David Dilalla

Assessment of normal personality traits in a psychiatric sample: dimensions and categories

Progress in experimental personality & psychopathology research, 1993

A Comparative Study of the Effects of a Developmentally Based Instructional Model on Young Children with Autism and Young Children with Other Disorders of Behavior and Development

Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 1991

Page 1. A Comparative Study of the Effects of a Developmentally Based Instructional Model on Youn... more

Joint factor structure of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire and the MMPI in a psychiatric and high-risk sample

by David Dilalla and Irving Gottesman

Psychological Assessment, 1993

This study assessed aspects of the construct validity of the Multidimensional Personality Questio... more This study assessed aspects of the construct validity of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), a measure of normal personality characteristics, in a clinically relevant sample through joint factor analyses of primary and second-order scales of the MPQ and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). A subsample from the Washington University Twin Study of Psychopathology was analyzed. The MPQ's primary scales and higher order factors were found to have meaningful associations with MMPI scales that served as construct markers. The MPQ taps constructs related to, although not redundant with, those measured by the MMPI. Additionally, the MPQ provides a Constraint measure that is relevant to the study of psychopathy and not represented among the MMPI clinical scales. The potential utility of the MPQ in clinical settings as an adjunct to traditional assessment instruments such as the MMPI is discussed.

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Age of Symptom Onset in Young Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 1990

Data from 39 young children with autism or other pervasive developmental disorders were examined ... more Data from 39 young children with autism or other pervasive developmental disorders were examined to determine the relevance of the age of social symptom onset and language symptom onset to other developmental variables. Contrary to the authors&#39; hypotheses, earlier onset of social symptoms was not indicative of a greater severity of autistic symptoms, retardation, or incidence of insecure attachments. Early speech loss was associated with lower IQ, greater social deficits, and poorer language development, while the presence of useful speech at age 2 was related to better functioning in multiple domains. Thus, language functions, rather than the social behaviors examined, carried the greatest predictive power regarding short-term outcomes.

Individuality and relatedness of the self: An autophotographic study

by Stephen Dollinger and David Dilalla

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1996

Using R. C. Ziller&#39;s (1990) method of autophotography, the authors studied the duality of... more Using R. C. Ziller&#39;s (1990) method of autophotography, the authors studied the duality of relatedness and individuality. A total of 226 young adults used photos (and words) to portray &quot;who they are&quot;. Photo essays were scored for objective codes (e.g., people touching) and subjectively rated for individuality (richness of self-depiction). As predicted, persons who emphasized their personal rather than social identity depicted greater individuality; relatedness was associated with social and collective identity. Other results replicated earlier gender differences in relatedness and associations of individuality and relatedness with the 5-factor model. In the 2nd wave of the sample, individuality was associated with higher ego development, maturity, and self-directed values; low individuality was associated with restrictive conformity and security values. The authors suggest that the combination of individuality and relatedness is optimal for human development.

Maladaptive Defense Style and Traumatic Stress Reactions in a Specialized Unit of the South African Police Service

Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 2008

Police work has been recognized as high risk for exposure to traumatic events and the ensuing pot... more Police work has been recognized as high risk for exposure to traumatic events and the ensuing potential to develop posttraumatic stress disorder. However, not all officers exposed to traumatic events develop symptoms of traumatic stress, though they may continue to express subjective stress. Ego defense styles and the dispositional construct of sense of coherence (SOC) were identified as variables that

Domains of the childhood autism rating scale: Relevance for diagnosis and treatment

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1994

The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) was factor analyzed. Three factors emerged: Social Impai... more The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) was factor analyzed. Three factors emerged: Social Impairment (SI), Negative Emotionality (NE), and Distorted Sensory Response (DSR). Unit-weight factor scales showed moderateto-good internal consistency. Cross-sectional analyses demonstrated that autistic (A UT) subjects were distinguished from subjects with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) and nonpervasive developmental disorders (NPDD) by higher scores on SI. An SI cutoff score of 26 classified individuals as autistic vs. nonautistic with 78% accuracy. Longitudinal analyses showed that DSR was stable over 6 months of treatment, with little indication of symptom reduction. SI decreased over time across the diagnostic groups, but still showed significant continuity over the period_ NE was most malleable and apparently sensitive to the effects of treatment.

