Personality disorders, history of trauma, and posttraumatic stress disorder in subjects with anxiety disorders

The purpose of the study was to examine the association of personality diso rders, history of trauma, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a lar ge sample of subjects with anxiety disorders. Categorical and continuous in dices of personality disorders were compared in three groups from the Harva rd/Brown Anxiety Disorders Research Project (HARP): subjects with no histor y of trauma (n = 403), subjects with a history of trauma but no history of PTSD in = 151), and subjects with a current or past diagnosis of PTSD (n = 68). Subjects with PTSD were more likely to meet criteria for borderline or self-defeating personality disorder than subjects in the other two groups. PTSD subjects also had higher scores on the continuous measures (total num ber of criteria met) for borderline and self-defeating personality disorder than the other two groups. The findings suggest that a diagnosis of PTSD r ather than a history of trauma is associated with borderline and self-defea ting personality disorder features. Alternative conceptualizations of axis II features in individuals with PTSD are discussed. Copyright (C) 2000 by W .B. Saunders Company.