an evolutionarily informed conceptualization of personality pathology

Conditions: Personality Disorder

Summary: the purpose of this study is to explore the reliability of a new evolutionarily-informed model for conceptualizing personality pathology. in a preliminary phase prior to the present study we investigated reliability by comparing how therapist pairs conceptualized and assessed the same patient and how therapists and patients assessed the acceptability of the model. in this new study we want to confirm that the validity data initially collected are valid across cultures and nations. therefore, psychology students (n=110) from 5 countries (china, italy, poland, spain, united states) will participate in a specific training on the model and then apply the model on transcripts of the first two sessions and on assessment reports and two supervisors will evaluate the inter-rater reliability and acceptability in using the model on the same patients.

the study aims to investigate the cross-cultural validity of a model of assessment and conceptualization of personality disorders. given the importance of cultural, social and health conditions in the development and maintenance of these disorders, the model will be tested in 5 different countries. this study follows two previous researches that preliminarily explored the feasibility and reliability of the model in couples of italian patients and therapists (a detailed description of the previous studies is available in the ipd). below is a brief description of the project registered here: * sample (n=110): china (n=22), italy (n=22), poland (n=22), spain (n=22), united states (n=22). * primary goal: interview to assess perceived utility of conceptualization in the whole samples, and then comparing different cultural backgrounds to assess cross-cultural reliability. * secondary goals: scoring in adherence of students by supervisors (same scoring system as in research 1) to compare intra class correlation within and between national sub-groups. * procedure: all participants will access specific online sessions, one for each country sub-group. the first session will correspond to access to a presentation of the theoretical background of the conceptualization model (1 hour in recorded format that participants can access independently). the second session will correspond to an experiential training in which the model will be presented in detail with various clinical cases and a first exercise on the use of this model will be conducted (2.5 hours in live format with all participants simultaneously). the third session will instead be aimed at applying the model on a case that will be presented to all participants and will correspond to a transcript of the two initial sessions and a report on the results of the questionnaires (0.5 hour in live format that participants can access independently). the fourth session will be accessed by some participants (n= 5 per country) and will correspond to a structured interview conducted by a researcher on the acceptability and usefulness of the model (live format that participants can access independently).

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * undergraduate students in their final year * recently graduated students. exclusion criteria: * having left the university program during the study

Keywords: evolutionary systems therapy personality disoders personality pathology evolutionary psychopathology psychotherapy case conceptualization