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Normal personality characteristics in identical twins discordant for schizophrenia

Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1995

The authors examined normal personality characteristics of monozygotic (MZ) twins discordant for ... more The authors examined normal personality characteristics of monozygotic (MZ) twins discordant for schizophrenia. Twenty pairs of discordant twins were analyzed; 11 pairs of MZ twins concordant for schizophrenia served as a comparison group. Personality was assessed using the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; A. Tellegen, 1995). Among discordant twin pairs, twins with schizophrenia were more deviant than normal co-twins on all but 4 of the MPQ's scales. Analysis of MZ twin correlations among the discordant twin pairs revealed substantial erosion of personality similarity as compared to normal individuals, although a cluster of scales related to Constraint/ Psychoticism showed significant correlations. The results highlight striking personality divergence related to nonshared environmental influences. It is not possible to determine the point at which the twins diverged, although previous findings from this sample suggest that the observed personality differences may reflect effects of schizophrenia on normal personality.

format_quoteSignificant diagnostic status effects revealed probands' MPQ scores were more deviant than unaffected co-twins, affirming personality disturbances in schizophrenia.format_quote

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Heritability of MMPI personality indicators of psychopathology in twins reared apart

by David Dilalla and Thomas Bouchard

Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1996

The authors examined normal personality characteristics of monozygotic (MZ) twins discordant for ... more The authors examined normal personality characteristics of monozygotic (MZ) twins discordant for schizophrenia. Twenty pairs of discordant twins were analyzed; 11 pairs of MZ twins concordant for schizophrenia served as a comparison group. Personality was assessed using the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; A. Tellegen, 1995). Among discordant twin pairs, twins with schizophrenia were more deviant than normal co-twins on all but 4 of the MPQ's scales. Analysis of MZ twin correlations among the discordant twin pairs revealed substantial erosion of personality similarity as compared to normal individuals, although a cluster of scales related to Constraint/ Psychoticism showed significant correlations. The results highlight striking personality divergence related to nonshared environmental influences. It is not possible to determine the point at which the twins diverged, although previous findings from this sample suggest that the observed personality differences may reflect effects of schizophrenia on normal personality.

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Personality and psychopathology: Genetic perspectives

Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1994

Genetic factors exert an important influence on adult personality traits, accounting for anywhere... more Genetic factors exert an important influence on adult personality traits, accounting for anywhere between 30% and 60% of the variance. Heredity is also important for most forms of psychopathology and plays a major role in several theories that relate personality to psychopathology. Despite this, there has been surprisingly little multivariate genetic research reported on joint analyses of personality and psychopathology. The small amount of available data suggests that genes may account for over 50% of the observed correlation between neuroticism and state symptoms of anxiety and depression. The mechanisms behind such strong genetic correlations are crucial for understanding the causal relationship between a personality trait and a disorder because genetically influenced biological systems may operate as exogenous "third-party" factors that are responsible for what appear to be phenotypic cause-effect relationships. We illustrate how recent analytical advances in behavior genetics can use multivariate family data to address questions about the causal role of personality in psychopathology.

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Compulsive compliance: The development of an inhibitory coping strategy in infancy

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1988

Genetic factors exert an important influence on adult personality traits, accounting for anywhere... more Genetic factors exert an important influence on adult personality traits, accounting for anywhere between 30% and 60% of the variance. Heredity is also important for most forms of psychopathology and plays a major role in several theories that relate personality to psychopathology. Despite this, there has been surprisingly little multivariate genetic research reported on joint analyses of personality and psychopathology. The small amount of available data suggests that genes may account for over 50% of the observed correlation between neuroticism and state symptoms of anxiety and depression. The mechanisms behind such strong genetic correlations are crucial for understanding the causal relationship between a personality trait and a disorder because genetically influenced biological systems may operate as exogenous "third-party" factors that are responsible for what appear to be phenotypic cause-effect relationships. We illustrate how recent analytical advances in behavior genetics can use multivariate family data to address questions about the causal role of personality in psychopathology.

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Compulsive compliance in maltreated infants

Infant Behavior and Development, 1984

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Papers by David Dilalla