Association of antisocial personality disorder and substance disorder morbidity in a clinical sample. 2005

Joseph Westermeyer, and Paul Thuras
Minneapolis VAMC, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

OBJECTIVE The aims were to determine among patients with substance use disorder (SUD) whether those with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) manifest less, the same, or more of the following: 1) temporal course of substance use, 2) severity of substance-related symptoms and problems, 3) familial SUD, 4) number and type of SUD diagnoses, and 5) extent of SUD treatment, as compared to patients without ASPD. DESIGN AND DEFINITION: Scheduled interviews using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) criteria were used to determine ASPD, which required childhood conduct disorder plus adult antisocial behavior. Clinicians blind to the ASPD assessment collected the remainder of the data. METHODS Alcohol-drug treatment programs were located in two university medical centers. METHODS Six hundred and six voluntary patients aged 18 and older met diagnostic criteria for SUD. RESULTS SUD patients with ASPD reported more substance-related problems in seven out of eight areas of the interview-based Minnesota-Substance Abuse Problems scale. On a self-rated scale, the Michigan Assessment Screening Test/Alcohol-Drug, the difference was unremarkable. The ASPD group reported slightly, but significantly, more relatives with SUD. Lifetime use of tobacco and most illicit drugs was greater in the ASPD group. Age at first use of alcohol and tobacco was less in the ASPD group, but age at first use of other substances did not show a difference. Indicators of SUD course, such as years of use, days of use in the last year, duration of periods of abstinence, and number of self-help efforts showed no differences between the two groups. Types and numbers of SUD diagnoses showed no difference. However, all treatment indicators (i.e., lifetime number of admissions, modalities of care, days of care, and cost of care) were significantly higher in the ASPD group. A regression analysis revealed that family and legal problems remained strongly associated with ASPD, but other substance-related problems and SUD treatment dropped out. CONCLUSIONS Despite the many similarities in SUD among those with and without ASPD, the morbidity in the ASPD as measured by number and types of substance-related problems and by all treatment variables is considerably greater. Legal and family problems appear to be powerfully associated with ASPD and predictive of other problems as well as SUD treatment.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D000987 Antisocial Personality Disorder A personality disorder whose essential feature is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood. The individual must be at least age 18 and must have a history of some symptoms of CONDUCT DISORDER before age 15. (From DSM-IV, 1994). Antisocial Behavior,Deviant Behavior,Dyssocial Behavior,Personality Disorder, Antisocial,Psychopathic Personality,Sociopathic Personality,Antisocial Personality,Antisocial Behaviors,Antisocial Personalities,Antisocial Personality Disorders,Behavior, Antisocial,Behavior, Deviant,Behavior, Dyssocial,Behaviors, Antisocial,Behaviors, Deviant,Behaviors, Dyssocial,Deviant Behaviors,Disorder, Antisocial Personality,Disorders, Antisocial Personality,Dyssocial Behaviors,Personalities, Antisocial,Personalities, Psychopathic,Personalities, Sociopathic,Personality Disorders, Antisocial,Personality, Antisocial,Personality, Psychopathic,Personality, Sociopathic,Psychopathic Personalities,Sociopathic Personalities
D012720 Severity of Illness Index Levels within a diagnostic group which are established by various measurement criteria applied to the seriousness of a patient's disorder. Illness Index Severities,Illness Index Severity
D015897 Comorbidity The presence of co-existing or additional diseases with reference to an initial diagnosis or with reference to the index condition that is the subject of study. Comorbidity may affect the ability of affected individuals to function and also their survival; it may be used as a prognostic indicator for length of hospital stay, cost factors, and outcome or survival.
D016015 Logistic Models Statistical models which describe the relationship between a qualitative dependent variable (that is, one which can take only certain discrete values, such as the presence or absence of a disease) and an independent variable. A common application is in epidemiology for estimating an individual's risk (probability of a disease) as a function of a given risk factor. Logistic Regression,Logit Models,Models, Logistic,Logistic Model,Logistic Regressions,Logit Model,Model, Logistic,Model, Logit,Models, Logit,Regression, Logistic,Regressions, Logistic
D019966 Substance-Related Disorders Disorders related to substance use or abuse. Chemical Dependence,Drug Abuse,Drug Addiction,Drug Dependence,Drug Habituation,Drug Use Disorder,Drug Use Disorders,Organic Mental Disorders, Substance-Induced,Substance Abuse,Substance Dependence,Substance Related Disorder,Substance Use,Substance Use Disorder,Substance Use Disorders,Prescription Drug Abuse,Substance Addiction,Abuse, Drug,Abuse, Prescription Drug,Abuse, Substance,Addiction, Drug,Addiction, Substance,Chemical Dependences,Dependence, Chemical,Dependence, Drug,Dependence, Substance,Dependences, Chemical,Disorder, Drug Use,Disorder, Substance Related,Disorder, Substance Use,Disorders, Substance Related,Drug Abuse, Prescription,Habituation, Drug,Organic Mental Disorders, Substance Induced,Related Disorder, Substance,Related Disorders, Substance,Substance Abuses,Substance Uses,Use, Substance
D039721 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Categorical classification of MENTAL DISORDERS based on criteria sets with defining features. It is produced by the American Psychiatric Association. (DSM-IV, page xxii) DSM-IV,DSM-II,DSM-III,DSM-V

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