Am J Psychiatry 1985; 142:1344-1347
Copyright © 1985 by American Psychiatric Association
Historical comment on DSM-III schizoid and avoidant personality disorders
WJ Livesley, M West and A Tanney
The authors examine the DSM-III distinction between schizoid and avoidant
personality disorders. This distinction is based on Millon's biosocial
learning theory and his interpretation of Kretschmer's personality types.
The authors argue that this separation of a continuous distribution is
historically misconceived and serves to obscure the significant features of
schizoid personality. They examine Kretschmer's conceptualization of
schizoid personality for the implications it carries for the development of
a classification of personality disorder, suggesting that Kretschmer's
approach implies a "polythetic" model of personality disorder that
conceptualizes disorders as categories of dimensions.
