User's Guide for the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-5 (R) Alternative Model for Personality Disorders, Module I, Adolescent Version (SCID-5-AMPD Module I-A)

Understanding and evaluating an adolescent's struggles are
often not straightforward. Although mood, behavior, and common developmental
challenges can appear similar on the surface, they are often driven by
distinct underlying factors.

User's Guide for the Structured
Clinical Interview for the DSM-5 Alternative Model for Personality
Disorders, Module I, Adolescent Version (SCID-5-AMPD Module
I-A) helps clinicians dive under the surface, asking better
questions that allow for clearer, well-supported conclusions when
administering and scoring the Module I-A interview for the Level of
Personality Functioning Scale (LPFS) for adolescents. Introduced in DSM-5,
the LPFS helps clinicians evaluate whether the personality features of
Criterion A in the DSM-5 Alternative Model are met[AE2.1].

This guide
outlines a semistructured interview process that focuses on understanding
how adolescents function as people in their relationships-with themselves
and others. Rather than relying on checklists or first impressions,
providers use a funnel-style evaluation, beginning with broad, open-ended
questions and narrowing to targeted follow-up questions as needed.

By
evaluating across the four LPFS domains-Identity, Self-Direction, Empathy,
and Intimacy-clinicians can better understand how adolescents see
themselves, set goals, understand others, and form relationships. This
allows them to see past the adolescent's surface-level reports and better
interpret their uneven or limited insights-a common challenge when
evaluating youths-by drawing on real-world examples and observing behavior
during sessions.

The guide provides structured scoring guidance that
uses anchors across domains/subdomains, as well as clinical examples and
observational guidelines. This helps providers turn their impressions into
clear ratings that support treatment planning and collaboration with care
teams.

Designed for psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental
health care providers, the User's Guide emphasizes clinical judgment and
practical use, making it a reliable companion to the Module I-A interview
for assessing personality functioning in adolescents.