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Personality Pathology of Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder Without Accompanying Intellectual Impairment in Comparison to Adults With Personality Disorders

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Abstract

Differentiating autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) without accompanying intellectual impairment from personality disorders is often challenging. Identifying personality traits and personality pathology specific to ASD might facilitate diagnostic procedure. We recruited a sample of 59 adults with ASD without accompanying intellectual impairment, 62 individuals with narcissistic personality disorder, 80 individuals with borderline personality disorder, and 106 nonclinical controls. Personality traits, measured with the neo-personality inventory-revised (NEO-PI-R), and personality pathology, measured with the dimensional assessment of personality pathology (DAPP-BQ), were assessed. Personality traits and personality pathology specific to ASD could be identified. ASD individuals scored significantly lower on the NEO-PI-R scales extraversion and openness to experience and significantly higher on the DAPP-BQ scales inhibitedness and compulsivity relative to all other groups. Diagnostic implications are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Please note that the high F-values are predominantly caused by the difference between the clinical groups and the nonclinical controls.

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Acknowledgments

The authors like to thank the co-operating hospitals Theodor-Wenzel-Werk, Berlin, Asklepios Clinic North, Hamburg and Institute for Behavioral Therapy Berlin (IVB). Part of the data reported in this article was already published in a German-language journal (Strunz et al. 2014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Charité University Medical School Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Eschenallee 3, 14050, Berlin, Germany

    Sandra Strunz, Linda Westphal, Kathrin Ritter, Isabella Heuser, Isabel Dziobek & Stefan Roepke

  2. Cluster of Excellence Languages of Emotion, Freie Universität Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Isabel Dziobek & Stefan Roepke

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  1. Sandra Strunz
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  2. Linda Westphal
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  3. Kathrin Ritter
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  4. Isabella Heuser
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  5. Isabel Dziobek
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  6. Stefan Roepke
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Correspondence to Sandra Strunz.

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Isabel Dziobek and Stefan Roepke have contributed equally to this work.

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Strunz, S., Westphal, L., Ritter, K. et al. Personality Pathology of Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder Without Accompanying Intellectual Impairment in Comparison to Adults With Personality Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 4026–4038 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2183-x

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