{
  "abstract": "Personality disorders have been traditionally framed as enduring dispositional conditions. Yet accumulating evidence suggests that they also reflect dynamic patterns of contextual adaptation. In this paper, we develop a formal framework that partitions personality stability into two components: an enduring portion (which is retained perfectly over time) and an adaptable portion (which dissipates over time, at either a fast or slow rate). After validating the model in computer simulations, we conduct a meta-analysis of 12 longitudinal investigations (N=17,785), yielding 145 test-retest correlations that quantify the stability of all personality conditions over 18 years. We then apply our formal model on these meta-analytic stability estimates to quantify the extent to which personality disorders are enduring vs. adaptable over time. Results indicate that most of personality pathology (60-70%) is adaptable over 18 years’ time, though it dissipates at a moderate rate (R≈55%). We conclude by suggesting that there is no formal distinction between personality pathology and psychopathology and outline a program aimed at studying all mental disorders as personality disorders.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Orestis Zavlis"
    },
    {
      "name": "Michael Moutoussis"
    },
    {
      "name": "Peter Fonagy"
    },
    {
      "name": "Patrick Luyten"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4pqbmqm2qhd4a.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.31234/osf.io/2y93k_v1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "4pqbmqm2qhd4a",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/2y93k_v1/",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "bepress",
      "Meta-science"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Psychiatry"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3203|Personality Disorders and Psychopathology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221823328",
  "pdf_url": "https://osf.io/2y93k/download",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-14",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4pqbmqm2qhd4a.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:37Z",
      "native_id": "2y93k",
      "source": "osf",
      "url": "https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/2y93k_v1/"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "bepress:Psychiatry",
      "subfield": "psychiatry"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Enduring or Adaptable? A formal model and meta-analytic test of the stability of personality disorders",
  "title_text": "Enduring or Adaptable? A formal model and meta-analytic test of the stability of personality disorders",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:37Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4pqbmqm2qhd4a",
  "venue": "PsyArXiv",
  "versions": []
}