📝 What is it?
The Structured Assessment of Personality Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS) screens for symptoms that may be associated with one or many personality disorders. Importantly, it looks at the likelihood that a person may have a personality disorder in general, not a specific type of personality disorder.
It is most often used to as a general front-line screener but can also be used to monitor changes in pathological personality functioning over time. It contains 8 yes or no questions and typically takes 1-2 minutes to complete.
Importantly, diagnosing any personality disorder should be done by a thorough clinical evaluation and formal psychological testing. The SAPAS is by no means a replacement for these things, but rather a front-line tool to flag certain clients who may benefit from a more thorough form of follow-up assessment.
📸 Sample screenshot:
What are personality disorders?
Everyone has a different personality. A personality is what makes each person unique-- characteristic thoughts, behaviors, and emotional patterns that a person uses to think about themselves and interact with the world around them. Personalities are typically stable over time and are influenced by genetics, environment, and life experiences.
What makes a personality "disordered?" When a person has a consistent, rigid, and unhealthy way of thinking or behaving that goes against their culture's expectations and causes significant problems in relationships, school, work, or life in general.
Personality disorders come in many shapes and sizes. The DSM-5 breaks them down into three clusters (A, B, and C) based on similar characteristics.
Cluster A
Characterized by odd or eccentric thinking or behaving.
Examples: Paranoid Personality Disorder, Schizoid Personality Disorder and Schizotypal Personality Disorder.
Common symptoms: strange beliefs, lack of interest in relationships, difficulty with social cues, appearing cold or indifferent, and flat emotions.
Cluster B
Characterized by dramatic, overly emotional or unpredictable thinking or behavior.
Examples: Antisocial Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Common symptoms: antisocial behavior, impulsivity, unstable and intense relationships, attention seeking, and exaggerated sense of self-worth.
Cluster C
Characterized by anxious, fearful thinking or behavior.
Examples: Avoidant Personality Disorder, Dependent Personality Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder.
Common symptoms: low self-esteem, social anxiety, dependency, and general anxiety.
There is some overlap between these different clusters. It is not uncommon for a person to display symptoms of multiple personality disorders.
Symptoms are often first seen in teenage or early adulthood years. Risk factors include family history of personality disorder and a negative family life during childhood.
There is overlap with other mental health issues like Schizophrenia or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder so it is important to assess carefully.
Can be treated with talk therapy, coping strategies, and increasing social connections.
📉 Scoring:
The SAPAS contains 8 yes or no questions scored 0 ("No") or 1 ("Yes"). Scores are summed and total scores range from 0 to 8. Higher scores are associated with... A score of 3 or more suggests that a personality disorder is likely.
Score | Interpretation |
0-2 | Not significant-- unlikely presence of a personality disorder. |
3-8 | Significant - recommendation to assess further. |
👍 Benefits:
More reliable than clinical judgement alone
Short, fast, easy to complete
No training required
Easy to use it routinely with every client or with the same client throughout treatment
Effective as a screener or tool to monitor progress
Helpful first step in identifying possible personality disorders
ℹ️ Summary:
Focus Area: Brief personality disorder screening
Overview: The Structured Assessment of Personality Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS) is an eight-item screening interview for personality disorder. Its purpose is to produce a dimensional score that represents the likelihood that a person has a personality disorder in general, rather than to screen for particular types of personality disorders or patterns. It was designed to be brief enough to be used in routine clinical assessment when pressed for time or when administered at multiple occasions.
Total number of items: Eight
Standardized cadence: Variable
Estimated completion time: One to three minutes
Supported subscales: None
Age range: 18+
Scoring and interpretation: A total score of 3 or more indicates personality disorder is likely.
Reliability/Validity: A score of 3 or more on this tool correctly identified 90% of psychiatric patients with DSM-IV personality disorder; Sensitivity 0.94 and specificity 0.85.
Additional information: For more information, please see the SAPAS validation study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2824652/
Reference: Hesse, M., & Moran, P. (2010). Screening for personality disorder with the Standardised Assessment of Personality: Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS): further evidence of concurrent validity. BMC psychiatry, 10, 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-10-10