Peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors in anxiety disorders.

Peripheral benzodiazepine receptors (pBDZr) were analyzed in lymphocyte membranes from patients with anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), n = 15; panic disorder (PD), n = 10; obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), n = 18), other mental disorders (n = 40) and 50 healthy controls, by the specific binding of 3H-PK11195. The number of binding sites (Bmax) was significantly decreased in groups with both GAD and OCD as compared with age-matched controls, by 45% and 25% respectively, whereas the binding affinity (Kd) was the same in all disorder and control groups. Conversely, no changes in binding capacity was observed in the other disorder groups and particularly in the one with PD. The abnormality in pBDZr observed in patients with GAD was restored to a normal value after long-term treatment with 2'-chloro-N-desmethyldiazepam, which also coincided with their recovery from anxiety. Our data suggest that the clinical heterogeneity in anxiety disorders might be related to different biological mechanisms and that lymphocyte pBDZr might be useful in demonstrating these differences.     

Are responsibility beliefs inflated in non-checking OCD patients?

Cognitive models of obsessive-compulsive disorder [e.g., Salkovskis, P. M. (1999). Understanding and treating obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37(Suppl. 1), S29-S52] propose a key role for inflated responsibility for harm. Studies evaluating such beliefs typically use heterogeneous samples including several OCD subtypes. A recent investigation by Foa et al. [Foa, E. B., Sacks, M. B., Tolin, D. F., Prezworski, A., & Amir, N. (2002). Inflated perception of responsibility for harm in OCD patients with and without checking compulsions: a replication and extension. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 16(4), 443-453] found responsibility to be elevated in OC checkers, but not in non-checking OCD patients, relative to non-anxious controls. In that study, the responsibility measure included checking scenarios, thus leaving the possibility that these findings may have been due to criterion contamination. The present study investigated responsibility beliefs in OC checkers (n=39) and non-checkers (n=20), anxious controls (n=22), and non-clinical controls (n=69), using measures of responsibility which do not have item overlap with OCD symptoms. Results indicated that both OC groups showed greater responsibility beliefs relative to anxious and non-anxious controls. OC checkers endorsed greater responsibility appraisals than anxious and non-clinical control groups. In contrast, non-checking OCs reported greater responsibility appraisals than non-clinical controls, but did not differ from anxious controls and OC checkers. Results are discussed in the context of the cognitive model of OCD.     

Anger problems across the anxiety disorders: findings from a population-based study

Background: Previous research examining anger problems among the anxiety disorders has been limited by the use of nonrepresentative samples, univariate analyses, as well as low sample size. The current study examined the association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic disorder (PD), social anxiety disorder, specific phobia (SP), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and anger experience and expression. We hypothesized that greater anger experience and expression would be associated with all anxiety disorders, but that it would be most consistently associated with PTSD and PD diagnoses, and that these relationships would remain significant after controlling for demographics (i.e. age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, and income) and comorbid disorders. Methods: Participants included 5,692 (54% female) adults from the National Comorbidity Survey—Replication, a large, nationally representative survey. Results: Our data suggest that there are unique relationships between multiple anxiety disorders and various indices of anger experience and expression that are not better accounted for by psychiatric comorbidity. Contrary to predictions, PTSD and PD were not consistently associated with anger experience and expression. Conclusions: Overall, these findings lend support to the emerging literature demonstrating a potentially important relationship between anxiety disorders and anger problems. Depression and Anxiety, 2011.© 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Social anxiety and obsessive-compulsive spectra: validation of the SHY-SR and the OBS-SR among the Spanish population

The study focuses on the adaptation into Spanish and on the validation of the Social Phobia Spectrum Self-Report (SHY-SR) and the Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Self-Report (OBS-SR). The questionnaires were designed to measure a broad range of subtle and atypical features related to social anxiety and obsessive-compulsive phenomenology, respectively. Sixty-two outpatients who met DSM-IV criteria for social phobia (SP, n = 20), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD, n = 22) and major depression (MD, n = 20), and 25 non-clinical subjects participated. The spectra questionnaires were administered along with the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale and the Maudsley Obsessional Compulsive Inventory. The instruments proved to have satisfactory internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Convergent validity with other instruments was excellent for the SHY-SR and moderate for the OBS-SR. Both questionnaires were able to detect differences between patients with the disorder of interest (SP in the case of the SHY-SR scores and OCD in the case of the OBS-SR scores) and either normal controls or patients with MD. Receiver-Operating Characteristic Curve analyses were conducted to determine cut-off values in the Spanish versions of the questionnaires denoting the presence of significant SP and OCD symptomatology. Are the questionnaires available on the website?     

