PERSONALITY-TRAITS AND PSYCHIATRIC AND SOMATIC MORBIDITY AMONG KLEPTOMANIACS

Although the behaviour of kleptomania has been identified for decades, very little is known about the reasons, prevalence, course and treatm ent of this disorder. Current knowledge about kleptomania is generally derived from case reports or from material collected from highly sele cted groups. There are no published systematic studies of personality traits among kleptomaniacs, and knowledge of somatic and psychiatric c o-morbidity is limited. The purpose of the present study was to descri be personality characteristics, psychiatric disorders and somatic illn ess among kleptomaniacs. A total of 37 patients (two-thirds of whom we re female) who fulfilled the DSM-IV criteria for kleptomania were recr uited by advertising in a daily newspaper. Monotony avoidance was a pr ominent personality trait, as was a low degree of socialization. Depre ssion and anxiety were also very common, as was a history of attempted suicide. Somatic illness was commonly reported, and a high proportion of the kleptomaniacs were regularly receiving pharmacological treatme nt for either psychiatric or somatic illness. The representativeness o f this group of kleptomaniacs is as yet unknown. However, the present study is based on the largest sample of patients fulfilling DSM-III-R/ DSM-IV criteria for kleptomania to date who were not primarily recruit ed through the medical or legislative systems.