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The development and use of a standardized assessment of abnormal personality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

A. H. Mann*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
R. Jenkins
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
J. C. Cutting
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
P. J. Cowen
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr A. H. Mann, Academic Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, London NW3 2QG.

Synopsis

A standardized assessment of personality (SAP) based on interview with an informant has been developed to classify a patient's premorbid personality in clinical terms for use for research purposes in or out of a hospital setting. Three preliminary investigations of its use are reported. These indicate that an informant's account of personality can be rated reliably by psychiatrists and is consistent over time. The addition of two extra descriptive types to the schema of ICD Section 301, the anxious and the self-conscious personalities, is found to contribute usefully to a taxonomy of personality in two series of patients investigated with the SAP. Further investigations are indicated to determine the accuracy of an informant's account before epidemiological studies with this instrument can be considered.

Type
Preliminary Communication
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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