Behavioral Signatures in a Situational Judgment Test for Criterion B Borderline Pathology: Predicting Criterion A Personality Functioning Beyond Traditional Questionnaire-Based Trait Assessment.

The DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorders assesses personality pathology along two criteria: Criterion A (personality functioning) and criterion B (maladaptive traits). While Criterion B assessment yields valuable insight into overall trait levels, it fails to capture how traits manifest across situations, which is particularly relevant for traits marked by high within-person variability, such as those seen in borderline personality pathology (BPP). To capture this within-person variability, the current study leverages Criterion Profile Analysis to investigate whether behavioral signatures, derived from a Situational Judgment Test (SJT) for borderline traits, can enhance the prediction of personality functioning beyond traditional trait assessment. Undergraduate students (N = 626), all situated in the developmental phase of late adolescence completed both the SJT and established self-report measures of Criterion A personality functioning and Criterion B maladaptive traits. Results showed that situation-based response patterns-especially of emotionally labile and impulsive traits-explain additional variance in Criterion A personality functioning, above and beyond mean Criterion B trait levels. These findings support the added value of integrating dynamic, context-sensitive assessments to comprehensively understand personality functioning. Implications for the further development of innovative contextualized and dynamic strategies to assess BPP vulnerabilities are discussed.