To investigate the categorical and dimensional temporal stability of Axis II personality disorders among depressive patients, and to determine whether variations in Axis I comorbid disorders or self-reported personality traits predict changes in researcher-assigned personality disorder symptoms.
Patients with DSM-IV major depressive disorder (MDD) in the Vantaa Depression Study (N = 269) were interviewed with the World Health Organization Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry, version 2.0, and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Axis II Disorders and were assessed with the 57-item Eysenck Personality Inventory at baseline, 6 months, and 18 months. Baseline interviews occurred between February 1, 1997, and May 31, 1998; follow-up interviews were 6 months and 18 months after baseline for each patient. Of the patients included in the study, 193 remained unipolar and could be interviewed at both follow-ups. The covariation of the severity of depression, anxiety, alcohol use, and reported neuroticism and extraversion with assigned personality disorder symptoms was investigated by using general estimation equations.
The diagnosis of personality disorder persisted at all time points in about half (43%) of the 81 MDD patients diagnosed with personality disorder at baseline. The number of positive personality disorder criteria declined, particularly during the first 6 months, by a mean of 3 criteria. The decline in reported personality disorder symptoms covaried significantly with declines in the severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms (depressive: P = .02 for paranoid, P = .02 for borderline, and P = .01 for avoidant; anxiety: P = .08 for paranoid, P = .01 for borderline, and P