The Ability of the Symptom Checklist SCL-90 to Differentiate Various Anxiety and Depressive Disorders

We studied the use of the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) to differentiate between specific anxiety and depressive disorders and/or their symptoms in 280 patients with 6 DSM-III-R diagnoses: major depression (MD), panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia (SP), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and mixed anxiety and depression (MAD). Using a comparison group, we found specific patterns for some of the diagnostic categories. Both the MD and MAD subjects had significantly high paranoid ideation, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, and psychoticism, as well as high depression subscale scores; those with PD and GAD has the highest anxiety and somatization scores; and those with SP or OCD had a mixed pattern. When ranking the severity of psychopathology, the disorders ordered from most to least were MAD, MD, PD, GAD, SP, and OCD. Subsyndromal levels of symptoms frequently were associated with the various conditions. Use of the SCL-90 subscale helps to enlarge our understanding of the various anxiety and depressive disorders.     

Serotonin receptor sensitivity and aggression

This study investigated the relationship between increased serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5HT) receptor sensitivity and human aggression. A low oral dose of meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (MCPP), a postsynaptic 5HT receptor agonist, was administered in a placebo-controlled design to depressed (n = 22) and panic disorder (n = 20) patients classified with or without signs of outwardly directed aggression, patients with a history of suicide attempts (inwardly directed aggression) (n = 11), and normal controls (n = 19). Hormones under 5HT control were measured at 30-min intervals. Results were as follows: (1) MCPP did not induce or reduce anger, (2) patients with outwardly directed aggression did not have significantly greater MCPP-induced cortisol or prolactin release than did patients without signs of outwardly directed aggression, (3) patients with a history of suicide attempts did not have significantly greater MCPP-induced cortisol or prolactin release than did normal controls, and (4) MCPP-induced hormone release was unrelated to measures of aggression.     

Separation anxiety disorder in OCD

Background: A history of separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is frequently reported by patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). The purpose of this study was to determine if there are clinical differences between OCD‐affected individuals with, versus without, a history of SAD. Methods: Using data collected during the OCD Collaborative Genetic Study, we studied 470 adult OCD participants; 80 had a history of SAD, whereas 390 did not. These two groups were compared as to onset and severity of OCD, lifetime prevalence of Axis I disorders, and number of personality disorder traits. Results: OCD participants with a history of SAD were significantly younger than the non‐SAD group (mean, 34.2 versus 42.2 years; P<.001). They had an earlier age of onset of OCD symptoms (mean, 8.0 versus 10.5 years; P<.003) and more severe OCD, as measured by the Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (mean, 27.5 versus 25.0; P<.005). In addition, those with a history of SAD had a significantly greater lifetime prevalence of agoraphobia (odds ratio (OR) = 2.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.4–4.6, P<.003), panic disorder (OR = 1.84, CI = 1.03–3.3 P<.04), social phobia (OR = 1.69, CI 1.01–2.8, P<.048), after adjusting for age at interview, age at onset of OCD, and OCD severity in logistic regression models. There was a strong relationship between the number of dependent personality disorder traits and SAD (adjusted OR = 1.42, CI = 1.2–1.6, P<.001). Conclusions: A history of SAD is associated with anxiety disorders and dependent personality disorder traits in individuals with OCD. Depression and Anxiety 28:256–262, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Face-emotion processing in offspring at risk for panic disorder

