Co-occurrence of Axis I and Axis II disorders in substance abusers

Objective: This study examined the co-occurrence of anxiety/mood and person ality disorders (PDs) in substance abusers, the impact of anxiety/mood diso rders on the symptom profiles of PDs, and the impact of anxiety/mood disord ers and PDs on pre-treatment status, Method: Current anxiety/mood disorders and PDs and pre-treatment status wer e assessed using semi-structured interviews in 370 treated substance abuser s. Results: Anxiety/mood disorders and PDs frequently co-occurred, with the ov erall pattern of associations being non-specific. The strongest association s were of social phobia with avoidant and schizotypal PD, and of major depr ession with borderline PD. However, symptom profiles of PDs were not associ ated with anxiety/mood disorders. Finally, anxiety/mood disorders and PDs w ere both independently and differentially associated with poor pre-treatmen t characteristics. Conclusion: The findings suggest the clinical importance of obtaining both Axis I and Axis II diagnoses ill treated substance abusers, and highlight t he distinctiveness of the Axis I and Axis II disorders.