Personality dysfunction is an excellent marker of general psychopathology, particularly internalizing symptoms but less so for externalizing: A commentary on Martin, Kuer, & Sellbom
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Martin and colleagues examined the separability of personality dysfunction (PF) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) using clinician ratings and self-reports in a sample of 289 adults receiving community-based mental health treatment. Using both confirmatory factor and bifactor analyses, the authors found that a general factor splitting across both BPD and PF best accounted for their variance. The authors concluded that PF and BPD “represent the same underlying construct,” with only modest unique variance left in BPD thought to be artifacts of its conceptualization in the DSM. In this commentary, we argue two basic points. First, there is simultaneously ample evidence that PF is an excellent marker of psychopathology writ large and comparatively little evidence that it will successfully delineate personality disorders from other forms of psychopathology, as has been suggested. Second, there is growing evidence that PF is a better marker of internalizing than externalizing forms of psychopathology. Without modification to the conceptualization and assessment of PF, we believe that current (and forthcoming) diagnostic models of personality disorder unduly focus on internalizing, distress-based presentations, which potentially exclude more purely externalizing forms such as (grandiose) narcissism and antisocial/psychopathic personality pathology.
Institution: Purdue University West Lafayette
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7213501470