PERSONALITY-DISORDERS ACCORDING TO DSM-III-R AND THROMBOCYTE MONOAMINE-OXIDASE ACTIVITY IN TYPE-1 AND TYPE-2 ALCOHOLICS

Objective: Several criteria used to distinguish Type 2 alcoholics from Type 1 alcoholics, as well as the incidence of lower platelet monoami ne oxidase (MAO) activity in the Former group, would indicate that per sonality disorders might be more common in Type 2 alcoholics. The purp ose of the present study was to investigate the relation between perso nality disorders, according to DSM-III-R, platelet MAO activity and Ty pe 1/Type 2 alcoholism. Method: The occurrence of personality disorder s, according to DSM-III-R, was studied in a series of 34 male inpatien ts with alcohol dependence, subclassified into Type 1 (n=18) and Type 2 (n=16). Platelet MAO activity was studied in the same series of pati ents. Results: Patients with Type 2 alcoholism had significantly highe r frequencies of self-defeating, schizotypal, antisocial and borderlin e personality disorders than Type 1 alcoholics. Patients with Type 2 a lcoholism had significantly lower mean activity of platelet MAO than T ype 1 alcoholics. No correlation was found between platelet MAO activi ty and personality disorders according to DSM-III-R. Conclusions: Diso rders of the antisocial personality and borderline personality types a s well as low platelet MAO can all predict the occurrence of Type 2 al coholism with rather high specificity but with a comparatively low deg ree of sensitivity.