Comorbidity of alcohol dependence and personality disorders: a comparative study.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the frequency and profile of personality disorders related to alcohol dependence, and to compare them with non-addictive disorders and with normal population.


METHODS
In this cross-sectional clinical-epidemiological study, using the International Personality Disorder Examination and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II for personality disorders, 158 consecutively recruited alcohol-dependent patients attending a psychiatric outpatient clinic were compared with 120 consecutively recruited psychiatric patients with non-addictive disorders, and 103 subjects from the general population chosen to match the patient samples for age, gender and socioeconomic level.


RESULTS
Of the alcohol-dependent patients, 44.3%, and of the general clinical sample, 21.7% (vs 6.8% of the normative sample) showed at least one personality disorder. Obsessive-compulsive personality disorders were most prevalent (12%), followed by antisocial, paranoid and dependent personality disorders (7% each). Most of them showed only one personality disorder.
Echeburúa
Enrique
E
Facultad de Psicología, Universidad del País Vasco, Avda. de Tolosa, 70, 20018 San Sebastián, España. enrique.echeburua@ehu.es
De Medina
Ricardo Bravo
RB
Aizpiri
Javier
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry) / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales