Stability and Change in Personality Disorder

摘要

The standard view of personality disorder isthat it is a maladaptive expression of personality traits,which are relatively stable and unchanging. Thus, person-ality disorder has been considered to have its roots in child-hood and adolescence, to persist in adulthood, and to bedifficult to change. However, recent research has challengedthis view, revealing that personality continues to change,albeit more slowly, well into adulthood, and that themaladaptive manifestations of personality disorder aremuch less stable than previously believed. These researchfindings are described, and factors that influence stabilityand change in personality disorder are discussed. Theemerging view of personality disorder has important impli-cations for diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of person-ality pathology.