Frequency of DSM-III personality disorders in patients with panic disorder: comparison with psychiatric and normal control subjects

Three clinical populations--panic disorder (n = 88), randomly selected outpatients (n = 82), and normal control subjects (n = 40)--were compared on three standardized DSM-III personality disorder instruments, the Structured Interview for DSM-III Personality Disorders (SIDP), the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI), and the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ). Significant differences were consistently found in presence of "any" personality disorder and DSM-III Cluster C (there were always more disorders in the outpatients). Logistic regression analysis revealed the important determinants predicting personality disorders, and therefore of differences between groups, were state depression, age, lifetime history of alcohol abuse, and presence of panic disorder.