Reconceptualizing personality disorder categories using personality trait dimensions: Introduction to special section

The categorical model of personality disorders has been widely criticized, and many argue for it to be reconceptualized or replaced by a dimensional model rooted in personality trait research. Such criticisms have forged a much needed integration between the previously distinct research areas of normal and abnormal personality. The five articles in this special section provide compelling evidence for the usefulness of personality traits for describing and explaining the complexities of personality disorders among widely varying samples using very different assessment strategies.