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Suicide among subjects with personality disorders.

OBJECTIVE: There have been few psychological autopsy studies of suicide among individuals with personality disorders. The possible specificity of characteristics of suicide among such individuals has been little investigated. METHOD: A random sample of 229 subjects who committed suicide, representing all suicide victims in Finland within a 12-month period, were comprehensively examined by using the psychological autopsy method and were diagnosed according to DSM-III-R criteria. Within this random sample the authors investigated all subjects with axis II personality disorders (N = 67) and divided them into clusters B (N = 43), C (N = 23), and A (N = 1). Individuals with clusters B and C personality disorders were separately compared with sex- and age-matched suicide victims without personality disorder, in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, comorbid axis I and III syndromes, treatment histories, previous suicide attempts, communication of suicide intent, and suicide methods. RESULTS: All suicide victims with a personality disorder received at least one axis I diagnosis. In 95% this included a depressive syndrome, a psychoactive substance use disorder, or both. Individuals with cluster B personality disorders were more likely than comparison subjects to have psychoactive substance use disorders (79% versus 40%) and previous nonfatal suicide attempts (70% versus 37%) and were less likely to have axis III physical disorders (29% versus 50%). Subjects with cluster C personality disorders were not found to differ from the control subjects in any of the variables examined. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide victims with personality disorders were almost always found to have had current depressive syndromes, psychoactive substance use disorders, or both. Suicide victims with cluster B personality disorders differed from other suicide victims in several characteristics, while those with cluster C personality disorders did not.

Adult↗

Childhood antecedents of adolescent personality disorders.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the childhood antecedents of personality disorders that are diagnosed in adolescence. METHOD: A randomly selected community sample of 641 youths was assessed initially in childhood and followed longitudinally over 10 years. Childhood behavior ratings were based on maternal report; diagnoses of adolescent personality disorders were based on data obtained from both maternal and youth informants. Four composite measures of childhood behavior problems were used: conduct problems, depressive symptoms, anxiety/fear, and immaturity. Adolescent personality disorders were considered present only if the disorders persisted over a 2-year period. For all analyses, personality disorders were grouped into the three clusters (A, B, and C) of DSM-III-R. RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses indicated that all four of the putative childhood antecedents were associated with greater odds of an adolescent personality disorder 10 years later. Childhood conduct problems remained an independent predictor of personality disorders in all three clusters, even when other childhood problems were included in the same regression model. Additionally, depressive symptoms emerged as an independent predictor of cluster A personality disorders in boys, while immaturity was an independent predictor of cluster B personality disorders in girls. No moderating effects of age at time of childhood assessment were found. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the view that personality disorders can be traced to childhood emotional and behavioral disturbances and suggest that these problems have both general and specific relationships to adolescent personality functioning.

Adolescent↗

Transitional objects and borderline personality disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The relationship of possession of transitional objects to the borderline personality disorder diagnosis was explored in a psychiatric inpatient setting. It was hypothesized that a greater proportion of inpatients who bring objects of special meaning with them to the hospital have borderline personality disorder. METHOD: Psychiatric inpatients (N = 146) were administered a semistructured interview to determine the presence of special (i.e., transitional) objects in the hospital, at home, or during childhood. Borderline personality disorder was determined by criteria on a DSM-III-R borderline personality disorder checklist and by DSM-III-R discharge diagnosis. RESULTS: Significantly more patients who endorsed having transitional objects in the hospital or at home had the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive power, and negative predictive power of the possession of the transitional object for the borderline personality disorder diagnosis were calculated. Specificity was higher than sensitivity, and negative predictive power was higher than positive predictive power in each instance. While these results suggest that absence of a transitional object is more likely to be associated with absence of borderline personality disorder than the presence of a transitional object is with the presence of borderline personality disorder, the sensitivity of a transitional object during adulthood to predict a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder was 63%, and the positive predictive power was 45%. CONCLUSIONS: A transitional object brought to the hospital may help remind the inpatient with borderline personality disorder of home or provide soothing during separation from home. The persistence of transitional objects into adulthood may inform the therapist of possible transference paradigms that may develop in treatment.

Adolescent↗

Characteristics of suicide attempts of patients with major depressive episode and borderline personality disorder: a comparative study.

