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Personality and Psychopathology

Edited by C. Robert Cloninger, M.D.
American Psychopathological Association

  • ISBN 978-0-88048-923-2
  • Item #8923

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Description

Personality and Psychopathology compiles the conclusions of more than 30 internationally recognized experts who each carefully examine the link between personality traits and psychopathology. Recent findings have clarified the importance of personality in the development and expression of psychopathology.

In light of such discoveries, this reference examines the relationship of personality traits with psychopathology from several interlocking perspectives—descriptive, developmental, etiological, and therapeutic. It successfully tackles

  • A description of the frequency and patterns of overlap between personality and psychopathology
  • The structure and stability of normal personality traits across the life span and their relation to psychopathology
  • An analysis of personality disorders from three different approaches
  • The causes of individual differences in personality and psychopathology from genetic, psychosocial, and neurobiological perspectives
  • The role of personality in the treatment of psychopathology

Complete with illustrative charts, this all-inclusive resource provides invaluable information on the link between personality and psychopathology.

Contents

  • Part I: Role of Personality in Psychopathology.

    Personality and vulnerability to affective disorders. Measurement of psychopathology as variants of personality. Personality correlates of eating disorder subtypes. Axis I and Axis II: comorbidity or confusion?

    Part II: What Is Normal Personality Structure and Development?

    Personality development in childhood: old and new findings. Continuity and change over the adult life cycle: personality and personality disorders. Evaluating the structure of personality.

    Part III: What Is a Personality Disorder?

    Categorical approaches to assessment and diagnosis of personality disorders. Dimensional approaches to personality disorder assessment and diagnosis. Emotional traits and personality dimensions.

    Part IV: What Causes Good and Bad Personality Development?

    Comparing the biological and cultural inheritance of stature and conservatism in the kinships of monozygotic and dizygotic twins. Psychosocial factors in the development of personality disorders. Genetic and environmental structure of personality. Emerging neuroscience approaches to understanding cognition and psychopathology: positron emission tomography imaging.

    Part V: Treatment and Outcome of Personality Disorders

    . Cognitive aspects of personality disorders and their relation to syndromal disorders: a psychoevolutionary approach. Pharmacotherapy of impulsive-aggressive behavior. Temperament and the pharmacotherapy of depression. Treatment of borderline personality disorder with rational emotive behavior therapy. Index.

About the Authors

C. Robert Cloninger, M.D., is Wallace Renard Professor of Psychiatry at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.

The book's comprehensiveness is impressive; it is current in its thinking and important in a somewhat unknown area. . . . The book is quite integrative, especially given the various research interests of the authors. . . . Considering the interplay between Axis I and Axis II conditions and the important consequences of such comorbidities, this book should have great appeal to psychiatrists and other mental health care practitioners. It is an excellent reference book that I believe will stay current throughout the next several years at least.—Psychiatric Times


Personality and Psychopathology provides a welcome, scholarly and informative snapshot of the fast-moving fields of personality theory and development, and of personality psychopathology and its treatment. Some of the most well-known researchers and clinicians in the area are contributors to the volume, and the scope of their subject matter includes personality structure and its longitudinal course; assessment of personality styles, dimensions, or disorders; and treatment and outcome of personality disorders. The book is packed with useful information and is highly recommended to all mental health clinicians.—John M. Oldham, M.D., Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Medicine & Law, Columbia Univ College of Physicians & Surgeons, Director, New York State Psychiatric Institute


The annual volumes of the American Psychopathological Association have provided the mental health field with focused scholarly reviews. The present volume, edited by Dr. Cloninger is a pithy summary of the state of the art and science in the emerging field of personality and psychopathology. Himself a pioneer in this field, Dr. Cloninger is joined by a select group of clinical scientists who have done some of the most provocative research on personality.—Hagop Akiskal, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Director of International Mood Center, University of California, San Diego, California


This tersely written, yet broad-ranging volume illustrates that the subject of personality and psychopathology has grown rapidly in the past decade and now encompasses an impressive mix of carefully researched studies, clearly articulated theories, and well-documented applications to clinical practice. A roster of authoritative scholars and researchers illuminate the latest thinking on topics such as: What is normal personality? What is a personality disorder? What causes good and bad personality development? A number of papers derive their impetus from Dr. Cloninger's own elegant theory. One need not be a follower of Cloninger's model, however, to appreciate the depth of insight which he and his associates have brought to the study of personality disorders, a field that is now greatly enriched by this contribution to the literature.—Theodore Millon, Ph.D., Dean and Scientific Director, Institute for Advanced Studies in Personality and Psychopathology, Coral Gables, Florida


This multi-authored and well-edited volume is an important contribution to our understanding of the relationship of early childhood development and subsequent adult psychopathology. Research into personality assessment is well reviewed. Effects of genetic and psychosocial aspects of personality development are discussed and treatment outcome of personality disorders, from both a psychological and a pharmacological perspective, is presented. This comprehensive volume is an important contribution to our understanding of the role of personality, temperament and character and their relationships to the development of adult psychopathological disturbances.—David L. Dunner, M.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Director, Center for Anxiety and Depression, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

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