OBJECTIVE: Panic disorder (PD) has been linked to perturbed processing of threats. This study tested the hypotheses that offspring of parents with PD and offspring with anxiety disorders display relatively greater sensitivity and attention allocation to fear provocation. METHOD: Offspring of adults with PD, major depressive disorder (MDD), or no disorder (ages 9-19) viewed computer-presented face photographs depicting angry, fearful, and happy faces. Offspring rated (1) subjectively experienced fear level, (2) how hostile the face appeared, and (3) nose width. Attention allocation was indexed by latency to perform ratings. RESULTS: Compared with offspring of parents without PD (n = 79), offspring of PD parents (n = 65) reported significantly more fear and had slower reaction times to rate fear, controlling for ongoing anxiety disorder in the offspring. Offspring with an anxiety disorder (n = 65) reported significantly more fear than offspring without an anxiety disorder but not when parental PD was controlled. Social phobia but no other anxiety disorder in offspring was associated with slower reaction times for fear ratings (but not greater fear ratings). Parental PD and offspring social phobia independently predicted slower reaction time. CONCLUSIONS: Results support an association between parental PD and offspring responses to fear provocation. Social phobia in children may have a specific relationship to allocation of attention to subjective anxiety during face viewing.     

Gender-related differences among Turkish patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

The purpose of the present study was to investigate gender-related sociodemographic and clinical differences among Turkish patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). A total of 169 patients diagnosed with OCD by DSM-III-R or DSM-IV criteria were included in this study. Male (n = 73) and female (n = 96) OCD patients were compared with respect to the demographic variables and the scores obtained from the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HRSA), the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) and the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). We found a significantly earlier age at onset in male patients. No significant difference in terms of HARS, HDRS, and Y-BOCS scores was detected between the two groups. We observed a significantly higher frequency of contamination obsessions in females, and that of aggression and sexual obsessions in males. There was no significant difference in terms of the frequency of compulsions between the two groups. We also found that compulsion severity on obsessions/compulsions was higher in females and comorbidity rates of social phobia and schizophrenia were higher in males. Considering our results in combination with those of other studies, similarities rather than differences in gender-related sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of OCD patients across different populations seem to be present.     

Interpretation of positive social events in social phobia: An examination of cognitive correlates and diagnostic distinction

Research suggests that individuals with social phobia fear positive social events and interpret them in a negative fashion that serves to maintain anxiety. To better elucidate the nature and role of interpretation of positive events in social phobia, two studies were conducted. Study 1 examined symptom and cognitive correlates of negative interpretation of positive social events. Participants with DSM-IV diagnosed generalized social phobia (GSP) completed a measure of interpretation of positive social events (IPES) in relation to a range of symptom and cognition measures of social anxiety. Results indicated that perfectionism and a measure tapping interpersonal fears associated with social anxiety were significantly predictive of IPES scores. Study 2 examined IPES scores in clinical participants with GSP, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder with or without agoraphobia (PD/A), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and non-anxious controls. Results indicated that individuals with GSP scored higher on the IPES than those with PD/A, GAD and controls, but did not differ from OCD. These findings suggest that negative interpretation of positive events is a distinct and characteristic feature of social phobia with significant associations with other cognitive risk factors for the disorder.     

Emotion recognition patterns in patients with panic disorder

Recognition of facially expressed emotions is essential in social interaction. For patients with social phobia, general anxiety disorders, and comorbid anxiety, deficits in their emotion recognition and specific biases have already been reported. This is the first study to investigate facial emotion recognition patterns in patients with panic disorder [PD]. We assumed a general performance deficit in patients with PD. Exploratory analyses should have revealed recognition patterns and specific types of errors. Additionally, we checked the influence of depression and anxiety symptoms, per se, on recognition. A carefully selected group of 37 patients with PD without agoraphobia [DSM-IV 300.01] and no psychiatric comorbidity was compared to 43 controls matched for age and sex. We assessed emotion recognition with the FEEL Test [Facially Expressed Emotion Labeling], using faces displaying fear, anger, sadness, happiness, disgust, and anger. Recognition of emotions in patients with PD was significantly worse than that of controls, specifically, sadness and anger. They also showed a tendency to interpret nonanger emotions as anger. Interestingly, in patients with PD, depressive symptoms were more strongly related to emotion recognition than were anxiety symptoms, and recognition differences between patients and controls disappeared when we controlled for depression. This effect is discussed in the context of previous studies reporting emotion recognition deficits of depressed patients.     