OBJECTIVE: Suicidal behavior is highly prevalent in borderline personality disorder and major depressive episode, although the characteristics of suicide attempts in the two disorders are believed to differ. Comorbidity of borderline personality disorder and major depressive episode may obscure characteristics of suicide attempts that are uniquely related to the psychopathology of each disorder. We compared suicidal behavior in patients with borderline personality disorder, major depressive episode, and borderline personality disorder plus major depressive episode to determine whether characteristics of suicide attempts differed between groups and if aspects of core psychopathology predicted specific attempt characteristics. METHOD: Eighty-one inpatients with borderline personality disorder, including 49 patients with borderline personality disorder plus major depressive episode, were compared to 77 inpatients with major depressive episode alone on measures of depressed mood, hopelessness, impulsive aggression, and suicidal behavior, including lifetime number of attempts, degree of lethal intent, objective planning, medical damage, and degree of violence of suicide methods. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in the characteristics of suicide attempts between patients with borderline personality disorder and those with major depressive episode. However, patients with both disorders had the greatest number of suicide attempts and the highest level of objective planning. An increase in either impulsive aggression or hopelessness or a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder predicted a greater number of attempts. Hopelessness predicted lethal intent in all three groups and predicted objective planning in the group with both disorders. Medical damage resulting from the most serious lifetime suicide attempt was predicted by number of attempts. CONCLUSIONS: Comorbidity of borderline personality disorder with major depressive episode increases the number and seriousness of suicide attempts. Hopelessness and impulsive aggression independently increase the risk of suicidal behavior in patients with borderline personality disorder and in patients with major depressive episode.

Adolescent↗

Is comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder related to greater pathology and impairment?

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined whether patients with comorbid borderline personality disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a more severe clinical profile than patients with either disorder without the other. METHOD: Outpatients with borderline personality disorder without PTSD (N=101), PTSD without borderline personality disorder (N=121), comorbid borderline personality disorder and PTSD (N=48), and major depression without PTSD or borderline personality disorder (N=469) were assessed with structured interviews for psychiatric disorders and for degree of impairment. RESULTS: Outpatients with diagnoses of comorbid borderline personality disorder and PTSD were not significantly different from outpatients with borderline personality disorder without PTSD, PTSD without borderline personality disorder, or major depression without PTSD or borderline personality disorder in severity of PTSD-related symptoms, borderline-related traits, or impairment. CONCLUSIONS: The additional diagnosis of PTSD or borderline personality disorder does little to augment the pathology or dysfunction of patients who have either disorder without the other.

Adult↗

Personality disorders and unmet needs among psychiatric inpatients.

OBJECTIVE: This study sought to examine the association between unmet need and personality disorders in a sample of psychiatric inpatients. The authors tested the hypothesis that the presence of a personality disorder would be independently associated with a significantly greater number of unmet needs. METHODS: A total of 153 psychiatric inpatients from four acute hospital wards serving an inner-city borough in London, United Kingdom, received standardized assessments of need and personality disorder by use of the Camberwell Assessment of Need Short Assessment Schedule and Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders. RESULTS: Fifty-four percent of the sample had a personality disorder. The presence of a personality disorder was associated with greater unmet need. In multiple regression analyses, after adjustment was made for the effects of all covariates, severity of personality disorder was significantly associated with unmet need. Personality disorder was significantly associated with greater need in eight of 22 domains of need: self-care, psychotic symptoms, psychological distress, risk to self, risk to others, alcohol use, sexual expression, and budgeting. CONCLUSIONS: Personality disorder was found to be independently associated with a greater level of unmet need among psychiatric inpatients. The study highlights for the first time the importance of a comprehensive assessment of need for patients with personality disorders.

Adult↗

Suggestions for a framework for an empirically based classification of personality disorder.

BACKGROUND: The classification of personality disorder is one of the least satisfactory sections of contemporary psychiatric classification. Fundamental problems with current classifications include extensive diagnostic overlap, limited evidence of validity, and poor empirical support. METHODS: Conceptual analysis and the results of empirical studies are used to propose a framework for organizing an empirically based classification. RESULTS: First, personality disorder is a form of mental disorder and, therefore, should be classified as a single diagnostic entity on Axis I along with other mental disorders. A preliminary definition of personality disorder as a tripartite failure involving the self system, kinship relationships, and societal relationships is proposed. The evidence suggests that this definition can be translated into a reliable set of items. Second, the diagnosis of personality disorder should be separated from the assessment of clinically relevant personality traits. Given the consistent evidential support for a dimensional model of personality disorder, it is suggested that personality be coded on a set of trait dimensions selected to provide a systematic representation of the domain of behaviours represented by current diagnostic concepts. Third, given that personality traits are hierarchically organized, it is suggested that an axis for coding personality include basic or lower-order dimensions as the primary level of assessment and a few higher-order patterns to summarize information for some purposes. CONCLUSION: A preliminary list of 16 basic dispositional traits is proposed to describe the more specific components of personality disorder based, in part, on the convergence of evidence across studies: anxiousness, affective lability, callousness, cognitive dysregulation, compulsivity, conduct problems, insecure attachment, intimacy avoidance, narcissism, oppositionality, rejection, restricted expression, social avoidance, stimulus seeking, submissiveness, and suspiciousness. Three higher-order patterns were proposed: emotional dysregulation, dissocial behaviour, and inhibitedness, which may occur independently or in combination.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

