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Refining a complex diagnostic construct: subtyping Dysthymia with the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure-II
Steven K Huprich1, Jared Defife, Drew Westen
1Eastern Michigan University, Department of Psychology, 361A Mark Jefferson Science Complex, Ypsilanti MI 48197, United States..
Objective:
We sought to determine whether meaningful subtypes of Dysthymic patients could be identified when grouping them by similar personality profiles.
Method:
A random, national sample of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists (n=1201) described a randomly selected current patient with personality pathology using the descriptors in the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure-II (SWAP-II), completed assessments of patients' adaptive functioning, and provided DSM-IV Axis I and II diagnoses.
Results:
We applied Q-factor cluster analyses to those patients diagnosed with Dysthymic Disorder. Four clusters were identified-High Functioning, Anxious/Dysphoric, Emotionally Dysregulated, and Narcissistic. These factor scores corresponded with a priori hypotheses regarding diagnostic comorbidity and level of adaptive functioning. We compared these groups to diagnostic constructs described and empirically identified in the past literature.
Conclusions:
The results converge with past and current ideas about the ways in which chronic depression and personality are related and offer an enhanced means by which to understand a heterogeneous diagnostic category that is empirically grounded and clinically useful.
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