title: A comparative analysis of personality pathology profiles among patients with pure depressive-, pure anxiety-, and pure somatoform disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Depressive-, anxiety-, and somatoform disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders. The assessment of comorbid personality pathology or traits in these disorders is relevant, because it can lead to the exacerbation of them or to poorer remission rates. To date, no research findings have been published on the comparison of these three prevalent patient groups with regard to comorbid dimensional personality pathology.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data of participants (18-60 years) came from a web-based Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM) programme. The present study used baseline data and was designed to compare personality pathology profiles between three separate outpatient groups: pure anxiety disorders (n=1633), pure depressive disorders (n=1794), and pure somatoform disorders (n=479). Personality pathology was measured with the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Short Form (DAPP-SF).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The pure depressive disorder group, in comparison to the other two disorder groups, exhibited the worst psychopathological and functional health image and most personality pathology. In the pure anxiety disorder group, the highest mean was found for the personality trait Anxiousness; and in the pure depressive disorder group for the traits Identity problems, Affective lability, Anxiousness, and Restricted expression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The cross-sectional nature of the study limits the conclusions that can be drawn.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The assessment of comorbid personality pathology in depressive-, anxiety-, somatoform disorders is clinically relevant, whether a patient has a personality disorder or not. This way, treatment could partly be focused on specific personality traits that may be counterproductive for treatment outcome, especially in depressive disorders.
authors.affiliation: Leiden University Medical Centre, Department of Psychiatry, Albinusdreef 2, Post zone B1-P, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands. Electronic address: I.V.E.Carlier@lumc.nl.
authors.forename: Ingrid V E
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Carlier
authors.affiliation: GGZ Delfland, Lindberghlaan 113, 2497 EB Den Haag, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sjoerd
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Colijn
authors.affiliation: Leiden University Medical Centre, Department of Psychiatry, Albinusdreef 2, Post zone B1-P, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Yanda R
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: van Rood
authors.affiliation: Leiden University Medical Centre, Department of Psychiatry, Albinusdreef 2, Post zone B1-P, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marion F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Streevelaar
authors.affiliation: Leiden University Medical Centre, Department of Psychiatry, Albinusdreef 2, Post zone B1-P, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Irene M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: van Vliet
authors.affiliation: Leiden University Medical Centre, Department of Psychiatry, Albinusdreef 2, Post zone B1-P, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tineke
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: van Veen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000145:classification* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anxiety disorders; Comorbid personality pathology; Depressive disorders; Personality traits; Routine outcome monitoring; Somatoform disorders