Prevalence of personality disorders in community-living elderly.

There has been limited research on the prevalence of personality disorders in the aged. No studies have documented the extent of personality disorders in community-dwelling elderly with the use of a structured scale specifically designed to detect personality disorders and anchored to DSM-III-R criteria. One hundred male and 100 female community-living elderly (mean age, 72.1 years) were administered the Structured Interview for Disorders of Personality-Revised to compare prevalence rates for specific personality disorders with those of young adults (mean age, 41.7 years) and to identify demographic variables associated with personality disorders in the elderly. Results indicate a tendency toward fewer personality disorders in older than young adults, no differences in the frequency of personality disorders between male and female elderly, and significantly more prior mental health consultations in elderly with personality disorders than in elderly without these disorders. Aging processes and methodologic issues that could account for differences in personality disorder distribution between young and older adults are discussed. Recommendations for future research are outlined.

Aged↗

Economic impact of personality disorders in UK primary care attenders.

BACKGROUND: The economic impact of personality disorders on UK health services is unknown. AIMS: To test the hypothesis that people with personality disorders have higher mean health and non-health costs compared with those without personality disorders. METHOD: Prospective cohort study design. A total of 303 general practice attenders were followed-up I year after they had been assessed for the presence of personality disorders. Costs were estimated in pound sterling at 1999 price levels. RESULTS: The mean total cost for patients with personality disorders was pound sterling 3094 (s.d.=5324) compared with pound sterling 1633 (s.d.=3779) for those without personality disorders. Personality disorders were not independently associated with increased costs. Multivariate analyses identified the presence of a significant interaction between personality disorders and common mental disorders and increased total costs (coefficient=499, 95% CI 180.1-626.2, P=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Personality disorders are not independently associated with increased costs. An interaction between personality disorders and common mental disorders significantly predicts increased total costs.

Analysis of Variance↗

The cooccurrence of DSM-III-R personality disorders.

The distinction between personality disorder diagnoses is often unclear because of the frequent cooccurrence of one or more of the diagnoses. To date, studies using sample sizes large enough to evaluate the rates of cooccurrence in the less prevalent personality disorders have not been conducted. The Structured Interview for Diagnosis of Personality-Revised, a semistructured instrument designed to yield reliable personality disorder diagnoses, was used to evaluate 1116 subjects for the presence of DSM-III-R personality disorder diagnoses. Cooccurrence rates and odds ratios were calculated for each pair of diagnoses. There was a high degree of cooccurrence between the cluster A personality disorders, between the cluster C personality disorders, and between narcissistic, borderline, and histrionic disorders. In addition, there was also a high frequency of avoidant personality disorders within the cluster A personality disorder diagnoses. Possible explanations for the high degree of cooccurrence and the potential implications for the DSM-IV personality disorder diagnoses are discussed.

Adult↗

Toward an empirically based classification of personality disorder.

A framework for an empirically based classification of personality disorder is proposed that has two components: (a) a definition of personality disorder, and (b) a scheme for describing individual differences in personality disorder traits. It is suggested that the diagnosis process should begin by establishing the presence of personality disorder and then proceed to a description of the personality on a set of trait dimensions. It is argued that a definition of personality disorder should reflect an understanding of the nature of the "harmful dysfunction" implied by a diagnosis of personality disorder. With this approach, personality disorder is defined as the failure to solve life tasks involving the development of integrated representations of self and others, and the capacity for adaptive kinship and societal relationships. The second component of a classification is a system to describe individual differences. It is suggested that these should be based on taxonomies of normal and disordered traits, and that the classification incorporates both higher-order patterns and more specific basic traits. Given that personality appears to be inherited as a large number of genetic dimensions, it is suggested that the primary level for describing individual differences is that of the basic or lower-level traits rather than broader or higher-level traits used in descriptions of normal personality.

