Why is PD diagnosis in adolescence controversial?

• A. Adolescents cannot be assessed for any personality disorder tendencies
• B. Personality disorders require stability over time and across contexts
• C. Traits can reflect normative development; PD diagnoses require stable patterns over time and across contexts
• D. Criteria are too vague for adolescents

Answer: (C)

The key idea is that personality disorders are defined by enduring patterns that are stable over time and across different settings, but adolescence is a period of rapid and normative change in personality development. Because teens often experiment with identity, emotion regulation, and social roles, many traits seen in adolescence can be temporary or developmentally appropriate rather than fixed and pervasive. Labeling a teen with a personality disorder risks mislabeling normal development or stigmatizing someone who may later outgrow or substantially modify these patterns. That tension—traits may reflect normative developmental processes, while PD diagnoses require stable patterns across time and contexts—captures why diagnosing PDs in adolescence is controversial.

Choosing a statement that emphasizes this balance is the best fit because it directly acknowledges both the potential for normal development to produce PD-like traits and the diagnostic requirement for stability, which is the core issue driving the controversy. The other options miss this nuance: one is overly absolute about assessment in adolescence, another focuses only on stability without noting developmental variability, and another attributes the problem to vagueness of criteria rather than developmental appropriateness.