The Level of Personality Functioning Scale—Self-Report (LPFS-SR) requires culturally-validated cut-off scores to ensure its utility in diverse populations. This study aimed to establish clinical thresholds and reference data for the Farsi LPFS-SR to effectively distinguish clinical personality dysfunction from nonclinical functioning in Iran. We analyzed data from distinct clinical (n = 374 interview-diagnosed inpatients, 22% female, mean age 28.3 ± 6.9 years) and nonclinical (n = 1,119 community participants, 60% female, mean age 28.3 ± 8.1 years) samples across western Iran. Optimal cut-off scores were determined using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. The Global LPFS-SR demonstrated excellent capacity to discriminate the clinical from the nonclinical group. The optimal clinical cut-off score for the Global LPFS-SR was determined to be 283. Gender-specific analyses revealed high diagnostic accuracy in both groups (female AUCs = 0.88–0.91; male AUCs = 0.85–0.87). This study provides the preliminary empirically-derived clinical cut-off scores and comprehensive reference data for the Farsi LPFS-SR. This threshold enables reliable and efficient screening for the severity of personality pathology in Iranian clinical and research settings, supporting the localized application of the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD). Not applicable.
Hemmati et al. (Tue,) studied this question.