REEXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE FOR THE DSM-III PERSONALITY-DISORDER CLUSTERS

The 11 personality disorders are organized clinically into three categ ories, or clusters. Results from recent factor analytic studies have b een interpreted as providing empirical support for the three cluster m odel. These studies, however, have typically subjected only one measur e obtained from a single sample to factor analysis, weakening the reli ability and generalizability of the results. Different studies have al so used different factor analytic procedures, which renders comparison across studies difficult. None of the studies have formally tested th eir results against a hypothetical three cluster model. In this study, published correlational matrices of the 11 personality disorders gene rated from differing samples as well as scales were subjected to a com mon set of factor analytic procedures. Each factor solution was then c ompared statistically to a hypothetical factor structure matrix repres enting the three cluster model using congruence coefficients. All five samples revealed statistically significant congruence with the hypoth etical matrix, although there were several instances where individual scales did not correspond well. This was especially so for Cluster C.