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Humans adapt to a dynamic environment while maintaining psychological equilibrium. Systems theories of personality hold that generalized processes control stability by regulating how strongly a person reacts to various situations. Research shows there are higher order traits of general personality function (stability) and dysfunction (general personality pathology [GPP]), but whether they capture individual differences in reactivity is largely theoretical. We tested this hypothesis by examining how general personality functioning manifests in everyday life in two samples ( Ns = 205 and 342 participants and 24,920 and 17,761 observations) that completed an ambulatory assessment protocol. Consistent with systems theories, we found that (a) there is a general factor reflecting reactivity across major domains of functioning and (b) reactivity is strongly associated with stability and GPP. Results provide insight into how people fundamentally adapt to their environments (or not) and lay the foundation for more practical, empirical models of human functioning.

In this longitudinal study, we examined whether personality traits moderate the link between interpersonal dysfunction and suicidal behavior in a high-risk sample of 458 individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Participants were assessed annually for up to 30 years (mean number of follow-ups = 7.82). Using multilevel structural equation modeling, we examined (a) longitudinal, within-persons relationships among interpersonal dysfunction, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts and (b) moderation of these relationships by negative affectivity and disinhibition. Negative affectivity predicted a stronger within-persons coupling between interpersonal dysfunction and suicidal ideation. Disinhibition predicted a stronger coupling between ideation and suicide attempts. Assessing negative affectivity and disinhibition in a treatment setting may guide clinician vigilance toward people at highest risk for interpersonally triggered suicidal behaviors.

In this commentary, we discuss questions and misconceptions about the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) raised by Haeffel et al. We explain what the system classifies and why it is descriptive and atheoretical, and we highlight benefits and limitations of this approach. We clarify why the system is organized according to patterns of covariation or comorbidity among signs and symptoms of psychopathology, and we discuss how it is designed to be falsifiable and revised in a manner that is responsive to data. We refer to the body of evidence for HiTOP’s external validity and for its scientific and clinical utility. We further describe how the system is currently used in clinics. In sum, many of Haeffel et al.’s concerns about HiTOP are unwarranted, and for those concerns that reflect real current limitations of HiTOP, our consortium is working to address them, with the aim of creating a nosology that is comprehensive and useful to both scientists and clinicians.

We evaluated the utility of a nonverbal, “visceral” measure of cigarette craving (squeezing a handheld dynamometer). Nicotine-deprived daily smokers ( N = 202) underwent a cued (lit cigarette) cigarette-craving manipulation and recorded smoking urge in one of four conditions: (a) report urge using a traditional self-report rating scale (verbal measure) and then indicate urge by squeezing a dynamometer, (b) indicate urge by squeezing and then report urge verbally, (c) indicate urge only by squeezing, or (d) report urge only verbally. As hypothesized, the squeeze measure detected increases in urge during cue exposure, correlated with verbal urge, and predicted subsequent smoking motivation as indexed by smoking latency. Order effects were not observed, indicating that the squeeze measure was predictive of smoking motivation regardless of whether it was administered before or after a verbal urge measure. Squeeze measures may be viable additions to the measurement toolkit for assessing urge and other visceral states.

The categorical model of classification in the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; APA, 2013) is sorely problematic. A proposed solution is emerging in the form of a quantitative nosology, an empirically based dimensional organization of psychopathology. More specifically, a team of investigators has proposed a Hierarchical Taxonomy Of Psychopathology (HiTOP; Kotov et al., 2017). The purpose of the current paper is to discuss the potential role, importance, and implications of personality within the HiTOP dimensional model of psychopathology. Suggested herein is that personality provides a foundational base for the HiTOP dimensional model of psychopathology. Implications concern the potential value of early assessment of and screening for personality as well as the development of protocols for the treatment of personality trait domains, which may in turn contribute to substantial improvements in quality of life, as well as mental and physical health.