Five factor model prototype matching scores: convergence within alternative methods.

The Five Factor Model of Personality (FFM) has been proposed as a potential alternative to the current DSM-IV-TR model, which conceptualizes personality disorders (PDs) as categorical constructs. While an extensive literature has pointed out the flaws of the diagnostic categories, they are quite familiar to clinicians and there may still be instances when identifying these constructs for clinical purposes, such as for rapidly communicating information about a patient, is warranted. From the perspective of the FFM, the PDs represent specific constellations of personality traits and research has demonstrated that the PDs can be recovered by assessing the degree to which an FFM profile matches the FFM description of a prototypic PD case. The current study builds upon that research by assessing the convergent and discriminant validity of prototype scores and DSM-IV PD measures using self-report, informant report, semi-structured interview, and clinician descriptions. The results suggest that the prototype matching scores are largely valid across these methods for all PDs, with perhaps the exception of obsessive-compulsive. These findings are related to previous research and the clinical implications of these findings are discussed.