DSM-III personality disorders in generalized anxiety, panic/agoraphobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorders

In an earlier report, we stated that personality profiles of patients with panic disorder/agoraphobia (n = 187) and obsessive-compulsive disorder ([ODC] n = 51) were similar, albeit more pronounced in OCD, suggesting that the link between panic disorder/agoraphobia and DSM-III personality disorders (PDs) or traits may be nonspecific. The present report extends the comparative study of DSM-III PDs/traits, as assessed by the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ), by adding a third diagnostic group of 39 patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The personality assessment of panic disorder/agoraphobia and GAD patients yielded virtually identical results on the PDQ and Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI). Because GAD lacks the prominent panic, phobic, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms of other anxiety disorders, the present findings provide strong support for a nonspecific link between panic disorder/agoraphobia and DSM-III PDs/traits and for the presence of common personality characteristics in anxiety disorders.