PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Passive-Aggressive Personality Disorder”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

Air Force mental health consultation: a six-year retention follow-up.

Follow-up data were collected 68 months after Air Force basic trainees were screened at a mental hygiene clinic. Trainees were given the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) inventory and a clinical interview-recommended disposition. This process resulted in recommendations of immediate discharge for 65 trainees, administrative separation for 52, and return to duty for 48. None of the immediate discharge group served 4 years or more, only 5 of the administrative separation group did so, and 18 of the return to duty group did so. The passive-aggressive, anxiety, and dysthymia scales from the MCMI best differentiated between early discharges and those completing enlistments. Clinical judgment was of limited value in the recommendation of continued service and the trainees' simple referral for consultation was most powerful.

Aerospace Medicine↗

An empirical study of defense mechanisms. I. Clinical interview and life vignette ratings.

The Defense Mechanism Rating Scales (DMRS) measure the use of defense mechanisms based on clinical interview or life vignette data. Using nonprofessional raters observing videotaped psychodynamic interviews of individuals with personality and affective disorders, the median intraclass interrater reliability (IR) of the defense scales was .36 but was .57 for group consensus ratings and .74 when related defenses were grouped into defense summary scales. When follow-up data on life vignettes were rated, the median interrater IR was .55 for those defenses occurring at least 5% of the time and .66 for the defense summary scales. In relation to follow-up data, so-called immature defenses (denial, projection, acting out, hypochondriasis, passive-aggression) were associated with higher levels of symptoms, poorer global functioning, and higher proportion of time impaired in psychosocial role functioning. Borderline defenses (splitting, projective identification) displayed a similar pattern. Among narcissistic and neurotic defenses, only devaluation was associated with poorer functioning, whereas intellectualization was associated with higher functioning. Finally, action and borderline defenses demonstrated significant correlations across methods and across time (video vs life vignettes), whereas obsessional, disavowal, and narcissistic defenses showed nonsignificant trends. Overall, these results support the model of a hierarchy of defenses.

Adolescent↗

Profile patterns, consistency, and change in the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II in cocaine abusers.

This study examined the MCMI-II in samples of cocaine-dependent subjects who were receiving treatment in three separate residential facilities. Profile characteristics, patterns of scale stability, and change are reported. MCMI-II elevations are found in all three samples on the Antisocial, Aggressive/Sadistic, Narcissistic, Passive-Aggressive, Borderline, Drug Dependence, and Alcohol Dependence scales at both intake into treatment and discharge. Moderate stability coefficients are found on Basic Personality, Pathological Personality, and Symptom scales. Although some statistically significant mean scale changes between intake and discharge are noted in each sample, few involve change from clinically elevated to below clinical levels.

Adult↗

Alpha-theta brainwave neurofeedback training: an effective treatment for male and female alcoholics with depressive symptoms.

This was an experimental study of 14 alcoholic outpatients using the Peniston and Kulkosky (1989, 1991) brainwave treatment protocol for alcohol abuse. After temperature biofeedback pretraining, experimental subjects completed 20 40-minute sessions of alpha-theta brainwave neurofeedback training (BWNT). Experimentally treated alcoholics with depressive syndrome showed sharp reductions in self-assessed depression (Beck's Depression Inventory). On the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-I, the experimental subjects showed significant decreases on the BR scores: schizoid, avoidant, dependent, histrionic, passive-aggression, schizotypal, borderline, anxiety, somatoform, hypomanic, dysthmic, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, psychotic thinking, and psychotic depression. Twenty-one-month follow-up data indicated sustained prevention of relapse in alcoholics who completed BWNT.

Adult↗

Maternal antenatal attachment style and potential fetal abuse.

