Biographical Questionnaire for the Diagnosis of Behavioral Disorders (Biographisches Inventar zur Diagnose von Verhaltenstörungen, BIV) is a standardized psychological instrument aimed at identifying individual behavioral characteristics and patterns of interpersonal interaction. The method is based on the assumption that stable forms of behavior are shaped by early experience, the family environment, and learning processes, interacting with biological and psychological factors. Early socialization and parenting style are regarded as key conditions in the development of social attitudes and response patterns, which may become consolidated or transformed over the course of life.
The questionnaire comprises eight scales, each reflecting a specific aspect of biographical and personality-related experience:
- FAM (Family Situation) — subjective perception of the family environment, the nature of relationships with parents, and the emotional climate within the family.
- ICHSTK (“Ego Strength”) — level of self-confidence, stress resilience, and capacity for self-realization.
- SOZLAG (Social Lability) — sensitivity to social influences and emotional variability in interpersonal interactions.
- ERZIEN (Parenting) — perception of parental educational strategies and their influence on the development of self-esteem and social attitudes.
- N (Neuroticism) — degree of emotional instability, anxiety, and tendency toward internal conflict.
- SOZAKT (Social Activity) — level of communicativeness, social involvement, and orientation toward interaction with others.
- PSYKON (Psychosomatic Control) — tendency toward somatic responses to stress and characteristics of emotional regulation.
- E (Extraversion) — extent of outward orientation, openness, and need for social contact.
The combined results across the scales make it possible to reconstruct individual biographical antecedents of behavior, assess adaptive functioning, and identify potential tendencies toward maladaptive response patterns.