Recent typological research assessing relations between personality and PTSD has consistently replicated three clusters: low pathology, internalizing, and externalizing. However, the manner in which personality relates to psychopathology generally, and to PTSD specifically, may be contingent on the model of personality being considered. In particular, PTSD-personality relations may be direct, pathoplastic, or a hybrid combination of these direct and pathoplastic relations, but these possibilities have not been examined because of the limited range of personality models that have been employed to conceptualize personality heterogeneity in PTSD. The aim of the present study was to examine personality heterogeneity among individuals diagnosed with PTSD using three personality models hypothesized to show varying typologies. Participants were recruited using data from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorder Study, and were clustered using personality disorder (PD) symptom counts, Five-Factor Model (FFM) traits, and the Interpersonal Circumplex (IPC) traits. Empirical validation procedures yielded a three cluster solution for both the PD and FFM models and a four cluster solution for the IPC. These models all demonstrated unique and incremental relations to one another, to PTSD, and to other forms of psychopathology. These results indicate that the nature of the personality-PTSD relation depends on how personality is measured and conceptualized, and that different models of personality increment one another in describing individuals with PTSD. The potential of these personality models to help explain etiology, anticipate co-occurring psychopathology, and tailor treatment planning is also discussed.
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