Is there a relationship between Parkinson's disease and obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have been reported in Parkinson's disease (PD). This is interpreted as an indirect evidence for the involvement of frontobasal ganglia circuitry in OCD. However, the evidence for relationship between the OC symptoms and PD is inconsistent. This study systematically assessed OC symptoms and OCD in non-demented idiopathic PD patients (n=69) and matched medically ill controls (n=69). The cases did not differ from controls with respect to OC symptoms, clinical and subclinical OCD, tics and other psychiatric diagnoses. There was no relationship between severity of PD and OC symptoms. The findings do not support relationship between OCD and PD. While the findings of this study do not in any way rule out the involvement of frontobasal ganglia circuitry in OCD, it is speculated that the involvement of different circuitry in the pathophysiology of OCD and PD explain the lack of association between PD and OCD.     

Validation of a scale for responsibility (Salkovskis Responsibility Scale)

Appraisal of inflated responsibility for harm is the cornerstone of Salkovskis's cognitive theory for obsessive compulsive disorder. The aim of our study is to present the validation study of the French translation of the R scale. The present study compared 50 subjects with obsessive compulsive disorder, 37 patients suffering from social phobia and 183 control subjects on a responsibility questionnaire (R scale). The cognitive hypothesis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) specifies two levels of responsibility-related cognitions: responsibility assumptions (attitudes) and responsibility appraisals (interpretations). The R scale evaluates the responsibility assumptions. Such attitudes should reflect the more generalized tendency to assume responsibility in a given situation, particularly situations involving intrusions and doubts. It is possible that such assumptions may be less specific to OCD. The inclusion of social phobia subjects in the present study allows evaluation of the specificity of any findings to OCD. Patients were diagnosed and classified according DSM IV criteria. The control subjects were taken in the general population. No formal interview was conducted. The three groups were compared for sex, age and educational level. Before treatment, all the participants filled in the Responsibility Scale of Salkovskis (27 items), the Beck Depression Inventory (21 items), the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Bouvard's Obsessive Compulsive Thoughts Checklist. The results indicate that the two anxious groups scored significantly higher than the control group on Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories but no significant difference was observed between the two anxious groups. OCD patients scored significantly higher than both social phobic patients and control subjects on the Obsessive Compulsive Thoughts Checklist (OCTC). The social phobic group scored this checklist significantly higher than the control group. In sum, the three groups were different on obsessive compulsive thoughts. On the washing subscale of the Obsessive Compulsive Thoughts Checklist, the OCD patients differed significantly from the control group and the social phobia patients. No difference was observed between the social phobia subjects and the control group. On the two other subscales of the OCTC, the checking and the responsibility scales, the three groups were different: OCD patients scored significantly higher than both social phobic patients and control subjects; the social phobic patients scored higher than the control group. Results support the reliability (test retest) and the internal consistency of the questionnaire. Patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and social phobia subjects had significantly elevated score on the total scale compared to control subjects. However social phobia patients did not differ from patients with OCD. So, the responsibility for harm, evaluated by the R-scale seems not to be specific of OCD. This finding does not support the results of two studies (28, 30). But these two studies compared OCD patients with an anxious group including panic disorder with agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder and social phobia. The correlations with a measure of OCD symptoms were higher than the correlations with anxiety and depression. Finally, the factor structure was only studied on the control group. The exploratory factor analysis indicates that the R scale is a two-dimensional scale, reflecting a need to prevent risks and the belief that one has power to harm. The first dimension is less specific to the pathology than the second. Only patients with OCD had significantly elevated score on the "need to prevent risks" compared to the non-clinical group. The two anxious groups differed on "the belief that one has power to harm" from the non-clinical group but social phobia patients did not differ from patients with OCD. In sum, the two subscales of the R scale did not discriminate OCD patients and social phobic subjects. Further research is needed to replicate the present findings and to confirm the two dimensions of the R scale. Overall, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that responsibility beliefs are important in the experience of obsessional problems. However, responsibility assumptions such as the belief that one has the power to harm are shared with social phobia.     

