THE PSYCHOSOCIAL ETIOLOGIES OF PERSONALITY-DISORDERS - WHAT IS THE ANSWER LIKE

Psychosocial influences and correlates of personality disorders in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Di sorders, Third Edition, Revised (DSM-III-R) are discussed. We present a review of the proposed connections between early experiences or prob lems and subsequent development of selected personality disorders. Rel atively few etiological factors and personality disorders have been in vestigated, and there is little evidence that psychosocial factors hav e much specificity to particular personality disorders. Reasons behind the relative lack of knowledge of developmental aspects of personalit y disorders are explored and the special problem of comorbidity is dis cussed. We present potential contributions of developmental psychology to the investigation of the development of personality disorders- and suggest a theoretical framework that may be useful in this endeavor.