Five-factor model personality traits associated with alcohol-related diagnoses in a clinical sample.

Objective: Personality variables may have important implications for the description and treatment of individuals with alcohol problems. The purpose of this article was to examine the specificity of previously observed trait/alcohol relations and the temporal relations of trait elevations and alcohol problems.

Method: The relationships between Five-Factor Model personality traits, as measured by the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, and past and current alcohol diagnoses were examined among 704 participants in the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study (CLPS).

Depressive experiences in inpatients with borderline personality disorder.

We investigate the quality of dependent and self-critical depressive experiences in a hospitalized sample of depressed (n = 17), depressed borderline (n = 29), and borderline non-depressed inpatients (n = 10). Subjects were administered structured diagnostic interviews for axis I and axis II along with the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised Depression Scale (SCL-90-R-DS) and the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ). As predicted, there were no differences between the three groups in overall level of impairment or severity of depression.

Longitudinal effects of personality disorders on psychosocial functioning of patients with major depressive disorder.

Objective: No previous research has focused on psychosocial functioning in understanding how personality disorders compound the impairment caused by major depressive disorder over time. This report describes the effects of persistent and remitting comorbid personality disorders on the depressive status and functioning of patients with major depressive disorder over the course of 2 years.

Method: Longitudinal data on functioning from the first 2 years of the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study were evaluated for 3 groups of subjects with major depressive disorder: subjects with major depressive disorder alone (N = 103), those with persistent comorbid personality disorders (N = 164), and those with comorbid personality disorders that remitted (N = 69).

Physical ill health and risk of psychosis.

Patients with psychosis have been found to suffer from physical illnesses more commonly than the general population. In this report, self-reported physical ill health and its correlates among subjects with and without vulnerability to psychosis in a sample of first-degree relatives, help-seekers and controls were investigated. Perceived physical health was statistically significantly poorer among subjects with minor symptoms on the Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms and those vulnerable to psychosis than among those without symptoms measured by 13 somatoform symptom sum scores of the Symptom Checklist-90.

Quality of life and functioning ability in subjects vulnerable to psychosis.

Background: It is well established that quality of life (QOL) and functioning ability are impaired in psychosis, especially schizophrenia. Little is known about QOL and functioning in subjects vulnerable to psychosis (VTP).

Method: Three samples of nonpsychotic subjects (first-degree relatives of psychotic or severely ill patients, treatment-seeking patients, and a random community sample, in all 133 subjects) were assessed by the Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms and their vulnerability to psychosis was defined by severity of lifetime psychotic-like positive symptoms (nonsymptomatic, symptomatic, VTP).

Multifamily group treatment in a program for patients with first-episode psychosis: experiences from the TIPS project.

Psychoeducational multifamily group treatment based on the McFarlane model was implemented for adult patients experiencing a first episode of psychosis and for the families of 301 patients. Patients were participants in a research project in Norway and Denmark. Of 301 patients 246 were invited to participate and 147 agreed.

First-episode psychosis patients recruited into treatment via early detection teams versus ordinary pathways: course, outcome and health service use during first 2 years.

Aim: Within an early detection sector, to compare the 1- and 2-year course and outcome of first-episode psychosis patients coming into the treatment system via active outreach detection teams (DTs) versus those achieving help via ordinary referral channels (not-DT).

Methods: Longitudinal, comparative study of two parallel consecutive samples using structured clinical interview for the DSM-IV, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale Score, Global Assessment of Functioning Scale and Premorbid Assessment of Functioning Scale.

Results: The DT group had significantly better functioning at baseline, but this was reversed after 3 months.

The course of neurocognitive functioning in first-episode psychosis and its relation to premorbid adjustment, duration of untreated psychosis, and relapse.

The aim was to determine the post-onset longitudinal course of cognitive functioning in first-episode psychoses and to examine how premorbid adjustment, duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), and clinical variables such as relapse are associated with that course. Consecutive patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of non-organic psychosis coming to their first treatment in the health care areas under study were included. Ultimately, 207 patients were assessed neuropsychologically at baseline, 138 were reassessed one year later, and 111 two years later.

North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study: a collaborative multisite approach to prodromal schizophrenia research.

This article presents the rationale, design, and preliminary findings of the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS), a collaborative, multisite investigation into the earliest phase of psychotic illness. We describe how 8 independently conceived research projects were integrated methodologically, how diagnostic reliability was achieved across sites on the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes, and how baseline and follow-up data were aggregated for 888 at risk and comparison subjects. Data are presented describing the demographic, academic/work, and diagnostic characteristics of 3 relevant subgroups: persons at heightened clinical risk for psychosis, help-seeking comparison subjects, and nonpsychiatric controls.

Comparison of alternative models for personality disorders.

Background: The categorical classification system for personality disorder (PD) has been frequently criticized and several alternative dimensional models have been proposed.