OBJECTIVE: Maternal antenatal emotional attachment (MAEA) to the fetus has been proposed as an important factor for the emergence of harm to the unborn child. The present study investigated whether MAEA was associated with self-reported intent to harm the fetus. METHOD: Forty pregnant women, referred for psychological evaluation, completed a self-report measure of MAEA, the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-2 (MCMI-2) and confidential self-report questions on irritation with the fetus, urge to harm the fetus and predicted future loss of control with the child. Interview data was used to determine the mothers' adult attachment styles. RESULTS: (1) Negative preoccupied MAEA was associated with increased likelihood of reported irritation with the fetus, preoccupied adult attachment, borderline, histrionic, paranoid personality dimensions and symptoms of anxiety, mood disturbances and depression. (2) Negative disinterested MAEA was associated with a dismissing adult attachment, narcissistic, antisocial, aggressive-sadistic and passive-aggressive personality dimensions, alcohol dependence, but not self-report intention to harm the fetus. CONCLUSION: The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding difficulties which may emerge in mother-fetus bonding and the identification of and interventions for mothers who report an intention to harm the fetus.

Adolescent↗

The use of the MCMI in the personality assessment of head-injured adults.

MCMI (Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory) profiles of 79 head-injured patients were compared with self-report of personality change following head injury. Mean MCMI scale scores were highest on Scales D (Dysthymia), A (Anxiety), 6 (Antisocial), H (Somatoform), 5 (Narcissistic) and 7 (Compulsive). Taking only high-point codes above an adjusted base-rate score of 75, the sample showed most frequent elevations on A (Anxiety), D (Dysthymia), H (Somatoform), 5 (Narcissistic), 6 (Antisocial-Aggressive) and 8 (Passive-Aggressive), in order of cumulative frequency. Personality trait scales and clinical scales were compared with self-report of personality changes. Elevated personality trait scales correlated with self-reports of dysfunction and so did clinical scale elevations. There was no relationship between the number of elevated scales and severity of head injury, nor between the number of elevated scales and interval after head injury.

Adolescent↗

Personality impairment in male pedophiles.

BACKGROUND: Despite the large body of literature on the psychological sequelae of childhood sexual abuse, the literature on the psychopathology of pedophiles is surprisingly underdeveloped. The present article explores the hypothesis that pedophiles evidence deficits in interpersonal functioning (lack of assertiveness and empathy, passive-aggressiveness) and in self-concept, which might contribute to the motivation for pedophilic acts, as well as elevated sociopathy, impulsivity, and propensity for cognitive distortions, which might underlie the inhibitory failure. METHOD: Twenty male heterosexual pedophiles (DSM-IV criteria) recruited from an outpatient clinic for sex offenders were compared with 24 demographically similar, healthy male controls using 3 personality instruments: the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II, the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Impairment-Questionnaire, and the Temperament and Character Inventory. RESULTS: The data suggested that pedophiles have impaired interpersonal functioning, specifically, reduced assertiveness and elevated passive-aggressiveness, as well as impaired self-concept. Regarding disinhibitory traits, pedophiles demonstrated elevated sociopathy and propensity for cognitive distortions. CONCLUSION: Our data are consistent with previous reports of pathologic personality traits in pedophiles and lend support to a hypothesis that such pathology is related to both motivation for and failure to inhibit pedophilic behavior. Such information could potentially have important treatment implications.

Adult↗

Clinical applications of the MCMI: the 1-2-3-8 codetype.

The MCMI profiles of 131 psychiatric inpatients were examined to identify 1-2-3-8 codetypes on the basic personality scales, which reflect a schizoid, avoidant, dependent, and passive-aggressive blend of personality traits. Approximately 25% of the inpatient sample obtained the 1-2-3-8 codetype. Analyses of the diagnoses and clinical records of these patients suggest that this profile reflects an affect/mood disturbance with prominent depressive features and suicidal ideation/attempt prior to admission. This investigation serves mainly as a stimulus for research questions that should be addressed in order to increase the range of clinical applications of the MCMI and the body of empirical literature that can support the utility of this assessment device.

Female↗

An examination of the relationship between personality patterns and symptom/mood patterns.

Relationships between various personality styles measured by the basic and pathological personality scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) and mood or symptom states measured by the Profile of Mood State scales were examined. The MCMI personality scale-POMS symptom/mood scale relationships found in this study are compared with MCMI personality scale-MMPI and SCL-90 symptom/mood scale relationships reported in the MCMI manual. Consistent associations of moderate strength were found between: (a) the MCMI Compulsive-Conforming and Passive-Aggressive (Negativistic) scales (negative and positive associations, respectively) and various measures of depression, anxiety and hostility; (b) the MCMI Avoidant, Schizotypal and Borderline-Cycloid scales and various measures of depression and anxiety; (c) the MCMI Schizoid-Asocial scale and various measures of depression; and (d) the Histrionic-Gregarious scale and various measures of high energy-activity. These MCMI personality scale-symptom/mood scale relationships are generally consistent both with the underlying theory of personality and psychopathology upon which the MCMI is based and with the personality-symptom scale relationships found within the MCMI.

