July 24, 2025 PCI Centers
Personality Disorder Testing
Neuropsychological evaluations are designed to assess core cognitive functions such as:
- Memory, attention, processing speed, and executive functioning
- Identify the impact of conditions like ADHD, traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, or dementia;
- Evaluate the role of emotional and psychological factors—especially anxiety, depression, trauma, or personality traits—that may be influencing performance; and provide clear, actionable recommendations for treatment, accommodations, or next steps.
But cognitive data alone doesn’t always tell the whole story. Two people with the same memory score might function very differently depending on personality structure, coping skills, and emotional regulation. That’s where personality assessment comes in.
Personality traits don’t exist in a vacuum. Many people are dealing with complex, co-occurring conditions—such as trauma, addiction, or chronic stress—and these must be evaluated in a nuanced, nonjudgmental way.
What Personality Tests to Psychologists Use?
Personality assessments – such as the MMPI-3, PAI, or Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI)—allow for the evaluation of a person’s habitual thought patterns, emotional reactivity, and interpersonal style. When appropriate, personality disorders are also assessed, which can significantly affect how a person manages stress, relates to others, and responds to feedback or therapy.
The MMPI-3 and PAI are frequently used in neuropsychological evaluations to assess emotional health, personality disorders, and response validity. Studies show personality disorders can influence cognitive performance and may be misattributed to neurological conditions without proper assessment. Validity scales embedded in personality inventories help detect inconsistent effort or symptom exaggeration, which is crucial in forensic or disability-related evaluations.
Are Personality Tests Accurate?
Personality testing can work as a tool to clarify diagnostic questions (e.g., is the person’s emotional instability due to trauma, a personality disorder, or both?), detect emotional or behavioral contributors to cognitive symptoms (e.g., when depression mimics memory loss), identify maladaptive coping strategies that may undermine daily functioning or recovery, and rule out exaggerated or inconsistent responses using embedded validity indicators.
A neuropsychological evaluation that includes personality testing helps us see the full interplay between brain function and emotional life. This is especially helpful when evaluating ADHD or executive function issues where impulsivity and mood instability are present, TBI or concussion where personality changes or emotional dysregulation may result from frontal lobe injury, academic or workplace difficulties that involve motivation, self-concept, or perfectionism, or suspected malingering or noncredible performance in legal, forensic, or disability contexts.
The PCI Centers Approach to Personality Disorder Testing
At PCI Centers, we believe a neuropsychological evaluation should be a discovery process that helps clients understand who they are, how their brain works, and what will help them move forward.
- Comprehensive assessment – we go beyond surface-level screening and use well-validated tools that capture cognitive, emotional, and personality functioning;
- Collaborative interpretation – we involve clients and their families in understanding their results and how personality factors may interact with cognitive issues; treatment-focused reports—our reports are designed to guide therapy, school accommodations, or workplace support—not just document deficits
- Integrated care – we work with your existing care providers to get a more comprehensive history of your condition and treatment. If psychological treatment is deemed necessary, we offer a seamless transition to our intensive outpatient program.
By combining personality and cognitive assessments, we give our clients and referring providers the clearest, most complete picture of functioning available. If you or someone you know is struggling with attention, memory, decision-making, or emotional regulation, we’re here to help with compassion, precision, and clinical insight. Visit our website to learn more or schedule an assessment.
References
University of Minnesota Press. (2020). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory‑3 (MMPI‑3). https://www.upress.umn.edu/test-division/mmpi-3/
Paris, J. (2016). The treatment of borderline personality disorder: Implications of research on diagnosis, etiology, and outcome. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 18(2), 125–131. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4918730/
Hopwood, C. J., Wright, A. G. C., Krueger, R. F., Schade, N., Markon, K. E., & Morey, L. C. (2013). DSM‑5 pathological personality traits and the Personality Assessment Inventory. Assessment, 20(3), 269–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191113486286
Samuel, D. B., & Widiger, T. A. (2011). A meta-analytic review of the relationships between the five-factor model and DSM-IV-TR personality disorders: A facet level analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(4), 533–554. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.12.007
Shedler, J., & Westen, D. (2004). Refining personality disorder diagnosis: Integrating science and practice. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161(8), 1350–1365. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.161.8.1350
Widiger, T. A., & Oltmanns, J. R. (2017). Neuroticism is a fundamental domain of personality with enormous public health implications. World Psychiatry, 16(2), 144–145. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20411
Young, G. (2014). Integrative forensic neuropsychology: Ethical and legal considerations. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9055-2
