Am J Psychiatry 1995; 152:579-582
Copyright © 1995 by American Psychiatric Association
Gender differences in personality disorders
M Golomb, M Fava, M Abraham and JF Rosenbaum
Depression Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess gender differences in
personality disorders. Since heterogeneity of axis I diagnoses could
introduce variability in the assessment of axis II diagnoses, the authors
studied a group of patients with a primary diagnosis of major depression.
METHOD: A total of 316 patients were evaluated with the Personality
Diagnostic Questionnaire--Revised, a self-rating measure, or the Structured
Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Personality Disorders (SCID-II), a
clinician-rated instrument, or both. Axis II disorders were assessed with
the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-- Revised for 288 patients with
major depression. The SCID-II was administered to 117 subjects, with an
additional 95 subjects receiving the SCID-II for cluster B diagnoses only.
RESULTS: The mean 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores for 108
men (mean age = 39.28 years) and 208 women (mean age = 39.11) were 19.0 (SD
= 3.8) and 19.6 (SD = 6.9), respectively. Men were significantly more
likely than women to meet criteria for narcissistic, antisocial, and
obsessive-compulsive personality disorders as measured by the Personality
Diagnostic Questionnaire--Revised and for narcissistic and
obsessive-compulsive personality disorders as measured by the SCID-II.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with those of previous studies
showing a greater prevalence of antisocial and narcissistic personality
disorders in men. In contrast with other investigations, however, neither
the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire--Revised nor the SCID-II revealed
a higher prevalence of any personality disorder in women.
