Comorbidity of bulimia nervosa and personality disorder

Thirty patients meeting DSM-III-R criteria for bulimia nervosa with at least three bingeing episodes a week were compared with 30 age- and sex-matched controls on DSM-III personality measures. The bulimic patients were more likely to display cluster B (histrionic, narcissistic, antisocial, and borderline) personality abnormalities (odds ratio 15.0) and cluster C (avoidant, dependent, compulsive, and passive-aggressive) personality abnormalities (odds ratio 4.3) than were the community controls. This study supports the finding that personality disorder is a possible risk factor for bulimia.     

Depression in borderline personality disorder: lifetime prevalence at interview and longitudinal course of symptoms

The author compared a group of patients with borderline personality disorder with groups of subjects with antisocial personality and bipolar II illness. The lifetime prevalence at interview of DSM-III major depression was high in all groups. Chronic depression demonstrated a specific relationship to borderline psychopathology. Prospectively, borderline psychopathology predicted high levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms. This relationship was reversed for depressive symptoms in patients with antisocial personality disorder, suggesting that when borderline and antisocial personality disorders occur together, some features may arise that differentiate patients with both disorders from those with either disorder alone.     

Neurocognitive impairment in dramatic personalities: histrionic, narcissistic, borderline, and antisocial disorders.

Thirty-seven patients with personalities in the dramatic cluster (DSM-III-R histrionic, narcissistic, borderline, and antisocial) and 40 controls matched for age and gender were evaluated on 16 neurocognitive variables. The evaluation screened for deficits in functions of attention, memory, language, abstraction, and behavior planning/sequencing. Analysis of variance revealed significant deficits in neurocognitive performance among patients with dramatic personalities, particularly in subtests requiring multi-step, multi-element associative operations.     

Association of personality disorders with Type A and Type B alcoholics

Personality disorders frequently occur as comorbid disorder in alcohol–dependent subjects. Antisocial personality was described as an important characteristic in Cloninger's Type 2 and Babor's Type B subjects. The impact of other personality disorders on these alcoholism typologies, their pathogenesis and prognosis is, however, still unclear. The present study investigated the prevalence of personality disorders in 237 (194 males) detoxified alcohol–dependent patients after subtyping this sample according to Babor's Type A/B following the criteria suggested by Schuckit et al. (1995). Personality disorders were assessed with the SCID–II (DSM–IV). In all, 160 patients (68 %) could be classified as Type A, and 77 (32 %) as Type B.Type B subjects were younger, had an earlier onset,more alcohol intake and a more severe course of alcohol dependence. Type B patients had significantly more often any cluster A and B personality disorder, and significantly specifically more often a borderline, antisocial and avoidant personality disorder. There were no statistical differences concerning the other personality disorders. In summary, the Type A/B dichotomy using the criteria of Schuckit et al. (1995) was replicated successfully. Differences concerning cluster B personality disorder prevalence of Type B subjects demonstrated that these subjects are significantly more often affected from borderline and antisocial personality disorder. The impact of other personality disorders does not play a substantial role in subtyping alcoholics.     

Comorbidity of borderline personality disorder with other personality disorders in hospitalized adolescents and adults

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the comorbidity of borderline personality disorder with other personality disorders in a series of consecutively admitted adolescents. For comparison, the comorbidity of borderline personality disorder with other personality disorders was also examined in a series of adults consecutively admitted to the same hospital during the same period. METHOD: A total of 138 adolescents and 117 adults were reliably assessed with the Personality Disorder Examination, a semistructured diagnostic interview for DSM-III-R personality disorders. Sixty-eight adolescents and 50 adults met the diagnostic criteria for borderline personality disorder. The co-occurrence of other personality disorders in the group of subjects with borderline personality disorder was statistically compared to that in the group without borderline personality disorder, for adolescents and adults separately. RESULTS: For the adults, Bonferroni-corrected chi-square analysis revealed significant diagnostic co-occurrence with borderline personality disorder for antisocial personality disorder only. For the adolescents, borderline personality disorder showed significant co-occurrence with schizotypal and passive-aggressive personality disorders. CONCLUSIONS: In the adults, borderline personality disorder was significantly comorbid only with another cluster B disorder. The adolescents, by comparison, displayed a broader pattern of comorbidity of borderline personality disorder, encompassing aspects of clusters A and C. These results suggest that the borderline personality disorder diagnosis may represent a more diffuse range of psychopathology in adolescents than in adults.     

