Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Personality Disorders
- The Cambridge Handbook of Personality Disorders
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Part I Etiology
- Part II Models
- Part III Individual Disorders and Clusters
- Part IV Assessment
- 14 Methods and Current Issues in Dimensional Assessments of Personality Pathology
- 14a The Clinical Utility and Applications of Dimensional Assessments of Personality Pathology: Commentary on Methods and Current Issues in Dimensional Assessments of Personality Pathology
- 14b New and Continuing Developments in the Assessment of Personality Disorders: Commentary on Methods and Current Issues in Dimensional Assessments of Personality Pathology
- 14c The Importance of Multiple Sources, Longitudinal Assessment, and Clinical Utility: Author Rejoinder to Commentaries on Methods and Current Issues in Dimensional Assessments of Personality Pathology
- 15 Categorical Assessment of Personality Disorders: Considerations of Reliability and Validity
- 15a Categories, Constructs, and the Assessment of Personality Pathology: Commentary on Categorical Assessment of Personality Disorders
- 15b The Need for a More Rigorous Approach to Diagnostic Reliability: Commentary on Categorical Assessment of Personality Disorders
- 15c Balancing Hopeful and Pessimistic Views of the Future of Categorical Assessment: Author Rejoinder to Commentaries on Categorical Assessment of Personality Disorders
- 16 Assessment of Mechanisms in Personality Disorders
- 16a Parts, Wholes, and Explanations of Personality and Its Pathologies: Commentary on Assessment of Mechanisms in Personality Disorders
- 16b Genetic and Environmental Mechanisms in BPD over the Lifespan: Commentary on Assessment of Mechanisms in Personality Disorders
- 16c Complexity and Transactions: Author Rejoinder to Commentaries on Assessment of Mechanisms in Personality Disorders
- Part V Treatment
- Index
- References
16 - Assessment of Mechanisms in Personality Disorders
from Part IV - Assessment
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 February 2020
- The Cambridge Handbook of Personality Disorders
- The Cambridge Handbook of Personality Disorders
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Part I Etiology
- Part II Models
- Part III Individual Disorders and Clusters
- Part IV Assessment
- 14 Methods and Current Issues in Dimensional Assessments of Personality Pathology
- 14a The Clinical Utility and Applications of Dimensional Assessments of Personality Pathology: Commentary on Methods and Current Issues in Dimensional Assessments of Personality Pathology
- 14b New and Continuing Developments in the Assessment of Personality Disorders: Commentary on Methods and Current Issues in Dimensional Assessments of Personality Pathology
- 14c The Importance of Multiple Sources, Longitudinal Assessment, and Clinical Utility: Author Rejoinder to Commentaries on Methods and Current Issues in Dimensional Assessments of Personality Pathology
- 15 Categorical Assessment of Personality Disorders: Considerations of Reliability and Validity
- 15a Categories, Constructs, and the Assessment of Personality Pathology: Commentary on Categorical Assessment of Personality Disorders
- 15b The Need for a More Rigorous Approach to Diagnostic Reliability: Commentary on Categorical Assessment of Personality Disorders
- 15c Balancing Hopeful and Pessimistic Views of the Future of Categorical Assessment: Author Rejoinder to Commentaries on Categorical Assessment of Personality Disorders
- 16 Assessment of Mechanisms in Personality Disorders
- 16a Parts, Wholes, and Explanations of Personality and Its Pathologies: Commentary on Assessment of Mechanisms in Personality Disorders
- 16b Genetic and Environmental Mechanisms in BPD over the Lifespan: Commentary on Assessment of Mechanisms in Personality Disorders
- 16c Complexity and Transactions: Author Rejoinder to Commentaries on Assessment of Mechanisms in Personality Disorders
- Part V Treatment
- Index
- References
Summary
The search for mechanisms in personality disorders (PDs) is of growing importance, because PDs are prevalent, costly, and challenging to treat. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of compelling mechanistic research on PDs and psychopathology more broadly, due to equivocal definitions of a “mechanism” and study designs that are atheoretical and/or ill-suited for causal inferences.This chapter defines mechanisms as elements of possible causal sequence, which not only increase the probability of observed outcomes but also reveal how the outcomes occur. In addition, the authors argue that it is not always necessary to break down a mechanism to its most elemental physical parts; rather, it is important to consider how mechanisms act as complex, interacting components of a causal chain, with a focus on those that could serve as viable targets for prevention and intervention. Considering this broader definition of a “mechanism,” it is crucial that PD researchers ground their work in testable theories, such as those considering dimensional, transdiagnostic precursors to PDs. In this chapter, the authors also address various design and statistical considerations in PD mechanistic research and highlight promising developments in identifying mechanisms of PDs across multiple levels of measurement (e.g., biological, contextual, environmental) and across the lifespan.
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- The Cambridge Handbook of Personality Disorders , pp. 375 - 388Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020