Anxiety and depressive disorders and the five-factor model of personality: a higher- and lower-order personality trait investigation in a community sample

We describe in detail normal personality traits in persons with psychiatrist-ascertained anxiety and depressive disorders in a general population sample. We investigated Revised NEO Personality Inventory traits in 731 community subjects examined by psychiatrists with the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry. All of the lifetime disorders of interest (simple phobia, social phobia, agoraphobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder (MDD), and dysthymia) were associated with high neuroticism. Social phobia, agoraphobia, and dysthymia were associated with low extraversion, and OCD was associated with high openness to experience. In addition, lower-order facets of extraversion (E), openness (O), agreeableness (A), and conscientiousness (C) were associated with certain disorders (specifically, low assertiveness (E) and high openness to feelings (O) with MDD, low trust (A) with social phobia and agoraphobia, low self-discipline (C) with several of the disorders, and low competence and achievement striving (C) with social phobia). Neuroticism in particular was related to acuity of disorder. Longitudinal study is necessary to differentiate state versus pathoplastic effects.     

An explorative study on metacognition in obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic disorder

ObjectiveTo test the hypothesis that dysfunctional metacognitions might be a general vulnerability factor for anxiety disorder, metacognitive beliefs among patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), patients with panic disorder (PD), and healthy subjects (HS) were studied. Correlations between metacognitive beliefs, OCD, and PD symptoms were also investigated.MethodsPatients with OCD (n = 114), patients with PD (n = 119), and HS (n = 101) were assessed with the Metacognition Questionnaire (MCQ).ResultsPatients with OCD and those with PD scored significantly higher than HS on the MCQ in 2 dimensions: negative beliefs about worry concerning uncontrollability and danger as well as beliefs about the need to control thoughts dimensions. No difference in MCQ scores was observed between the OCD and PD groups. The former 2 MCQ dimensions were positively correlated with the degree of indecisiveness in patients with OCD, whereas the MCQ negative beliefs about worry positively correlated with the average intensity of anticipatory anxiety in patients with PD.ConclusionsThe presence of dysfunctional metacognitions in both patients with OCD and those with PD suggests that such beliefs can represent not only generic vulnerability factors for anxiety disorders but also elements that contribute to maintaining the disorder, as evidenced by their associations with aspects of OCD and PD symptoms.     

Mental representation of observable attributes in people with social phobia

Cognitive models of social phobia stress the importance of a negatively biased mental representation of ones social performance and appearance in maintenance of the disorder. People with social phobia (N=57) and non-clinical controls (N=41) engaged in a public speech and also completed several measures of perceived attributes including speech performance, physical attractiveness, and personal performance ability in several interpersonal areas. Independent observers also rated participants' speech performance and physical attractiveness. Relative to observers' ratings, individuals with social phobia reported significantly lower quality of speech performance and physical attractiveness than did non-clinical individuals. People with social phobia also reported significantly lower perceived ability in other areas of performance and appearance. These data held even after statistically controlling for levels of depression.     

Predominance of anger in depressive disorders compared with anxiety disorders and somatoform disorders

