Using the Personality Assessment Inventory to Measure Antagonism and Disinhibition Domains: Associations with Psychiatric History and Externalizing Life Events in a Forensic Sample.

Abstract

The Alternative Model for Personality Disorder is an emerging personality pathology model that includes dimensional personality impairment and traits. Although there is substantial research on this model, there is limited work on the psychometric properties of the corresponding measures in criminal-legal samples. The purpose of the present study was to validate the Personality Assessment Inventory's Antagonism and Disinhibition domain and facet scores in a sample (n = 141) from routine private practice forensic interviews. A series of correlations were computed to assess the relationship between externalizing behaviors and psychiatric history associated with PAI AMPD scores, including substance use and criminal record. Results were generally in line with expectations. The PAI Irresponsibility facet was positively associated with the number of illegal substances used and the total number of charges. The strength and direction of correlations were consistent across the original Antisocial Features scores and this rescoring approach. These results provide evidence of convergent validity for these scores but indicate they do not offer a statistical advantage in predicting these correlations over the standard PAI Antisocial Features scores.