Personality Disorders Classification and Symptoms in Cocaine and Opioid Addicts

The extent to which personality disorders (PDs) and associated symptom criteria were found among 117 cocaine- and opioid-dependent men selected from 350 consecutive inpatient admissions to a Veterans Administration Drug Dependence Treatment Unit over a 30-month period was examined using structured interview methodology. Drug groups were distinguished by higher rates of antisocial and borderline symptomatology rather than by features associated with other PDs. Cocaine users showed lower rates of borderline and adult antisocial features and reported less subjective distress than opioid addicts, and different constellations of target problem features emerged for the two groups.