Alcoholism↗

Emotional indicators in the human figure drawings of hearing-impaired children: a small sample validation study.

The use of human figure drawings as projective personality assessment techniques is a well-established practice among psychological service providers to hearing-impaired children yet few studies have shown these techniques to be valid indicators of emotional functioning in any population. The purpose of the present work is to establish concurrent validity for the Koppitz scoring technique in a sample of 7- to 12-year old hearing-impaired students. Results indicate that the Koppitz technique shows a positive correlation with emotional status as measured on the Stress Response Scale. The Koppitz technique is especially sensitive to impulsive and passive-aggressive types of response modes.

Child↗

Jaw-wiring for obesity.

Fourteen of nineteen-self referred obese women were treated for weight reduction by jaw-wiring. Most were immature, passive-dependent or passive-aggressive personalities. Only one-third of the group completed the study, which was six months in length. All lost weight initially, but about two-thirds later regained some weight. At first all responded with enthusiasm, but later most felt discouraged and found jaw-wiring difficult to accept. Only two patients derived significant benefit. There were no dental complications. Jaw-wiring appears to be a safe but ineffective means of controlling weight, especially if applied to patients with poor motivation and immature personalities.

Adult↗

Personality status: changes through adolescence.

1. Forty-two percent of a nonclinical sample of urban 18 year olds displayed some degree of personality dysfunction. This rate of disturbance is similar to a previously reported rate for 13 year olds, but higher than the prevalence rate for 16 year olds. Thus, early and late adolescence seem to represent "at risk periods" for the genesis of character pathology. 2. In late adolescence, the form of this disturbance is as follows: 40% fall into a histrionic, borderline, narcissistic cluster, whereas nearly 30% demonstrate an atypical or mixed picture. This differs markedly from the distribution of dysfunction in earlier subphases. 3. Thirty-eight percent of the disturbed sample showed evidence of dysfunction at all three subphases (early, middle, and late), whereas 62% fluctuated in or out of disturbance at one subphase or another. 4. There was a notable lack of consistency with respect to type of personality dysfunction from both a group and individual perspective, except for paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal disturbance. This particular cluster retained both group and individual stability from age 13 to 18. 5. Two trends were evident however: teenagers who initially presented as avoidant, dependent, compulsive, or passive-aggressive seemed to grow out of their dysfunction. By age 18, hardly any of the original subjects remained in this cluster, and most had become clear. Secondly, most of the adolescents identified as antisocial in early or middle adolescence migrated into the histrionic, narcissistic, borderline cluster in late adolescence. This latter group showed a steady increase throughout the time span studied, suggesting the importance of developmental factors.

Adolescent↗

The classification of disturbed personality functioning in early adolescence.

This study describes disturbed personality functioning in early adolescence. A non-clinical sample of 63 thirteen year olds underwent a semi-structured psychiatric interview as part of a longitudinal study investigating the relationship between competence in personality functioning and development. The presence of personality disturbance was determined by two psychiatrists who rated the adolescents on a personality functions scale. The raters then described the type of disturbance using Axis II of DSM-III as a guideline. Forty-six percent of the sample were found to have some degree of disturbed personality functioning. Of these, over one-half fell into a cluster comprised of avoidant, dependent, compulsive, or passive-aggressive types, while another third were characterized by antisocial tendencies. Severity of disturbance was not related to type of disturbance. Ratings of behaviour by teachers and parents supported the division of subjects with personality dysfunction into two broad groups: an anxious, fearful, "quiet" cluster; and a group of more "acting out", disturbing individuals. However, parents and teachers could not distinguish the "quiet" group from teenagers who were free of disturbed personality functioning. These data indicate that it is possible to classify a segment of a non-clinical population of young adolescents who had personality dysfunction using Axis II of DSM-III as a guideline. Furthermore, such a group of teenagers is not homogeneous. They distribute themselves into internalizing and externalizing clusters.

