What are the three core features of Personality Disorders, as identified in the lecture?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Personality disorders are most usefully characterized by persistent patterns that disrupt functioning, repeatedly produce harm to the person’s goals, and break down when the person is stressed—hence: functional instability, self-defeating behaviour patterns, and tenuous stability under stress.

1) Relevant knowledge points and concepts
- Functional instability: sustained difficulty maintaining stable work, relationships, or role performance due to enduring maladaptive personality patterns.  
- Self-defeating behaviour patterns: repetitive actions or choices (e.g., sabotaging relationships, chronic compliance, perpetuating victimhood) that undermine the person’s own goals and well-being.  
- Tenuous stability under stress: relatively steady functioning that can rapidly decompensate or become dysfunctional when the person faces stress or change.

2) Step‑by‑step reasoning
- Identify what is shared across personality disorders: long-term patterns that affect life functioning (this is functional instability).  
- Recognize the behavioral mechanism producing ongoing problems: recurring, self-defeating choices or interpersonal strategies that perpetuate pathology.  
- Note the characteristic course: many people with personality disorders appear stable until stressors trigger worsening symptoms or loss of coping—this is tenuous stability under stress.

3) Intermediate steps (illustrative examples)
- Functional instability → unstable jobs/relationships over years.  
- Self-defeating patterns → a person repeatedly choosing abusive partners or sabotaging promotions.  
- Tenuous stability → crisis or stress (loss, illness) leads to marked worsening (anger outbursts, impulsivity, dissociation).

4) Why the correct answer is correct
These three items together capture the chronic, behaviorally self-undermining nature of personality disorders and their vulnerability to stress—as emphasized in the lecture’s framing of core features.

5) Why other options are incorrect
- Option 2 (rigidity, interpersonal problems): rigidity is common but the lecture highlighted self-defeating behavioural patterns specifically; “interpersonal problems” is too general compared with the lecture’s emphasis.  
- Option 3 replaces self-defeating with interpersonal problems; again, interpersonal issues occur but the lecture named self-defeating patterns as a core feature.  
- Option 4 substitutes impulse control for self-defeating behaviour; impulse control deficits apply to some PDs but are not a universal core across diagnoses.

6) Conclusion
Therefore, the correct set of core features is: functional instability, self-defeating behaviour patterns, tenuous stability under stress—matching the provided answer.

What are the three core features of Personality Disorders, as identified in the lecture?Single choice

Similar Questions

Which of the following statements about the main model of personality disorders in the DSM-5 is untrue?

Dimensional models of personality disorder:

A superficially charming person who is indifferent to the pain of others and has spent their life in and out of prison for violent crimes would most likely be diagnosed with which type of personality disorder?

Which assessment finding is most characteristic of schizoid personality disorder?

A nurse assessing a patient notes: mistrust, suspicion, grudges, and interpreting neutral comments as threatening. These findings are most consistent with:

Which factor is identified as a general risk factor for the development of personality disorders?

Question at position 4 Janice is impulsive, emotional, and insecure. Her relationships tend to be intense and unstable. She has threatened or attempted suicide many times. Which of these personality disorders might she best be diagnosed with? AntisocialSchizoidDependentBorderlineNarcissistic

More Practical Tools for Students Powered by AI Study Helper

Homework AI Solver

Stylized AI Paper Writer

Plagiarism Checker Assistant

Citation AI Academic Writing Tool

In-Class Translation Assistant

AI Note Generator

AI Quiz Answers

Past Exam Questions from University Test Bank

Smart Practice Assistant

Adaptive Practice

Making Your Study Simpler