Convergent and Discriminant Validity of Self-Report and Performance-Based Assessment of Object Relations

Abstract

This study evaluated the Social Cognition and Object Relations Global Rating Method (SCORS–G; Stein, Hilsenroth, Mulford, & Pinkser, 2011; Stein and Mulford, 2018; Westen, 1995) and the Bell Object Relation and Reality Testing Inventory (BORRTI; Bell, 1995) to determine the extent to which the measures were correlated with each other and their relationships with 2 disorders characterized by disrupted object relations: borderline personality disorder (BPD) and depressive personality disorder (DPD). One hundred sixty-nine psychiatric outpatients and 171 undergraduate students were assessed with the Personality Disorder Interview for DSM–IV (Widiger, Corbett, Ellis, Mangine, & Tomas, 1995) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM–IV Axis II Disorders (First et al., 1997) for BPD and DPD. Modest correlations were observed among the diagnostic interviews with the BORRTI and the SCORS–G. An exploratory factor analysis yielded 3 distinct factors, 1 of which was mainly comprised of the BORRTI scales, whereas the 2 other factors were comprised of SCORS–G dimensions. Hierarchical multiple regressions demonstrated that the BORRTI accounted for greater variance among interview scores for both groups. However, the addition of SCORS–G variables incremented the variance accounted for in the BORRTI.