PERSONALITY-DISORDER CORRELATES OF LATE AND EARLY-ONSET DEPRESSION

OBJECTIVE: To compare the lifetime personality dysfunction of geriatri c patients having late and early onset of major depression. DESIGN: Gr oup comparisons. SETTING: Inpatient geriatric psychiatry unit and hosp ital-based geriatric psychiatry outpatient clinic. PATIENTS: Volunteer sample of recovered elderly depressives with history of early onset o f major depression (age < 60) (n = 16) and history of late onset of ma jor depression (age > 60) (n = 14). MAJOR OUTCOME MEASURE: Personality Disorder Examination, containing diagnostic and dimensional scores fo r DSM-III-R personality disorders. RESULTS: The two groups had similar demographic profiles and levels of depression after treatment. Early onset subjects had significantly higher mean dimensional scores in the avoidant, dependent, and not otherwise specified NOS personality diso rders, and higher dimensional scores with a trend toward significance in 6 additional personality disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Early onset geriat ric depressives may have more lifetime personality dysfunction than la te onset subjects. Greater personality dysfunction in early onset subj ects may reflect postdepressive changes, predisposition, or a low grad e depressive subtype.