatment for an anxiety disorder. The performance of the IPDEQ at different cut‐off points was compared to IPDE diagnoses of personality disorder using receiver operating characteristic analysis. As the majority of positive diagnoses were of ICD‐10 anxious (DSM‐IV avoidant) personality disorder the six IPDEQ items relating to anxious personality disorder were analysed. Sensitivities were very high and specificities were moderate indicating that the IPDEQ items relating to anxious personality disorder are good at discriminating between those with and those without anxious personality disorder. Furthermore, a cut‐off point of four or more anxious personality disorder items yielded the highest specificity given maximum sensitivity, a condition necessary for a screening instrument to be effective. Thus, at a cut‐off point of four or more screening items the IPDEQ appears to be a valid screening instrument for the detection of anxious personality disorder. The limitations of the study, including the generalizability of the results to other personality disorders and/or other samples, are discussed. Copyright © 1998 Whurr Publishers Ltd.