Relationship between perfectionism,personality disorders and agoraphobia in patients with panic disorder

OBJECTIVE: In earlier reports, we found that perfectionism might be involved in the development and/or maintenance of agoraphobia in panic disorder. The present report extends this work by examining the relationship between perfectionism and comorbidity with personality disorders in panic disorder patients with agoraphobia (PDA) and those without agoraphobia (PD). METHOD: We examined comorbidity of personality disorders by Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Personality Disorders (SCID-II) and assessed perfectionism using multidimensional perfectionism scale in 56 PDA and 42 PD patients. RESULTS: The PDA group met criteria for at least one personality disorder significantly more often than the PD group. With stepwise regression analyses, avoidant and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders emerged as significant indicators of perfectionism in patients with panic disorder. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that perfectionism in panic disorder patients may be more common in those with comorbid personality disorders, and may be an important target for preventive and therapeutic efforts.