Change in personality status in neurotic disorders

doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)09266-8

The Lancet

Volume 359, Issue 9325, 29 June 2002, Pages 2253-2254

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)09266-8 Get rights and content

Summary

Personality disorders are generally thought not to change by much over time. We assessed the personality status of 202 patients who had a defined diagnostic and statistical manual (DSM)-III neurotic disorder, dysthymia, panic disorder, or generalised anxiety. All patients had had drug and psychological treatment in a randomised controlled trial. 12 years after entry to the study, we reassessed the personality status of 178 (88%) of these patients using the same test (personality assessment schedule). The personality traits of patients in the cluster B flamboyant group (antisocial, histrionic) became significantly less pronounced over 12 years, but those in the cluster A odd, eccentric group (schizoid, schizotypal, paranoid), and the cluster C anxious, fearful group (obsessional, avoidant) became more pronounced. The measure of agreement between baseline and 12-year personality clusters was poor or slight (κ=0·14, 95% Cl 0·04–0·23). Our results suggest that the assumption that personality characteristics do not change with time is incorrect.

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Research LettersChange in personality status in neurotic disorders

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Lancet

Personality Assessment Schedule

Research Letters
Change in personality status in neurotic disorders