ANXIETY, IMPULSIVITY, AND THE ANXIOUS-FEARFUL AND ERRATIC-DRAMATIC PERSONALITY-DISORDERS

This research tested some of the basic structural assumptions of Jeffr ey Gray's personality theory and the potential applicability of this m odel to the anxious-fearful and erratic-dramatic Diagnostic and Statis tical Manual of Mental Disorders-Third Edition, Revised (DSM-III-R) pe rsonality disorders. Two independent samples, a normative sample (477 college undergraduates) and a research sample (77 persons, two-thirds with at least one personality disorder), were employed. Findings from both samples provided converging support for the hypothesized location of Gray's primary personality dimensions. More importantly, additiona l analyses based on the research sample indicated that the dimension o f anxiety underlies personality disorders included in the anxious-fear ful cluster and that the dimension of impulsivity underlies the disord ers of the erratic-dramatic cluster, suggesting that Gray's primary di mensions of personality constitute one viable model for conceptualizin g two clusters of DSM-III-R personality disorders. (C) 1995 Academic P ress, Inc.