DSM-III-R personality diagnoses in anxiety disorder patients

This study compared clinical characteristics of anxiety disorder patients with and without a co-occurring diagnosis of personality disorder. A structured diagnostic interview for anxiety disorders was used to make DSM-III-R diagnoses and to derive clinical ratings. The personality diagnosis group (n = 27) was compared with a large clinical series of anxiety disorder patients (n = 288) and with a group of patients without personality diagnoses who were matched on primary anxiety diagnosis, sex, and age (n = 25). The personality diagnosis group received significantly more diagnoses of current dysthymia and past major depression. The personality diagnosis group also had a significantly higher rate of rare anxiety disorders than the clinical series and significantly lower ratings of current adaptive functioning than the matched controls. These findings, suggesting the presence of a group of anxiety disorder patients with significant personality and affective symptomatology, are discussed in terms of models of syndrome-personality comorbidity and treatment response.