Psychodynamic and Neurobiological Perspectives on Personality Disorders during Adolescence

Background: Adolescence is a period of major changes in the body, the brain, and personality development and character formation with a specific vulnerability for major psychopathological manifestations and personality disorders (PDs). Recently, a consistent effort has been made in promoting a psychodynamic oriented assessment of PDS even during adolescence, stressing the difference between personality organization and PD considering three domains which have also a neurobiological relevance (1) identity formation, (2) interpersonal relations (3) affect regulation. Method: We describe the Interview for Personality Organization Processes during Adolescence (IPOP-A) and report 3 clinical cases of adolescents with PDs to illustrate the relevance of the interview. Conclusion: Since DSM utilizes adult criteria for the assessment of personality during adolescence it fails to recognize the specific developmental characteristics of PDs, because observable behaviors quickly change while the personality organization could remain more stable or arrested. The IPOP-A seems to be promising for gathering information about processes that constitute the building blocks of adolescent personality organization.