Am J Psychiatry 1997; 154:1305-1307
Copyright © 1997 by American Psychiatric Association
Controlled study of psychiatric comorbidity in psychiatrically hospitalized young adults with substance use disorders
CM Grilo, S Martino, ML Walker, DF Becker, WS Edell and TH McGlashan
Yale Psychiatric Institute, Yale University School of Medicine, New Heaven, CT 06520, USA.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine DSM-III-R axis I and
axis II comorbidity in psychiatrically hospitalized young adults with
substance use disorders. METHOD: Structured diagnostic interviews were
given to 117 consecutive inpatients. Seventy patients with substance use
disorders and 47 patients without substance use disorders were compared.
RESULTS: High rates of co-occurrence of axis I disorders were observed, but
no disorder coexisted in the group with substance use disorders at a
significantly higher rate than in the group without substance use
disorders. Among axis II disorders, borderline personality disorder was
diagnosed significantly more frequently in the group with substance use
disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Significant additional diagnostic co-occurrence,
defined as comorbidity, was observed only between borderline personality
disorder and substance use disorders. The use of a relevant psychiatric
comparison group allows for finer distinctions between covariation based on
shared severity and comorbidity possibly based on shared pathophysiology.