Personality disorder in the families of depressed, schizophrenic, and never-ill probands

In a blind family study of 176 probands with nonpsychotic major depression, psychotic major depression, schizophrenia, or no history of DSM-III disorders, only the relatives of depressed probands with mood-incongruent psychotic features had a risk for personality disorders higher than that for the relatives of never-ill probands. The authors did not find a high rate of borderline personality in relatives of depressed probands or of schizotypal personality disorder in relatives of probands with schizophrenia or any psychosis. However, depressed probands with normal dexamethasone test results had a significantly higher familial loading for the DSM-III cluster of histrionic, antisocial, borderline, and narcissistic personality disorders.     

Assessing suicidal youth with antisocial, borderline, or narcissistic personality disorder.

OBJECTIVE: This paper has 3 objectives. First, we review the epidemiologic evidence for the association between suicidal behaviour and suicide in individuals diagnosed with antisocial, borderline, or narcissistic personality disorder. Second, we examine whether any potentially modifiable risk factors are associated with these diagnoses, based on existing empirical evidence. Last, we discuss clinical approaches to assessing youth with antisocial, borderline, or narcissistic personality disorder presenting at risk for suicide. METHOD: We reviewed the English-language literature for the last 12 years (from January 1, 1991, to December 31, 2002), using as search terms the names of the 3 disorders, as well as the key words suicide, suicidal behaviour, youth, and adolescents. RESULTS: Patients with antisocial or borderline personality disorder are likely to be at increased risk for suicidal behaviour when they demonstrate such comorbid disorders as major depressive episodes or substance abuse disorders, when they experience recent negative life events, or when they have a history of childhood sexual abuse. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with antisocial personality disorder, the risk of violence has to be judged in addition to the risk of suicide or self-harm. For patients with borderline personality disorder, interventions are determined by differentiating acute-on-chronic from chronic risk of suicidal behaviour. Finally, patients with narcissistic personality disorder can be at high risk for suicide during periods when they are not suffering from clinical depression. These episodes can seem to be unpredictable.     

DSM-III personality disorder dimensions

Dimensional scores were computed for the 11 DSM-III personality disorders (PDs) in 797 relatives of psychiatric patients and never ill control subjects interviewed with the Structured Interview for DSM-III Personality Disorders. The distribution of scores for all 11 PD dimensions was skewed to the right. A principal components analysis with varimax rotation produced three factors that closely corresponded to DSM-III's suggested clustering of the PDs into eccentric, dramatic, and anxious types. Men scored significantly higher on the paranoid, schizoid, compulsive, antisocial, and narcissistic dimensions, whereas women had significantly higher histrionic, dependent, and avoidant scores. Age was negatively correlated with most of the PD dimensions, and the correlations were strongest with the four PDs in cluster 2 (histrionic, antisocial, narcissistic, and borderline). Each of the eight axis I disorders examined was associated with increased axis II pathology.     

History of childhood attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and borderline personality disorder: a controlled study

To evaluate the association between history of childhood attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in adulthood, the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) was administered to 42 consecutively admitted BPD subjects, 94 consecutively admitted controls with any cluster B personality disorder (PD) diagnosis other than BPD, 38 consecutively admitted controls with any cluster A or cluster C PD diagnosis but no cluster B PD diagnosis, and 69 consecutively admitted controls with no PD diagnosis. A fourth control group was composed by 201 nonclinical volunteers. According to Dunn-Bonferroni contrasts, BPD subjects showed a significantly higher mean WURS total score compared to all control groups (minimum t = 7.93, maximum t = 11.63, all Ps <.001). These contrasts remained significant even controlling for potential confounders such as antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) diagnosis, gender, inpatient status, and axis I diagnoses. The results of this study seem to support the hypothesis of an association between history of childhood ADHD symptoms and adult BPD diagnosis.     

Affective and behavioral features of DSM-III borderline personality disorder. Are they valid?

