Objectives: Categorical criteria are not well suited to inform personality disorder (PD) diagnoses in older adults. More promising are the ICD-11 and DSM-5 alternative models. Both conceptualize PD by level of severity and maladaptive traits. Severity is conditional for making a PD diagnosis. Trait levels portray stylistic differences in PD expression. Yet, in older adults the hierarchical trait structure is unknown. Neither is the differentiation of the severity criterion from maladaptive traits confirmed. Methods: A series of exploratory factor analyses with progressively greater numbers ...