title: Personality Disorders in Hypochondriasis: A Comparison to Panic Disorder and Healthy Controls.
abstract: Previous studies found high prevalence rates of personality disorders (PDs) in patients with hypochondriasis; however, assessment was often based only on questionnaires. In the current study, a sample of 68 patients with hypochondriasis was compared to 31 patients with panic disorder and to 94 healthy controls. Participants were investigated with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders questionnaire (SCID-II questionnaire) and the SCID-II interview. Based on the cut-off scores of the SCID-II questionnaire, we found a prevalence rate of 45.6% for PD in patients with hypochondriasis. In comparison to healthy controls, patients with hypochondriasis showed characteristics of paranoid, borderline, avoidant, and dependent PDs in the dimensional assessment significantly more often. However, no significant differences were found between the clinical samples. Based on the SCID-II interview, only 2.9% of the patients with hypochondriasis fulfilled the criteria for a PD. These results suggest that PDs are not a specific characteristic of hypochondriasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Weck
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Laura Carlotta
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Nagel
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Richtberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia M B
authors.initials: JMB
authors.lastname: Neng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D006998:Hypochondriasis / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires