The impact of comorbid dysthymic disorder on outcome in personality disorders.

Objective: The goal of our study was to investigate the impact of dysthymic disorder (DD), a form of chronic depression, on naturalistic outcome in individuals with personality disorders (PDs).

Method: The Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study is a cohort initially including 573 subjects with 4 targeted PDs (borderline, avoidant, schizotypal, and obsessive-compulsive) and 95 subjects with major depression but no PD. At baseline, 115 subjects were diagnosed with coexisting DD, of whom 109 (94.

Early environmental predictors of the affective and interpersonal constructs of psychopathy.

Early childhood maltreatment (i.e., physical, sexual, emotional abuse) and caregiver disruptions are hypothesized to be instrumental in altering the neurobiology of the brain, particularly the amygdala, and contributing to the development of the affective deficits examined in individuals with psychopathy.

New episodes and new onsets of major depression in borderline and other personality disorders.

Background: In the context of much literature and conjecture about the relationship of personality disorders (PD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), this paper uses longitudinal data to assess the frequency with which PD patients, and especially those with borderline personality disorder (BPD), have recurrences (for patients with lifetime histories), or new onsets (for patients without lifetime histories) of MDD.

Methods: A sample of 478 PD patients received reliable repeated follow-up assessments over a period of 6 years. The rates of new onsets and recurrences of MDD in all PD patients, and in BPD patients compared to OPD patients were analyzed.

A comparison of interview and self-report methods for the assessment of borderline personality disorder criteria.

Interview methods are widely regarded as the standard for the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD), whereas self-report methods are considered a time-efficient alternative. However, the relative validity of these methods has not been sufficiently tested. The current study used data from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality disorder Study to compare diagnostic base rates and the relative validity of interview and self-report methods for assessing functional outcome in BPD.

Ethnicity and mental health treatment utilization by patients with personality disorders.

The authors examined the relationship between ethnicity and treatment utilization by individuals with personality disorders (PDs). Lifetime and prospectively determined rates and amounts of mental health treatments received were compared in over 500 White, African American, and Hispanic participants with PDs in a naturalistic longitudinal study. Minority, especially Hispanic, participants were significantly less likely than White participants to receive a range of outpatient and inpatient psychosocial treatments and psychotropic medications.

Positive childhood experiences: resilience and recovery from personality disorder in early adulthood.

Objective: Recent follow-along studies of personality disorders have shown significant improvement in psychopathology over time. The purpose of this study was to prospectively investigate the association between positive childhood experiences related to resiliency and remission from personality disorder.

Method: Five hundred twenty patients with DSM-IV-based semistructured interview diagnoses of schizotypal, borderline, avoidant, or obsessive-compulsive personality disorders were evaluated 6 times over 4 years between September 1996 and June 2002.

Descriptive and longitudinal observations on the relationship of borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test whether borderline personality disorder is a variant of bipolar disorder by examining the rates of co-occurrence in both disorders, the effects of co-occurrence on a longitudinal course, and whether the presence of either disorder confers the risk for new onsets of the other.

Method: A prospective repeated-measures design with reliable independent diagnostic measures and 4 years of follow-up was used to assess 196 patients with borderline personality disorder and 433 patients with other personality disorders.

Results: Patients with borderline personality disorder had a significantly higher co-occurrence of bipolar disorder (19.

Predictors of 2-year outcome for patients with borderline personality disorder.

Objective: The primary purpose of this report was to investigate whether characteristics of subjects with borderline personality disorder observed at baseline can predict variations in outcome at the 2-year follow-up.

Method: Hypothesized predictor variables were selected from prior studies. The patients (N=160) were recruited from the four clinical sites of the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study.

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.