THE DSM-IV AND ICD-10 PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRE (DIP-Q) - CONSTRUCTION AND PRELIMINARY VALIDATION

This paper describes the construction and preliminary validation of a new self-report inventory for personality disorders - DSM-IV and ICD-10 Personality Disorder Questionnaire (DIP-Q). In a consensus process the criteria sets of DSM-IV and ICD-10 were scrutinized. Twenty-seven criteria were judged completely identical in both systems. In addition, 20 criteria were close to identical. The total number of different criteria could thus be reduced from 161 to 114. Since 24 criteria could not be covered by a single statement, the final version of the DIP-Q includes 135 statements reflecting the criteria and additionally 5 statements reflecting the general criteria. The questionnaire is generally completed within 20 min. In the preliminary validation among 33 psychiatric patients Cronbach's alpha coefficients within each personality disorder were acceptable for most personality disorders and somewhat higher for the DSM-IV personality disorders than for those in the ICD-10. The criteria set of Dissocial disorder in the ICD-10 showed a negative alpha coefficient. When analysed dimensionally, the Pearson correlation between pairs of disorders in the ICD-10 and the DSM-IV varied from 0.77 to 0.99. Kappa coefficients between pairs from each system varied from 0.47 to 0.69. In conclusion, the ICD-10 and the DSM-IV are similar enough to enable the construction of a brief and comprehensive questionnaire evaluating personality disorders from both systems. There are, however, significant differences between systems which must be further analysed in future full-scale validation studies.