title: Personality disorder features through the life course.
abstract: Personality Disorders have proved to be more fluid through the life course than previously thought. However, because analyses have usually been undertaken at the level of diagnostic categories, relevant findings may be obscured. An examination at the criteria level could bypass arbitrary aggregations of heterogeneous traits and thus offer more accurate information. To this end, we administered the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+ (PDQ-4+) to 1,477 patients aged 15 to 82. Nine of 12 disorders declined to some extent over the lifespan, but the evolution of individual criteria diverged within categories. At this level, 45 of 93 criteria showed age-related decreases, whereas only seven presented increases. A clearer picture is offered of the PD traits that change and those that remain stable. Thus, pathological features are not only more fluid, but developmentally more heterogeneous than previously believed.
authors.affiliation: Servei Psicologia Clínica, Institut Clínic Neurociències, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Villarroel 170, 08036 Barcelona, Spain. fguti@clinic.ub.es
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
authors.forename: Gemma
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vall
authors.forename: Josep Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Peri
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baillés
authors.forename: Liliana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferraz
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gárriz
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Caseras
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D055815:Young Adult