Assessment of Personality Functioning in the Transition from Adolescent to Adult Life: Preliminary Findings

BackgroundThe Adolescent to Adult Personality Functioning Assessment (ADAPFA) a modification of the Adult Personality Functioning Assessment (APFA) is described. It may be used to assess specific and general social dysfunction in the transition from childhood to adult life.MethodTwo raters independently rated 38 audiotaped interviews to test the interrater reliability of the instrument. The relationship between dysfunction in specific domains and overall psychosocial dysfunction was examined.ResultsInterrater reliabilities for the total ADAPFA score and for the majority of the domains were high. Agreement on type of dysfunction and on categorical ratings indicating the presence of personality disorder were good.ConclusionThe ADAPFA is a useful measure of interpersonal and social role performance in the transition between adolescent and adult life.