August, 2004
A new study suggests that personality disorders are relatively common in the United States. Researchers estimate that 30.8 million American adults (14.8 percent) meet standard diagnostic criteria for at least one personality disorder. The study is called the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). It is a representative survey of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population aged 18 years and older. More than 43,000 American adults participated in the survey.
The NESARC found that personality disorders are pervasive in the general population:
- 16.4 million individuals (7.9 percent of all adults) had obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
- 9.2 million (4.4 percent) had paranoid personality disorder
- 7.6 million (3.6 percent) had antisocial personality disorder
- 6.5 million (3.1 percent) had schizoid personality disorder
- 4.9 million (2.4 percent) had avoidant personality disorder
- 3.8 million (1.8 percent) had histrionic personality disorder
- 1.0 million (0.5 percent) had dependent personality disorder.
The risk of having avoidant, dependent, and paranoid personality disorders is greater for females, while the risk of having antisocial personality disorder is greater for males. There were no gender differences in the risk of having obsessive-compulsive, schizoid, or histrionic personality disorders. Other risk factors for personality disorders included being Native American or Black, being a young adult, having low socioeconomic status, and being divorced, separated, widowed, or never married. With the exception of histrionic personality disorder, all the personality disorders were associated with emotional disability and impairment in social and occupational functioning.
Reference: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (Volume 65:948-958).
Last updated 11/5/05
