Pathological personality, relationship satisfaction, and intimate partner aggression: Analyses using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, alternative model of personality disorder traits

Abstract

Personality disorders (PDs) have been linked to lower levels of marital satisfaction and the perpetration of intimate partner aggression (IPA). Much of this work has used self-reports of PD symptoms conceptualized via the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder's (DSM) categorical approach. The current study adds to the literature by examining how marital satisfaction and IPA are associated with a dimensional assessment of PDs, specifically by conceptualizing PDs using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Section III alternative model of personality disorder. By collecting data from both partners in a sample of newlywed couples, we also leverage PD trait agreement between (a) both partner's own self-reports (similarity), (b) self- and spouse report (accuracy), and (c) self and ratings of partner (perceptual similarity), to examine couple-level predictors of relationship well-being (i.e., satisfaction and psychological/physical IPA). Data were drawn from a sample of 101 newly married couples who participated in baseline and follow-up data collection over a period of 12 months. Actor-partner interdependence analyses revealed significant self-report actor and partner effects on marital satisfaction and psychological and physical IPA; for spouse report, actor effects were more consistent than partner reports. Agreement was moderate for both similarity and accuracy, but greater agreement was related to greater relationship satisfaction, particularly at later time points. Thus, although reports of elevated personality pathology are detrimental to marital functioning, spousal agreement may protect against these effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Figure 1.

Hypothetical actor-partner interdependence model including two self-reports and two partner reports.