Validity of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4 (PDQ-4+) among mentally ill prison inmates in Singapore

J Pers Disord. 2011 Dec;25(6):834-41. doi: 10.1521/pedi.2011.25.6.834.

Abstract

We examined the validity of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire--4+ (PDQ-4+) as a screening instrument for personality disorders among mentally ill prison inmates in Singapore. A total of 313 prison inmates completed the PDQ-4+ and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders (SCID-II). The subjects were 303 (96.8%) males and 10 (3.2%) females with a mean (SD) age of 40.7 (8.8) years. Kappa agreement between PDQ-4+ and SCID-II for the presence at least one personality disorder was moderate with high sensitivity and low specificity. For specific personality disorders and clusters, we found that the PDQ-4+ diagnosed more subjects as having each of the personality disorders than SCID-II with high negative predictive values. The area under the curve indicated moderate discriminatory capabilities. Our results suggest that the PDQ-4+ could be used as a potential screening instrument for personality disorders in prison inmates.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Criminal Psychology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Personality Disorders / classification
  • Personality Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Personality Disorders / psychology
  • Personality Tests / standards*
  • Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / psychology*
  • Prisoners / psychology*
  • Psychometrics
  • ROC Curve
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sex Offenses / psychology
  • Singapore
  • Surveys and Questionnaires / standards*
  • Violence / psychology
  • Young Adult