OBJECTIVE: The object of this study was to make a comparison regarding various dimensions of anger between depressive disorder and anxiety disorder or somatoform disorder. METHOD: The subjects included 73 patients with depressive disorders, 67 patients with anxiety disorders, 47 patients with somatoform disorders, and 215 healthy controls (diagnoses made according to DSM-IV criteria). Anger measures--the Anger Expression Scale, the hostility subscale of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), and the anger and aggression subscales of the Stress Response Inventory--were used to assess the anger levels. The severity of depression, anxiety, phobia, and somatization was assessed using the SCL-90-R. RESULTS: The depressive disorder group showed significantly higher levels of anger on the Stress Response Inventory than the anxiety disorder, somatoform disorder, and control groups (p < .05). The depressive disorder group scored significantly higher on the anger-out and anger-total subscales of the Anger Expression Scale than the somatoform disorder group (p < .05). On the SCL-90-R hostility subscale, the depressive disorder group also scored significantly higher than the anxiety disorder group (p < .05). Within the depressive disorder group, the severity of depression was significantly positively correlated with the anger-out score (r = 0.49, p < .001), whereas, in the somatoform and anxiety disorder groups, the severity of depression was significantly positively correlated with the anger-in score (somatoform disorder: r = 0.51, p < .001; anxiety disorder: r = 0.57, p < .001). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that depressive disorder patients are more likely to have anger than anxiety disorder or somatoform disorder patients and that depressive disorder may be more relevant to anger expression than somatoform disorder.     

Post-traumatic stress disorder among adolescents with bipolar disorder and its relationship to suicidality

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this cross-sectional pilot study were to ascertain the rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among adolescents with bipolar disorder (BPD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) relative to a comparison group comprised of non-affectively ill patients, and to determine whether PTSD is related to suicidal ideation and attempts. The impetus for the study was born of clinical impressions derived in the course of routine clinical practice. METHODS: Patients were screened by a single interviewer for BPD, MDD and PTSD, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and social phobia using the apposite modules from the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) and histories of suicidal ideation and attempts. The data were subjected to analysis using a logistic regression model. RESULTS: The database included 34 patients with BPD, 79 with MDD and 26 with a non-affective disorder. The risk for PTSD for a patient with BPD significantly exceeded that for a patient with MDD [odds ratio (OR) = 4.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.9-12.2, p = 0.001]. Patients with PTSD had an insignificantly increased risk for suicidal ideation (OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 0.9-8.9, p = 0.069), and a 4.5-fold significantly increased risk of having had a suicide attempt (OR = 4.5, 95% CI = 1.7-11.7, p = 0.002). The relationship between PTSD and suicide attempts remained significant even after controlling for the confounding effects of concurrent panic disorder, OCD and social phobia (OR = 3.4, 95% CI = 1.1-10.0, p = 0.023). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with BPD have a greater risk for PTSD than those with MDD. Post-traumatic stress disorder is significantly related to history of suicide attempts.     

Differential DSM-III psychiatric disorder prevalence profiles in dystonia and Parkinson's disease

The authors investigated the prevalence of DIS-ascertained DSM-III psychiatric disorders occurring in 28 patients with dystonia and 28 patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD). In patients with dystonia, lifetime prevalences of major depression (25.0%), bipolar disorder (7.1%), atypical bipolar disorder (7.1%), social phobia (17.9%), and generalized anxiety disorder (25.0%) were significantly more common than in epidemiologic catchment area (ECA) study population controls (p < 0.005). Social phobia and generalized anxiety disorder preceded dystonia (primary), while bipolar disorder developed after dystonia onset (secondary). In PD patients, the lifetime prevalence of simple phobia (35.7%, p < 0.0001) and atypical depression (21.4%) were significantly more common. Parkinson's Disease was associated with primary simple phobia and secondary atypical depression. These findings are considered in light of previous results and in terms of the differences in pallidothalamic physiologies in dystonia and PD. These data suggest distinctive profiles of psychiatric disorders in dystonia and PD.     

Personality dimensions in pathological gambling disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

This study was conducted to investigate the similarities and differences in the personality dimensions of patients with pathological gambling disorder (PGD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Thirty-three subjects with PGD, 41 with OCD and 40 normal controls were assessed with the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ), which assesses three personality dimensions: novelty seeking, reward dependence, and harm avoidance. Compared with OCD subjects, PGD subjects expressed significantly greater novelty seeking, impulsiveness, and extravagance. The PGD subjects also reported significantly less anticipatory worry, fear of uncertainty, and harm avoidance than the OCD subjects. Compared with controls, the PGD subjects expressed significantly greater novelty seeking, impulsiveness, and extravagance. These results suggest that the personality dimensions of pathological gamblers may differ significantly from both those of OCD patients and normal controls.