This study was designed to determine if a set of seven clinical features, closely reflecting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III criteria, were individually and collectively more common in borderlines compared to patients with schizophrenia, affective disorders, and anxiety disorders. A 7-item borderline subscale was generated from the expanded Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and administered to 1,762 psychiatric inpatients. Results indicated that scores on the total borderline scale were significantly higher in borderline patients compared to the control groups. Borderline patients manifested significantly more hostility, uncooperativeness, manipulativeness, impulsiveness, emotional lability, and antisocial trends compared to controls.     

Pharmacothérapie des troubles de la personnalité

Drug treatment of personality disorders is less developed than are psychological treatments in this area, but they are a logical prolongation of psychobiological models of personality and temperament, and respond to the need of many clinicians in front of difficult patients. The results obtained in the field of pharmacotherapy of personality disorders can be classified according to DSM-IV axis-II categorization. In anxious personalities (cluster C), some isolated studies suggest a favourable effect of antidepressants on obsessive-compulsive dimension, on avoidant personality disorder, and on inhibition and trait-anxiety, especially when serotoninergic agents are used. Few studies have been conducted in cluster A personality disorders, and some are in favour of the interest of low doses of antipsychotic drugs in this group. Most studies have been conducted in cluster B, and especially in antisocial and borderline personality disorders. Partial positive results have been obtained using various classes of drugs for dealing with aggression and impulsive behaviors, including lithium, beta-blockers, carbamazepine, valproate, antipsychotic drugs, and also SSRIs. Self-harm and suicidal behaviors seem to be partially but significantly improved by antidepressants and low doses of antipsychotics. Overall, the pharmacotherapy of personality disorder may lead in the future to the development of effective treatments, in complement to psychotherapy, for actually severe, chronic, and disabling disorder.     

Age and sex distribution of DSM-III personality cluster traits in a community population

DSM-III pathological personality cluster traits were measured on a community sample of 235 people. Traits in the schizoid cluster (schizoid, schizotypal, and paranoid) showed no change with age while traits in the dramatic cluster (antisocial, narcissistic, borderline, and histrionic) and to some extent the anxious cluster (avoidant, dependent, compulsive, and passive/aggressive) showed similar significant associations with age. This pattern was a reverse "J" shaped curve, with mean number of traits declining from younger to older groups and a slight upturn in the oldest age group (60 years plus). Women aged 31 to 40 years had a higher mean number of traits than their male counterparts, with a corresponding increase in impairment. The highest levels of personality traits in men were found at ages 18 to 30, while in women the 31 to 40 year group was highest.     

Psychotic reactivity in borderline personality disorder

Glaser J‐P, Van Os J, Thewissen V, Myin‐Germeys I. Psychotic reactivity in borderline personality disorder. Objective: To investigate the stress relatedness and paranoia specificity of psychosis in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Method: Fifty‐six borderline patients, 38 patients with cluster C personality disorder, 81 patients with psychotic disorder and 49 healthy controls were studied with the experience sampling method (a structured diary technique) to assess: i) appraised subjective stress and ii) intensity of psychotic experiences. Results: All patient groups experienced significantly more increases in psychotic experiences in relation to daily life stress than healthy controls, borderline patients displaying the strongest reactivity. Borderline patients, moreover, reported significantly more hallucinatory reactivity than healthy controls and subjects with cluster C personality disorder. Paranoid reactivity to daily life stress did not differ between the patient groups. Conclusion: These results are the first to ecologically validate stress‐related psychosis in BPD. However, psychotic reactivity was not limited to expression of paranoia but involved a broader range of psychotic experiences including hallucinations.     

The experience of borderline phenomena through cinema: Guentin Tarantino's Reservoir dogs,true romance,and pulp fiction

The experience of many patients with borderline personality is intense and kaleidoscopic. These qualities may be represented in film in ways that reflect and convey their essential features that are less readily captured in words. Quentin Tarantino has produced a trilogy of films that bring to light and to life the borderline experience. We use these movies to illustrate and discuss five key borderline themes: the fluid nature of drive derivatives, the discontinuous experience of time and space, the coniflicted search for an idealized parent, antisocial distortions of the superego, and the organizing and stabilizing function of a central romantic fantasy.     

