Reliability and validity of the German version of the Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO)

Background: The assessment of personality organization and its
observable behavioral manifestations, i.e. personality functioning,
has a long tradition in psychodynamic psychiatry. Recently, the
DSM-5 Levels of Personality Functioning Scale has moved it into the
focus of psychiatric diagnostics. Based on Kernberg's concept of
personality organization the Structured Interview of Personality
Organization (STIPO) was developed for diagnosing personality
functioning. The STIPO covers seven dimensions: (1) identity, (2)
object relations, (3) primitive defenses, (4) coping/rigidity, (5)
aggression, (6) moral values, and (7) reality testing and
perceptual distortions. The English version of the STIPO has
previously revealed satisfying psychometric properties. Methods:
Validity and reliability of the German version of the 100-item
instrument have been evaluated in 122 psychiatric patients. All
patients were diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and were assessed by means of
the STIPO. Moreover, all patients completed eight questionnaires
that served as criteria for external validity of the STIPO.
Results: Interrater reliability varied between intraclass
correlations of .89 and 1.0, Crohnbach's a for the seven dimensions
was .69 to .93. All a priori selected questionnaire scales
correlated significantly with the corresponding STIPO dimensions.
Patients with personality disorder (PD) revealed significantly
higher STIPO scores (i.e. worse personality functioning) than
patients without PD; patients cluster B PD showed significantly
higher STIPO scores than patients with cluster C PD. Conclusions:
Interrater reliability, Crohnbach's a, concurrent validity, and
differential validity of the STIPO are satisfying. The STIPO
represents an appropriate instrument for the assessment of
personality functioning in clinical and research settings.