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Bridging the implementation gap in dimensional personality models

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2025

Conal Monaghan*
Affiliation:
School of Medicine and Psychology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
*
Correspondence Conal Monaghan. Email: [email protected]

Summary

Natoli et al present a comprehensive higher level framework aligning dimensional personality pathology assessment with treatment delivery through a hierarchical model. Their approach integrates common therapeutic factors with trait-specific interventions, offering a promising pathway for clinical implementation. Despite strong evidence supporting the superiority of dimensional models and the field's shift towards dimensional classification, they remain largely unused in clinical practice after a decade, despite evidence of clinical utility and learnability. Although the authors’ framework demonstrates how dimensional approaches could work in practice, particularly through matching severity to treatment intensity and traits to specific interventions, healthcare systems require evidence of improved clinical outcomes before undertaking systemic change. Without controlled trials demonstrating enhanced treatment effectiveness, dimensional models risk remaining theoretically superior but practically unused. While healthcare systems remain tethered to categorical diagnostic approaches, the authors’ framework offers a practical pathway for implementing dimensional models – one that now requires testing in real-world settings.

Type
Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists

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Footnotes

Commentary on… Dimensional models of personality and a multidimensional framework for treating personality pathology. See this issue.

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