Dynamic features of affect and interpersonal behavior in relation to general and specific personality pathology.

A model of personality pathology including both general and specific components distinguishes severity of personality dysfunction from the characteristic style of its expression. This model has been proposed as an empirically based, dimensional alternative to categorical models. In this study, we evaluated this conceptual structure by examining associations between general and specific features of personality pathology and momentary interpersonal dynamics. By assessing whether dynamic variability reflects general impairment or a specific trait style, we also sought to link existing findings of heterogeneity in behavior and affect among persons diagnosed with categorical borderline personality disorder with dimensional models. We examined these issues in a large sample of adults (N = 605) drawn from two protocols—an initial exploratory study and a preregistered replication. Ambulatory assessment was used to measure affect and dominant and warm behavior of self and other during everyday interpersonal interactions. We examined individuals’ average affects, behaviors, and perceptions of the others’ behaviors, as well as variability in these constructs in relation to personality pathology using multilevel structural equation modeling. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine maladaptive traits or general personality pathology in relation to momentary measures. Results supported the incremental validity of general and specific features and suggested that variability is most closely associated with general personality pathology.