Behavior-response patterns that characterize the individual.

A state in which attention is largely directed outward from the self.

The determination and evaluation of personality attributes by interviews, observations, tests, or scales. Articles concerning personality measurement are considered to be within scope of this term.

A psychoanalytic therapy wherein each social transaction is analyzed to determine the involved ego state (whether parent-like, child-like, or adult-like) as a basis for understanding behavior.

Standardized objective tests designed to facilitate the evaluation of personality.

A major deviation from normal patterns of behavior.

Check list, usually to be filled out by a person about himself, consisting of many statements about personal characteristics which the subject checks.

A personality disorder marked by a pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts. (DSM-IV)

A personality disorder in which there are oddities of thought (magical thinking, paranoid ideation, suspiciousness), perception (illusions, depersonalization), speech (digressive, vague, overelaborate), and behavior (inappropriate affect in social interactions, frequently social isolation) that are not severe enough to characterize schizophrenia.

A personality disorder whose essential feature is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood. The individual must be at least age 18 and must have a history of some symptoms of CONDUCT DISORDER before age 15. (From DSM-IV, 1994)

Disorders in which the symptoms are distressing to the individual and recognized by him or her as being unacceptable. Social relationships may be greatly affected but usually remain within acceptable limits. The disturbance is relatively enduring or recurrent without treatment.

Growth of habitual patterns of behavior in childhood and adolescence.

Disorder characterized by an emotionally constricted manner that is unduly conventional, serious, formal, and stingy, by preoccupation with trivial details, rules, order, organization, schedules, and lists, by stubborn insistence on having things one's own way without regard for the effects on others, by poor interpersonal relationships, and by indecisiveness due to fear of making mistakes.

In current usage, approximately equivalent to personality. The sum of the relatively fixed personality traits and habitual modes of response of an individual.

A personality disorder characterized by the avoidance of accepting deserved blame and an unwarranted view of others as malevolent. The latter is expressed as suspiciousness, hypersensitivity, and mistrust.

Established behavior pattern characterized by excessive drive and ambition, impatience, competitiveness, sense of time urgency, and poorly contained aggression.

A personality inventory consisting of statements to be asserted or denied by the individual. The patterns of response are characteristic of certain personality attributes.

A state in which attention is largely directed inward upon one's self.

A psychoanalytic term meaning self-love.

Categorical classification of MENTAL DISORDERS based on criteria sets with defining features. It is produced by the American Psychiatric Association. (DSM-IV, page xxii)

A personality disorder characterized by overly reactive and intensely expressed or overly dramatic behavior, proneness to exaggeration, emotional excitability, and disturbances in interpersonal relationships.

Behavior pattern characterized by negative emotionality, an inability to express emotions, and social isolation, which has been linked to greater cardiovascular disease and increased mortality. (from International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2008, p. 217)

Predisposition to react to one's environment in a certain way; usually refers to mood changes.

Standardized procedures utilizing rating scales or interview schedules carried out by health personnel for evaluating the degree of mental illness.

The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)

An act performed without delay, reflection, voluntary direction or obvious control in response to a stimulus.

A personality disorder manifested by a profound defect in the ability to form social relationships, no desire for social involvement, and an indifference to praise or criticism.

Assessment of psychological variables by the application of mathematical procedures.

Theoretical representations that simulate psychological processes and/or social processes. These include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

The statistical reproducibility of measurements (often in a clinical context), including the testing of instrumentation or techniques to obtain reproducible results. The concept includes reproducibility of physiological measurements, which may be used to develop rules to assess probability or prognosis, or response to a stimulus; reproducibility of occurrence of a condition; and reproducibility of experimental results.

A directed conversation aimed at eliciting information for psychiatric diagnosis, evaluation, treatment planning, etc. The interview may be conducted by a social worker or psychologist.