Temperament and personality features in patients with major depression, panic disorder and mixed conditions

Method: Forty-two patients with Panic Disorder (P), 18 with Major Depressio n (MD), 35 with both conditions (MIX) and 45 healthy subjects (C) were test ed with the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire and the Structured Int erview for DSM-III-R Personality Disorders. Results: A different prevalence of Dependent (P = 16.7%, MD = 5.6%, MIX = 41.4%, C = 2.1%) (P < 0.001), Ob sessive-Compulsive (P = 4.8%, MD = 27.8%, MIX = 3.4%, C = 0%) (P < 0.001) a nd Histrionic (P = 23.8%, MD = 0%, MIX = 31%, C = 4.2%) (P = 0.001) persona lity disorders (PD) was found among groups. Harm Avoidance (HA) (P < 0.001) and Reward Dependence (RD) (P < 0.001) were higher in patients than in con trols. As expected the patients with comorbid conditions (MIX) showed highe r HA levels (P < 0.01) and a greater prevalence of PDs, particularly of Clu ster C compared to patients with pure disorders. Conclusions: This study su ggests that high HA and RD scores are associated with P, MD and MIX, and th e former dimension is even higher in MIX patients. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scienc e B.V. All rights reserved.