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The Implications of Recent Research on the Etiology and Stability of Personality and Personality Disorder for Treatment

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Abstract

Recent empirical research on normal and disordered personality suggests the need to re-appraise some of the assumptions underlying traditional approaches to treating personality disorder. Over the last decade, diverse disciplines including clinical psychiatry, personality psychology, cognitive psychology, behavior-genetics, and evolutionary psychology have contributed to our understanding the condition. This work has shed new light on the structure of personality disorder, classification, and diagnosis, the relationship between normal and disordered personality, the nature of the dysfunction associated with the diagnosis, the stability of personality, and the etiology of personality problems. Although much of this research is not immediately relevant to clinical practice, work on the causes of personality disorder and the stability of personality in particular, suggests a conception of personality disorder that appears to conflict with the models and ideas that guide some commonly used treatments.

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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Livesley, W.J. (1999). The Implications of Recent Research on the Etiology and Stability of Personality and Personality Disorder for Treatment. In: Derksen, J., Maffei, C., Groen, H. (eds) Treatment of Personality Disorders. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6876-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6876-3_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-3326-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-6876-3

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