Abnormal Psych Final Chapter 10; Hooley, 18th Edition

Personality disorder - development of inflexible and distorted personality and behavioral patterns that result in persistently maladaptive ways of perceiving, thinking about and relating to the world Diagnosing a personality disorder - -enduring pattern of behavior or inner experience -pervasive and inflexible -stable across time and long in duration -causes either clinically significant distress or impairment in functioning Cluster A personality disorders - Includes paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal personality disorders Cluster B personality disorders - Includes histrionic, narcissistic, antisocial, and borderline personality disorders Cluster C personality disorders - Includes avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders Epidemiological studies - Attempts to establish the pattern of occurrence and prevalence of the personality disorders in different times, places, and groups of people. Prevalence - 10-12% of the population have had a diagnosable personality disorder of some kind in the past 2-5 years. Difficulties in diagnosing PD's - -Diagnostic criteria is not as sharply defined as for most other diagnostic criteria -Diagnostic categories is not mutually exclusive, meaning there are many different ways of assessing PD's from therapist to therapist -Dimensional personality characteristics aren't clear, meaning there aren't accurate and reliable ways of conceptualizing and assessing PD's Difficulties in studying the causes of PD's - -High level of comorbidity among personality disorders -It is not easy to draw conclusions about the causes, most people being studied have already been diagnosed so it isn't easy to track back to emergence -Disorder itself is not inherited, but its component features may show high heritability Cluster A common traits - Display personalities traits such as: -distrust -suspiciousness -social detachment (come across as odd or eccentric) Paranoid PD - Involves pervasive distrust and suspicion of others. -Read hidden meanings into common remarks. -See themselves as blameless, blaming others for their mistakes/ failures -Look for clues to validate their expectations while disregarding all evidence to the contrary -Preoccupied w/ doubts about the loyalty of their friends, making it hard to confide in others -Quick to react with anger and violence towards others -They aren't typically psychotic, normally in touch w/ reality Prevalence of paranoid PD - 1-2%, equally men and women Heritability of paranoid PD - -Closely related with high levels of antagonism (low agreeability) and neuroticism (angry-hostility) -Parental neglect and abuse/ exposure to violent adults can play a role in causing disorder -Symptoms of paranoid PD closely related to head trauma, alcohol abuse, and chronic cocaine use