Method: Antecedent, concurrent and predictive markers of construct validity were examined for three models of PDs: the Five-Factor Model (FFM), the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP) model and the DSM-IV in the Collaborative Study of Personality Disorders (CLPS) sample.

Results: All models showed substantial validity across a variety of marker variables over time.

Substance abuse in first-episode non-affective psychosis.

Abuse of alcohol and drugs is an important and clinically challenging aspect of first-episode psychosis. Only a few studies have been carried out on large-sized and reliably characterized samples. These are reviewed, and the results are compared with a sample of 300 first-episode psychosis patients recruited for the TIPS (Early Treatment and Identification of Psychosis) study from Norway and Denmark.

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.

Early detection of first-episode psychosis: the effect on 1-year outcome.

Unlabelled: Early intervention is assumed to improve outcome in first-episode psychosis, but this has not been proven.

Objective: To study whether 1-year outcome will be better in a health care sector with early detection (ED) of psychosis compared with sectors with no early detection (no-ED).

Design: A quasi-experimental study with ED in 2 experimental sectors and no-ED in 2 control sectors.

Comorbid diagnoses in patients meeting criteria for the schizophrenia prodrome.

While schizophrenia is often associated with a variety of concurrent psychiatric symptoms, little attention has been paid to the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity in prodromal patients. The current study examines the presence of comorbid current and lifetime psychiatric conditions in prospectively identified prodromal patients. The results suggest that like their schizophrenic counterparts, prodromal patients experience a wide array of comorbid psychiatric syndromes, with the most common being Major Depressive Disorder and Cannabis Dependence.

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.

Randomized, double-blind trial of olanzapine versus placebo in patients prodromally symptomatic for psychosis.

Objective: This study assessed the efficacy of olanzapine in delaying or preventing conversion to psychosis and reducing symptoms in people with prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia.

Method: This randomized trial occurred at four North American clinics in the Prevention Through Risk Identification, Management, and Education project. Outpatients received olanzapine (5-15 mg/day, N=31) or placebo (N=29) during a 1-year double-blind treatment period and no treatment during a 1-year follow-up period.

Perfectionism and depressive symptoms 3 years later: negative social interactions, avoidant coping, and perceived social support as mediators.

Although research has demonstrated perfectionism to have a negative impact on the treatment of depression, little research has examined the mechanisms or processes through which perfectionism predicts subsequent depressive symptoms in clinical populations over time. Using data from a prospective, 3-year study of a clinical sample (N = 96), hierarchical regression analyses indicated that perfectionism, assessed by the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (Weissman AN, Beck AT. Development and validation of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale: a preliminary investigation.

Exploratory factor analysis of borderline personality disorder criteria in hospitalized adolescents.

Objective: The authors examined the factor structure of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in hospitalized adolescents and also sought to add to the theoretical and clinical understanding of any homogeneous components by determining whether they may be related to specific forms of Axis I pathology.

Method: Subjects were 123 adolescent inpatients, who were reliably assessed with structured diagnostic interviews for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Revised Third Edition Axes I and II disorders. Exploratory factor analysis identified BPD components, and logistic regression analyses tested whether these components were predictive of specific Axis I disorders.

Prospective assessment of treatment use by patients with personality disorders.

Objective: This study examined the utilization of mental health treatments over a three-year period among patients with schizotypal, borderline, avoidant, or obsessive-compulsive personality disorders compared with patients with major depressive disorder and no personality disorder.

Methods: A prospective, longitudinal study design was used to measure treatment use for 633 individuals aged 18 to 45 years during a three-year period.

Results: Patients with borderline personality disorder were significantly more likely than those with major depressive disorder to use most types of treatment.

Differential impairment as an indicator of sex bias in DSM-IV criteria for four personality disorders.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the possibility of sex bias in the diagnostic criteria for borderline, schizotypal, avoidant, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders. A clinical sample of 668 individuals was evaluated for personality disorder criteria using a semistructured interview, and areas of functional impairment were assessed with both self-report and semistructured interview. The authors used a regression model of bias to identify bias as differences in slopes or intercepts between men and women in the relationship between each diagnostic criterion and level of impairment.

Effects of personality disorders on functioning and well-being in major depressive disorder.

Background: Patients with depressive disorders have limitations in physical and emotional functioning comparable to patients with chronic medical conditions. Personality disorders (PDs) are also known to be associated with functional impairment.

Aims: To determine the effects of PDs on the functioning and well-being of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

The Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study (CLPS): overview and implications.

The Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study (CLPS; Gunderson et al., 2000) was developed to fill gaps in our understanding of the nature, course, and impact of personality disorders (PDs). Here, we review published findings to date, discuss their implications for current conceptualizations of PDs, and raise questions that warrant future consideration.