SEX-DIFFERENCES AMONG THE PERSONALITY-DISORDERS - AN EXPLORATION OF THE DATA

Diagnosis of the personality disorders (PDs) across men and women has been the focus of considerable controversy in the psychological and ps ychiatric literature, most of which has concerned the possibility of a sex bias. However, the interpretation of the differential sex prevale nce rates reported within the literature is complicated and problemati c even if one assumes an absence of sex bias. The most recent revision of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statis tical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV) contains substantia l revisions in the conclusions presented in an earlier edition of the manual (DSM-III-R) regarding the existence of sex differences in the P Ds. This article reviews the empirical support for the conclusions pro vided in DSM-IV, discusser the complicated nature of interpreting sex prevalence rates across different samples, and offers a conceptual mod el for understanding sex differences among the PDs.