Personality pathology assessment: Use of the level of personality functioning scale by clinically inexperienced raters and associations with the structured Interview of personality organization.

Objective The aim of the present study is to investigate the reliability and validity of the Level of Personality Functioning Scale (LPFS; APA, 2013) rated by inexperienced individuals from the Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO; Clarkin et al., 2004). Methods Forty clinically inexperienced undergraduate students were asked to assess personality functioning of 8 female inpatients using the LPFS from audiotaped STIPO. Intraclass correlation analyses (ICC) were conducted to test the interrater reliability of the LPFS dimensions (Self- Functioning and Interpersonal-Functioning) and sub- dimensions (Identity, Self-direction, Empathy, Intimacy). Linear Mixed-Effect Models were implemented to investigate associations between the LPFS dimensions and external measures such as personality disorders diagnoses and structural features of personality functioning. Results Results showed good Intraclass correlation coefficients for both Self-functioning (ICC= .97) and Interpersonal- functioning (ICC= .98). Again, good interrater reliability indexes were found for the LPFS sub-dimensions, ranging from .95 to .98. Finally, regression models confirmed the validity of LPFS scores (as rated by our sample) in predicting features of personality pathology. Conclusion Findings from the present study confirmed that untrained raters can reliably assess personality pathology by rating the LPFS based on material from the STIPO. Implications related to the use of the STIPO as a tool for the assessment of personality pathology according to the DSM-5 Alternative model are discussed.