[Paleopsych] Eureka: Landmark survey reports on the prevalence of personality disorders in the United States

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Landmark survey reports on the prevalence of personality disorders in the 
United States
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-08/nioa-lsr080204.php
4.8.2
    Contact: Ann Bradley
    [2]ab118a at nih.gov
    301-443-3860
    [3]NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

    Landmark survey reports on the prevalence of personality disorders in the
                                  United States

    An estimated 30.8 million American adults (14.8 percent) meet standard
    diagnostic criteria for at least one personality disorder as defined
    in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical
    Manual of Mental DisordersFourth Edition (DSM-IV), according to the
    results of the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and
    Related Conditions (NESARC) reported in the current issue of the
    Journal of Clinical Psychiatry [Volume 65:948-958].

    Conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism,
    National Institutes of Health, the NESARC is a representative survey
    of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population aged 18 years and
    older. More than 43,000 American adults participated in the survey.
    Designed to assess prevalence and comorbidity, or co-occurrence, of
    multiple mental health disorders, the NESARC is the first national
    survey conducted in the United States to estimate the prevalence of
    selected personality disordersstable patterns of inner experience and
    behavior that are inflexible and maladaptive that begin in early
    adulthood and are displayed in a variety of contextsthat often
    co-occur with other mental health disorders such as substance use
    disorders and anxiety and mood disorders.

    The NESARC found that the personality disorders are pervasive in the
    general population: In 2001- 2002, fully 16.4 million individuals (7.9
    percent of all adults) had obsessive-compulsive personality disorder;
    9.2 million (4.4 percent) had paranoid personality disorder; 7.6
    million (3.6 percent) had antisocial personality disorder; 6.5 million
    (3.1 percent) had schizoid personality disorder; 4.9 million (2.4
    percent) had avoidant personality disorder; 3.8 million (1.8 percent)
    had histrionic personality disorder; and 1.0 million (0.5 percent) had
    dependent personality disorder.

    The researchers found that risk of having avoidant, dependent, and
    paranoid personality disorders is greater for females than males,
    whereas risk of having antisocial personality disorder is greater for
    males than females. They found no gender differences in the risk of
    having obsessive-compulsive, schizoid, or histrionic personality
    disorders. In general, other risk factors for personality disorders
    included being Native American or Black, being a young adult, having
    low socioeconomic status, and being divorced, separated, widowed, or
    never married. With the exception of histrionic personality disorder,
    all the personality disorders assessed in the survey were associated
    with considerable emotional disability and impairment in social and
    occupational functioning.

    "The first-time availability of prevalence information on personality
    disorders at the national level is critically important," said Dr.
    Ting-Kai Li, M.D., Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
    Alcoholism. "Personality disorders consistently have been associated
    with substantial impairment and decreased psychological functioning
    among alcohol and drug abusers."

    "The NESARC was crucial in determining the scope of personality
    disorders confronting the nation and in identifying important
    subgroups of the population in greatest need of prevention efforts,"
    said lead author Bridget F. Grant, Ph.D., Ph.D., Chief, Laboratory of
    Epidemiology and Biometry, Division of Intramural Clinical and
    Biological Research, NIAAA.

    In a separate paper, the authors report findings on the prevalence and
    co-occurrence of alcohol, drug, mood, and anxiety disorders; the study
    will appear in the current Archives of General Psychiatry [Volume 61,
    August 2004: 807-816].

                                     ###

    Full text of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry article is available
    to media representatives from the NIAAA Press Office and to journal
    subscribers at [4]www.psychiatrist.com. For interviews with Dr. Grant,
    please call the NIAAA Press Office.

    The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a component of
    the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human
    Services, conducts and supports approximately 90 percent of the U.S.
    research on the causes, consequences, prevention, and treatment of
    alcohol abuse, alcoholism, and alcohol problems and disseminates
    research findings to science, practitioner, policy making, and general
    audiences. Additional alcohol research information and publications
    are available at [5]www.niaaa.nih.gov.

References

    2. mailto:ab118a at nih.gov
    3. http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/
    4. http://www.psychiatrist.com/