Three-year follow-up of women with the sole diagnosis of depressive personality disorder: Subsequent development of dysthymia and major depression

Objective: The authors sought to determine whether subjects with the sole d iagnosis of depressive personality disorder are at higher risk for developi ng dysthymia and major depression than are healthy comparison subjects. Method: Eighty-five women with depressive personality disorder who had no c omorbid axis or axis II disorders and 85 age-matched healthy comparison wom en were initially recruited and reinterviewed 3 years later to evaluate the cumulative incidence rate of dysthymia and major depression. Results: At the 3-year follow-up assessment, the women with depressive pers onality disorder had a significantly greater odds ratio for developing dyst hymia than did the healthy comparison women. The difference in odds ratios for the development of major depression between women with and without depr essive personality disorder did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: The present study, the first to determine the subsequent devel opment of dysthymia and major depression in subjects with the sole diagnosi s of depressive personality disorder, found that subjects with depressive p ersonality disorder had a greater risk of developing dysthymia than did hea lthy comparison subjects at 3-year follow-up. Findings of the current study also suggest that depressive personality disorder may mediate the effects of a family history of axis I unipolar mood disorders.