The Hierarchical Factor Structure of the Personality Inventory for DSM-5

Section III of the DSM-5 contains a dimensional, trait-based Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) as an area for future research, given proposals that a trait-based model of personality pathology may address inadequacies of the traditional categorical diagnostic model. Accompanying the AMPD is a trait-based, self-report measure of personality pathology – the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5).The latent factor structure of the PID-5 is important given that it determines scoring procedures for the measure and helps inform the relationship between traits and the PD diagnoses in the AMPD, in other words, the latent structure of personality pathology. Therefore, it is necessary to consider this structure in great detail to ensure the structural validity and reliability of the measure and the AMPD moving forward. Against this background, the aim of the current study was to clarify the latent factor structure of the PID-5 using hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in a diverse, undergraduate student sample (N = 983). Results indicated that the majority of facet scales in the PID-5 were unidimensional. The psychoticism domain achieved acceptable model fit, but the others required modifications to achieve acceptable model fit. However, the entire hierarchical model of the PID-5 was not supported. Results of the current study call into question the hierarchical structure of the PID-5 for conceptualizing and assessing for personality pathology. Although domain scales of the PID-5 may reach acceptable levels of internal consistency and uni-dimensionality, the incremental utility of the domain scales over the facet scales in assessing for the presence of personality pathology remains in question. Further, the hierarchical structure of the PID-5 requires further investigation using item-level factor analytic techniques to compare alternative models to the structure proposed in the AMPD of the DSM-5.