The Wisconsin Personality Disorders Inventory: Development, Reliability, and Validity

The Wisconsin Personality Disorders Inventory (WISPI) is a self-report questionnaire derived from an interpersonal perspective on the DSM-III-R personality disorders. Internal consistency for 11 personality disorder scales was very high in a sample of 1230 normals and patients. Two-week test-retest reliability in 80 patients and nonpatients was also high. Interscale correlations were higher than desirable but were reduced by corrections for response bias. A clinician sort of WISPI items to DSM-III criteria and independent coding of items for interpersonal content indicated good validity vis-a-vis both frames of reference. Patients scored higher than nonpatients on most scales, and patients with current clinical diagnoses of any personality disorder scored higher than those with no Axis II disorders. Other indicators of concurrent validity were high to moderate correlations with Personality Disorders Questionnaire, MMPI Personality Disorder Scales, and Millón Clinical Multiaxial Inventory self-reports; and with clinician ratings on a dimensional personality assessment form in a subsample of 146 outpatients.