Empiricism↗

A study of temperament and personality in anorexia and bulimia nervosa.

Although temperament and personality traits could influence the development and course of eating disorders, only a few studies examined the similarities and differences in personality between anorexia and bulimia nervosa. We compared 72 patients with DSM-IV eating disorders and 30 healthy controls. Dimensions of personality and personality disorders were evaluated with the Eysenck's EPQ, Cloninger's TCI, and the SCID-II questionnaires. The rates of impulsivity and clinical features were evaluated using specific rating scales. A comorbid personality disorder was found in 61.8% of patients with eating disorder. Avoidant personality disorder appeared was relatively common in anorexia nervosa restricting type; borderline personality disorder was most frequent in bulimia nervosa and the binge eating-purging type of anorexia nervosa. From a dimensional perspective, anorexic patients presented high scores in the dimension of persistence. Higher harm avoidance and impulsivity was found in bulimic patients. The overall eating disorders group presented high scores in neuroticism and low scores in self-directedness. Eating disorder patients have heterogeneous features of temperament and personality traits. Cluster C personality disorders seem more common in anorexia nervosa restricting type and impulsive personality features are associated with bulimic symptoms. Impulsivity seems to be a key aspect of temperament of bulimic patients, whereas anorexic symptoms are linked to persistent temperament traits.

Adult↗

Major depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder revisited: longitudinal interactions.

BACKGROUND: This report investigates the longitudinal association of changes in major depressive disorder (MDD) and borderline personality disorder. METHOD: A DSM-IV-diagnosed sample of 161 patients with borderline personality disorder who have been followed with repeated measures at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months are investigated to see whether those with co-occurring MDD differ at baseline and in their course. Proportional hazard regression and cross-lagged panel analyses are used to demonstrate whether changes in the course of either disorder have predictable effects on the course of the other. RESULTS: The rate of remissions of borderline personality disorder was not affected by whether patients had co-occurring MDD. The rate of MDD remissions was significantly reduced by co-occurring borderline personality disorder. Both regression analyses and panel analyses indicated that improvements in borderline personality disorder were often followed by improvements in MDD but that improvements in MDD were not followed by improvements in borderline personality disorder. Five of the 9 borderline criteria, including those that most relate to affects, were particularly apt to remit prior to MDD remissions. CONCLUSIONS: When borderline personality disorder and MDD co-occur, they can sometimes have independent courses, but more often improvements in MDD are predicted by prior improvements in borderline personality disorder. Clinicians should not ignore borderline personality disorder in hopes that treatment of MDD will be followed by improvement of borderline personality disorder.

Adult↗

Axis I dissociative disorder comorbidity in borderline personality disorder and reports of childhood trauma.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the dissociative disorder comorbidity of borderline personality disorder and its relation to childhood trauma reports in a nonclinical population. METHOD: In April 2003, 1301 college students were screened for borderline personality disorder using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and Steinberg's dissociation questionnaires were also administered. During May and June 2003, 80 students with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and 111 nonborderline students were evaluated using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders by an interviewer blind to the diagnosis and scores obtained during the first phase. RESULTS: The prevalence of borderline personality disorder was 8.5%. A significant majority (72.5%; 58/80) of the borderline personality disorder group had a dissociative disorder, whereas this rate was only 18.0% (20/111) for the comparison group (p < .001). Childhood emotional and sexual abuse, physical neglect, and total childhood trauma scores had significant effect for borderline personality disorder (p < .001, p = .038, p = .044, and p = .003, respectively), whereas emotional neglect and diminished minimization of childhood trauma had significant effect for dissociative disorder (p = .020 and p = .007, respectively). CONCLUSION: A significant proportion of subjects with borderline personality disorder have a comorbid dissociative disorder. Lack of interaction between dissociative disorder and borderline personality disorder diagnoses for any type of childhood trauma contradicts the opinion that both disorders together might be a single disorder. Recognizing highly prevalent but usually neglected Axis I dissociative disorder comorbidity in patients with borderline personality disorder may contribute to conceptual clarification of this spectrum of psychopathology.

Adolescent↗

[Personality correlations with depressiveness among adolescents].

