Associations between normative personality traits and impairments in personality functioning in a clinical adolescent sample

Ana Gregorec, Maja Zupančič, Sara Plakolm Erlač, Žiga Kovačič, Hojka Gregorič Kumperščak

Personality disorders are increasingly conceptualized within dimensional models in terms of impairments in personality functioning (identity, self-direction, empathy, and intimacy) and maladaptive personality traits. Adolescence represents a critical developmental period for the emergence of personality pathology; however, empirical studies examining the relationship between personality functioning and normative personality traits in clinical adolescent samples remain scarce. Given that maladaptive traits can be understood as extreme variants of normative personality traits, examining the latter may provide a developmentally sensitive framework for understanding early manifestations of personality pathology. The present study examined impairments in personality functioning and their associations with normative personality trait profiles in a clinical sample of Slovenian adolescents. Participants were 61 adolescents aged 12–19 years receiving inpatient or outpatient psychiatric care. Personality functioning was assessed using the Levels of Personality Functioning Questionnaire for Adolescents (LoPF-Q 12–18), and personality traits were measured using the Inventory of Child Individual Differences (ICID). Descriptive statistics, reliability analyses, correlation analyses, multiple regression analyses, and logistic regression analyses were conducted. Greater impairments in personality functioning were associated with higher neuroticism and both lower conscientiousness and lower extraversion. At the domain level, impairments in identity and self-direction showed the strongest associations with emotional instability and lower self-regulation traits, whereas interpersonal impairments were associated with antagonistic traits and lower social engagement. Logistic regression analyses did not identify significant predictors of broad diagnostic categories. These findings support dimensional approaches to adolescent personality pathology and suggest that impairments in personality functioning are closely linked to emotional vulnerability, reduced self-regulation, and interpersonal difficulties reflected in normative personality traits. Integrating assessments of personality functioning and normative traits may improve clinical understanding of personality pathology in adolescence.