Adolescent↗

Psychopathological status and interpersonal functioning following weight loss in morbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery.

BACKGROUND: We questioned whether differences in psychopathological status and interpersonal relations exist in a group of morbidly obese patients 18 months after bariatric surgery, as related to extent of weight loss. METHODS: The study group consisted of 100 morbidly obese patients (85 female, 15 male) who had undergone surgical treatment (vertical banded gastroplasty) for weight reduction. Each patient completed the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile European version, the Eating Disorder Inventory, the Symptom Check List-90-Revised, and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II. The sample was divided into 2 groups according to the percentage of excess weight loss 18 months after surgery: a greater weight loss group (weight loss > 30%) and a lesser weight loss group (weight loss < 30%). RESULTS: Significant differences were found between the 2 groups in percentage of weight loss (P < 0.0001), negative self-esteem (P < 0.001), drive for thinness (P < 0.001), body dissatisfaction (P < 0.001), global EDI (P < 0.002), anxiety (P < 0.003), GSI (P < 0.002), avoidant (P < 0.001), borderline (P < 0.0001), and passive-aggressive (P < 0.002). CONCLUSION: Greater weight loss strongly correlates with improved quality of life, less disturbed eating behavior, and lower psychopathology. These results justify the clinical use of surgical procedures and demonstrate that weight loss has powerful psychological and psychosocial implications.

Adult↗

Negative and positive components of psychological masculinity and femininity and their relationships to self-reports of neurotic and acting out behaviors.

Negatively valued masculinity (M-) and femininity (F-) personality scales were developed to supplement the positively valued Masculinity (M+) and Femininity (F+) scales of the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ; Spence & Helmreich). M- consisted of traits that had been judged to be (a) more typical of males than females, (b) undesirable in both sexes, and (c ) agentic or instrumental in content. Two F- scales were developed, both containing stereotypically feminine, undesirable traits, one set of traits referring to communionlike characteristics (Fc-) and the other to verbal passive-aggressive qualities (FVA-). Significant sex differences in the predicted direction were found on all scales. In both sexes, low and typically nonsignificant correlations were found between parallel positive and negative scales, but highly significant negative correlations were found between positive and negative cross-sex scales. These findings provide additional evidence for the multidimentionslity of masculinity and femininity. Scores on a self-esteem measure were positively correlated with M+ and F+, uncorrelated with M-, and negatively correlated with the F- scales. Different patterns of scores were associated with two types of problem behaviors. In both sexes, neuroticism was most highly correlated (in a negative direction) with M+, and acting out behavoir was most strongly correlated (in a positive direction) with M-. The next highest correlation in both instances was with FVA-.

Acting Out↗

Impulsive personality traits in male pedophiles versus healthy controls: is pedophilia an impulsive-aggressive disorder?

Pedophilia is characterized by sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Despite the extensive literature documenting the pervasive and pernicious effects of childhood sexual abuse, there is surprisingly little psychiatric literature on pedophilia and its etiology remains enigmatic. In recent years, the psychiatric literature on the phenomenology, neurobiology, and treatment of impulsive-aggressive disorders has grown significantly. As some investigators have conceptualized pedophilia as an impulsive-aggressive disorder, it is of interest whether recent advances in the study of impulsive-aggressive disorders might shed light on pathological mechanisms underlying pedophilia. In the following study, 20 male subjects with a DSM-IV diagnosis of pedophilia, heterosexual type were recruited from an outpatient facility for sexual offenders and compared to 24 demographically similar control subjects. Groups were compared on three personality instruments--the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II), the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Impairment-Questionnaire (DAPI-Q)--to assess for select impairment in impulsive-aggressive personality traits. Pedophiles showed severe and pervasive personality impairment relative to controls. Although there was evidence of impulsivity, the findings do not suggest a predominance of impulsive-aggressive traits, and in fact provide evidence of inhibition, passive-aggression, and harm avoidance. The notion of "compulsive-aggression" in pedophilia is proposed.

Adolescent↗