Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Mental Health, Department of Family Health, High Institute of Public Health, University of Alexandria, Egypt
2
Department of Biostatistics, High Institute of Public Health, University of Alexandria, Egypt
3
School Health, Department of Family Health, High Institute of Public Health, University of Alexandria, Egypt
Abstract
Because college students are at an age where personality disorders [PDs] become more apparent, posing a burden to themselves, their families and society, a non-costly screening for PDs using a self-report questionnaire is needed in our culture. The aim of the present work was to develop an Arabic version of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+ [PDQ-4+] and to test its reliability, validity and psychometric properties among a sample of first grade undergraduate students of the University of Alexandria. Full participants amounted to 1019 and were subjected to the Arabic version of the PDQ-4+ as well as clinical significance scale of the PDQ-4+, both designed to assess the 12 PDs of DSM-IV. The present work has documented that the Arabic version of PDQ-4+ had good psychometric properties as a screening tool for PDs in terms of construct validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency, as well as discriminatory and predictive qualities. In addition to the reliability of the tool as measured by the correlation coefficient [r] being excellent [0.97], the internal consistency was high [Cronbach’s alpha =0.87]. On factor analysis, three factors were extracted with eigen values above 1.00; factor 1 included avoidant, dependent, and depressive PDs, factor 2 included antisocial, passive-aggressive, borderline, narcissistic, and histrionic PDs, and factor 3 included schizoid, schizotypal, paranoid, and obsessive-compulsive PDs. The specificity of the tool as a whole to diagnose any PD was estimated to be 97.6%, while its positive predictive power proved to be 95%. The observed agreement and Kappa [K] portray excellent concordance between total PDQ-4+ and clinical significance scales [observed agreement = 98%, K = 0.96, Z = 7.46, P<0.05]. The PDQ-4+ scale significantly discriminated between those who attained a total score below the first quartile and those who attained a total score above the third quartile on the PDQ-4+ scale [12.63 ± 2.85, median = 13.00 vs 37.69 ± 5.76, median = 36.00, W-Z test=18.18, P<0.05].
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