DSM-III personality disorders in generalized anxiety, panic/agoraphobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorders

In an earlier report, we stated that personality profiles of patients with panic disorder/agoraphobia (n = 187) and obsessive-compulsive disorder ([ODC] n = 51) were similar, albeit more pronounced in OCD, suggesting that the link between panic disorder/agoraphobia and DSM-III personality disorders (PDs) or traits may be nonspecific. The present report extends the comparative study of DSM-III PDs/traits, as assessed by the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ), by adding a third diagnostic group of 39 patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The personality assessment of panic disorder/agoraphobia and GAD patients yielded virtually identical results on the PDQ and Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI). Because GAD lacks the prominent panic, phobic, and obsessivecompulsive symptoms of other anxiety disorders, the present findings provide strong support for a nonspecific link between panic disorder/agoraphobia and DSM-III PDs/traits and for the presence of common personality characteristics in anxiety disorders.