Three-Year Follow-Up of Women With the Sole Diagnosis of Depressive Personality Disorder: Subsequent Development of Dysthymia and Major Depression

OBJECTIVE: The authors sought to determine whether subjects with the sole diagnosis of depressive personality disorder are at higher risk for developing dysthymia and major depression than are healthy comparison subjects. METHOD: Eighty-five women with depressive personality disorder who had no comorbid axis I or axis II disorders and 85 age-matched healthy comparison women were initially recruited and reinterviewed 3 years later to evaluate the cumulative incidence rate of dysthymia and major depression. RESULTS: At the 3-year follow-up assessment, the women with depressive personality disorder had a significantly greater odds ratio for developing dysthymia than did the healthy comparison women. The difference in odds ratios for the development of major depression between women with and without depressive personality disorder did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: The present study, the first to determine the subsequent development of dysthymia and major depression in subjects with the sole diagnosis of depressive personality disorder, found that subjects with depressive personality disorder had a greater risk of developing dysthymia than did healthy comparison subjects at 3-year follow-up. Findings of the current study also suggest that depressive personality disorder may mediate the effects of a family history of axis I unipolar mood disorders.