Personality dimensions in first-episode psychoses.
OBJECTIVE
The authors compared the patterns and specificity of premorbid personality dimensions in first-episode schizophrenia patients with those in patients with first-episode nonschizophrenia psychoses and healthy comparison subjects.


METHODS
A series of 63 patients with first-episode schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders, 34 patients with first-episode nonschizophrenia psychoses, and 77 healthy comparison subjects were assessed with the Personality Disorder Evaluation, a semistructured interview schedule that measures personality dimensions.


RESULTS
Cluster A as well as cluster C dimensional scores-in particular, the avoidant personality score-were higher for the schizophrenia patients, and cluster B dimensional scores were higher for the patients with nonschizophrenia psychoses. Cluster C dimensional scores, particularly the avoidant personality score, were highly intercorrelated with all cluster A dimensional scores.


CONCLUSIONS
The observed association between avoidant personality and schizophrenia supports the recent literature on the comorbidity of nonspectrum personality disorders in schizophrenia. This association may be related to shared neurodevelopmentally mediated impairments in social cognition in schizophrenia and some cluster C personality dimensions.
Keshavan
Matcheri S
MS
Department of Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. keshavanms@upmc.edu
Duggal
Harpreet S
HS
Veeragandham
Gautami
G
McLaughlin
Nancy M
NM
Montrose
Debra M
DM
Haas
Gretchen L
GL
Schooler
Nina R
NR
D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012917:Social Adjustment