Schema modes and childhood abuse in borderline and antisocial personality disorders

Complex personality disorders (PDs) have been hypothesized to be characterized by alternating states of thinking, feeling and behavior, the so-called schema modes (Young, Klosko, & Weishaar (2003). Schema therapy: A practioner's guide. New York: Guilford). The present study tested the applicability of this model to borderline personality disorders (BPD) and antisocial personality disorders (APD), and related it to a presumed common etiological factor, childhood trauma. Sixteen patients with BPD, 16 patients with APD and 16 nonpatient controls (all 50% of both sexes) completed a Schema Mode Questionnaire assessing cognitions, feelings and behaviors characteristic of six schema modes. Participants were interviewed to retrace abusive sexual, physical and emotional events before the age of 18. BPD as well as APD participants were characterized by four maladaptive modes (Detached Protector, Punitive Parent, Abandoned/Abused Child and Angry Child). APD displayed most characteristics of the Bully/Attack mode, though not significantly different from BPD. The Healthy Adult mode was of low presence in BPD and of high presence in APD and the nonpatients. Frequency and severity of the three kinds of abuse were equally high in both PD groups, and significantly higher than in nonpatients.     

The validity of DSM-III borderline personality disorder. A phenomenologic, family history, treatment response, and long-term follow-up study

To test the validity of the DSM-III diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD), we examined the phenomenology, family history, treatment response, and four-to-seven-year long-term outcome of a cohort of 33 patients meeting DSM-III criteria for BPD. We found that (1) BPD could be distinguished readily from DSM-III schizophrenia; (2) BPD did not appear to represent "borderline affective disorder," although many patients displayed BPD and major affective disorder concomitantly; and (3) BPD could not be distinguished on any of the indices from histrionic and antisocial personality disorders.     

A twin study of personality disorders

No twin study has previously investigated the whole range of personality disorders (PDs) recorded by interviews. Based on twin and patient registries, 92 monozygotic (MZ) and 129 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs were interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Personality Disorders (SCID-II). Observed prevalence rates from a normal population study of more than 2,000 individuals were used in combination with data from the present study to generate statistics assumed to be valid for a normal twin population, and these statistics were used for structural equation modeling. The best-fitting models had a heritability of .60 for PDs generally, .37 for the eccentric (A) cluster, .60 for the emotional (B) cluster, and .62 for the fearful (C) cluster. Among the specific PDs, the heritability appeared to be .79 for narcissistic, .78 for obsessive-compulsive, .69 for borderline, .67 for histrionic, .61 for schizotypal, .57 for dependent, .54 for self-defeating, .29 for schizoid, .28 for paranoid, and .28 for avoidant PDs. The best-fitting models never included shared-in-families environmental effects. However, a model with only shared familial and unique environmental effects could not be ruled out for dependent PD. Shared familial environmental effects may also influence the development of any PD and borderline PD. Passive-aggressive PD did not seem to be affected by genes or family environment at all. The low occurrence of antisocial PD in the twin sample precluded any model for this disorder. PDs seem to be more strongly influenced by genetic effects than almost any axis I disorder, and more than most broad personality dimensions. However, we observed a large variation in heritability among the different PDs, probably partly because of a moderate sample size and low prevalence of the specific disorders.     

Impulse control and affect regulation in personality disorders

In borderline and antisocial personality disorder there is a close interaction between affect dysregulation and impulse control disorder. Different approaches are presented that focus on affective responses to experimental stimuli in these personality disorders. Results suggest that in borderline personality disorder intense emotional responses occur in the context of specific stressors, in particular fear of being abandoned. Evidence for a general emotional hyperreactivity was not found; on the contrary, female borderline subjects rather showed reduced emotional arousal. Regarding the psychopathic subtype of antisocial personality disorder, results provided strong support for the theory of emotional detachment, which may predispose to violence through a lack of feeling of fear or also of compassion which could counteract violent impulses. Consequences for psychotherapy in BPD are considered.     

海洛因依赖与人格障碍共病调查

目的：调查海洛因依赖者的人格障碍共病状况。方法：采用美国精神障碍诊断与统计手册第4版（DSM-Ⅳ）系统轴Ⅱ人格障碍访谈问卷（SCID-II）（第2版）对90例海洛因依赖者进行评定及相关统计分析。结果：79例（87.8%）符合至少一种人格障碍,常见的为偏执型、强迫型、反社会型、未加标明组（被动攻击型及抑郁型）、边缘型、回避型、自恋型等,人均患2.5种人格障碍。以戏剧化-情绪组人格障碍最常见。结论：在海洛因依赖者中人格障碍共病现象相当普遍。