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess personality correlates of depressiveness as well as their relationships with the level of depressiveness. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data on the depressiveness of 954 (452 boys and 502 girls) of ninth grade schoolchildren from 26 secondary schools of one administrative region of Lithuania were analyzed. The methods used in the study were Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory for Adolescents, and Composite International Diagnostic Interview. RESULTS: Twenty two schoolchildren (5 boys and 17 girls) with extremely high scores on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Depression scale were found to have depression or dysthymia. It was found that depressive boys and girls (high scores on scores Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Depression scale) had higher scores on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory clinical scales (except Mania scale, which was lower) as compared to the non-depressive ones. Girls with depressiveness, which corresponded to the level of depression or clinical dysthymia by Composite International Diagnostic Interview had higher scores on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory clinical scales (except Mania scale, which was lower), as compared to the other girls (both depressive and non-depressive, as measured by Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Depression scale). Girls with depressiveness, which corresponded to the level of clinical depression or clinical dysthymia, also had worse psychological adjustment. CONCLUSION: Depressive adolescents, boys and girls, differ from non-depressive ones by worse psychological adjustment. The level of depression did not differ from depressive girls (having high scores on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Depression scale) in their non-adaptive personality characteristics, but markedly differed from that of other girls irrespective of theirs Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Depression scale scores.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Utilization of community-based rehabilitation services for incurably blind persons in a rural population of southern India.

PURPOSE: To identify barriers in utilisation of community based rehabilitation (CBR) services for incurably blind persons in rural South India. METHODS: A community-based rehabilitation programme for incurably blind persons was initiated in Theni district of southern Tamil Nadu in south India. After door-to-door enumeration and preliminary ocular screening by trained workers at the village, identified blind persons were categorised as either curable or incurable by an ophthalmologist. Trained workers provided rehabilitation, including mobility training (OM), training to perform activities of daily living (ADL), and economic rehabilitation for the incurably blind in their respective villages. RESULTS: Of the 460,984 persons surveyed, 400 (0.09%) were certified as incurably blind including 156 (39.00%) persons blind from birth. Social rehabilitation was provided for 268 (67.00%) incurably blind persons. Economic rehabilitation was provided to 96 persons, and integrated education to 22 children. Nearly one-fifth (n=68, 17.00%) of incurably blind persons refused the services provided. The major reasons for refusal included old age and other illnesses (41.18%), and multiple handicaps (19.12%). Twenty-seven (6.75%) persons had either migrated or died, and 29 (7.25%) persons were already able to function independently. CONCLUSION: Although CBR programmes provide useful services to the incurably blind, a better understanding of barriers is required to improve service utilisation. Developing a standardised data collection format for every CBR programme can result in the creation of a national database of ophthalmic diseases.

Adolescent↗

Suicidality in DSM IV cluster B personality disorders. An overview.

Personality disorders are a considerable risk factor for suicidal behavior. In psychological autopsy studies, individuals with personality disorders are frequently found among suicide victims. Suicidal attempts (which are a major risk factor for completed suicide) are also an important issue among affected patients. We performed careful MedLine, Excerpta Medica, PsycLit and PsycINFO searches from 1980 to 2004. Search terms were "suicide", "personality disorders", "mortality", "follow-up". We identified studies dealing with suicide and the following areas of interest: borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, comorbidity (especially with affective disorder and substance abuse disorder) and risk factors for suicide in personality disorders. Despite the fact that comorbidity with DSM-IV Axis I disorders often impairs a correct judgment of suicidality in personality disorders, this overview showed that some personality disorders have a stronger link to suicide and that identifiable risk factors may be used for the development of preventive measures. Given the fact that personality disorders have high prevalence in the general population, prediction and prevention of suicide among these individuals is a problem of public health.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disord↗

[Psychological structure of personality and motivation in blood donors].

The study comprised 500 persons who donated blood for five and more times. The psychic personality structure was studied by EMOTIONS PROFILE INDEX tests with the forced-choice personality index (4) by Henry Kellerman and Robert Plutchnik. Blood donor motivation was examined by the standardized questionnaires which was interpreted by the so-called keys of desirable responses, separately for every potentially primary motive (altruism; habits; superiority complex; inferiority complex; selfpunishment; benefit; indefinite motive). The aim of the study was to assess whether the psychic structure of a personality has effects on blood donor motivation. The study has shown that: a) the psychic personality structure in repeated blood donors has effects on their blood donor motivation; b) altruism is the most common motive for blood donation in persons with the emotionally stable structures of personality and in persons with neurotic potentials; c) among persons with different psychic personality structure there are differences in the percentage of some of primary motives for blood donation. The altruism is the most common motive for blood donation found in 85% of repeated blood donors. All other motives together are found in 8% of cases while in 7% of the examines it was not possible to confirm the primary motive for blood donation.

Adult↗