Familiality of DSM-III Dramatic and Anxious Personality Clusters

This double-blind family study was an investigation of the familiality of DSM-III avoidant, dependent, borderline, anxious cluster, and flamboyant cluster personality disorders (PDs) using a standardized DSM-III axis II measure. With the exception of borderline personality, there are no previous reports in this area. Avoidant, dependent, and anxious cluster PDs showed significant familiality. Borderline showed a trend in the direction of familiality but did not reach significance (p = .07). Relatives of flamboyant cluster PDs demonstrated significant but heterogeneous personality disorder pathology.