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Background: This study addresses the strength of associations between trichotillomania (TTM) and other DSM-IV Axis I conditions in a large sample (n = 2606) enriched for familial obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), to inform TTM classification., Methods: We identified participants with TTM in the Johns Hopkins OCD Family Study (153 families) and the OCD Collaborative Genetics Study, a six-site genetic linkage study of OCD (487 families). We used logistic regression (with generalized estimating equations) to assess the strength of associations between TTM and other DSM-IV disorders., Results: TTM had excess comorbidity with a number of conditions from different DSM-IV chapters, including tic disorders, alcohol dependence, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, impulse-control disorders, and bulimia nervosa. However, association strengths (odds ratios) were highest for kleptomania (6.6), pyromania (5.8), OCD (5.6), skin picking disorder (4.4), bulimia nervosa (3.5), and pathological nail biting (3.4)., Conclusions: TTM is comorbid with a number of psychiatric conditions besides OCD, and it is strongly associated with other conditions involving impaired impulse control. Though DSM-5 includes TTM as an OCD-related disorder, its comorbidity pattern also emphasizes the impulsive, appetitive aspects of this condition that may be relevant to classification., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Hoarding behavior may distinguish a clinically and possibly etiologically distinct subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Little is known about the relationship between executive dysfunction and hoarding in individuals with OCD., Methods: The study sample included 431 adults diagnosed with DSM-IV OCD. Participants were assessed by clinicians for Axis I disorders, personality disorders, indecision, and hoarding. Executive functioning domains were evaluated using a self-report instrument, the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version (BRIEF-A). We compared scores on these domains in the 143 hoarding and 288 non-hoarding participants, separately in men and women. We used logistic regression to evaluate relationships between executive function scores and hoarding, and correlation and linear regression analyses to evaluate relationships between executive function scores and hoarding severity, in women., Results: In men, the hoarding group had a significantly higher mean score than the non-hoarding group only on the shift dimension. In contrast, in women, the hoarding group had higher mean scores on the shift scale and all metacognition dimensions, i.e., those that assess the ability to systematically solve problems via planning and organization. The relationships in women between hoarding and scores on initiating tasks, planning/organizing, organization of materials, and the metacognition index were independent of other clinical features. Furthermore, the severity of hoarding in women correlated most strongly with metacognition dimensions., Conclusions: Self-reported deficits in planning and organization are associated with the occurrence and severity of hoarding in women, but not men, with OCD. This may have implications for elucidating the etiology of, and developing effective treatments for, hoarding in OCD., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Clinicians have long considered doubt to be a fundamental characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the clinical relevance of doubt in OCD has not been addressed., Methods: Participants included 1182 adults with OCD who had participated in family and genetic studies of OCD. We used a clinical measure of the severity of doubt, categorized as none, mild, moderate, severe, or extreme. We evaluated the relationship between doubt and OCD clinical features, Axis I disorders, personality and personality disorder dimensions, impairment, and treatment response., Results: The severity of doubt was inversely related to the age at onset of OCD symptoms. Doubt was strongly related to the number of checking symptoms and, to a lesser extent, to the numbers of contamination/cleaning and hoarding symptoms. Doubt also was related to the lifetime prevalence of recurrent major depression and generalized anxiety disorder; to the numbers of avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder traits; and to neuroticism and introversion. Moreover, doubt was strongly associated with global impairment and poor response to cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT), even adjusting for OCD severity and other correlates of doubt., Conclusions: Doubt is associated with important clinical features of OCD, including impairment and cognitive-behavioral treatment response., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Hoarding behavior may indicate a clinically and possibly etiologically distinct subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Empirical evidence supports a relationship between hoarding and emotional over-attachment to objects. However, little is known about the relationship between hoarding and parental attachment in OCD., Method: The study sample included 894 adults diagnosed with DSM-IV OCD who had participated in family and genetic studies of OCD. Participants were assessed for Axis I disorders, personality disorders, and general personality dimensions. The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) was used to assess dimensions of perceived parental rearing (care, overprotection, and control). We compared parental PBI scores in the 334 hoarding and 560 non-hoarding participants, separately in men and women. We used logistic regression to evaluate the relationship between parenting scores and hoarding in women, adjusting for other clinical features associated with hoarding., Results: In men, there were no significant differences between hoarding and non-hoarding groups in maternal or paternal parenting scores. In women, the hoarding group had a lower mean score on maternal care (23.4 vs. 25.7, p<0.01); a higher mean score on maternal protection (9.4 vs. 7.7, p<0.001); and a higher mean score on maternal control (7.0 vs. 6.2, p<0.05), compared to the non-hoarding group. The magnitude of the relationships between maternal bonding dimensions and hoarding in women did not change after adjustment for other clinical features. Women who reported low maternal care/high maternal protection had significantly greater odds of hoarding compared to women with high maternal care/low maternal protection (OR=2.54, 95% CI=1.60-4.02, p<0.001)., Conclusions: Perceived poor maternal care, maternal overprotection, and maternal overcontrol are associated with hoarding in women with OCD. Parenting dimensions are not related to hoarding in men. These findings provide further support for a hoarding subtype of OCD and for sex-specific differences in etiologic pathways for hoarding in OCD., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Preclinical and human family studies clearly link monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) to aggression and antisocial personality (ASP). The 30-base pair variable number tandem repeat in the MAOA promoter regulates MAOA levels, but its effects on ASP in humans are unclear., Methods: We evaluated the association of the variable number tandem repeat of the MAOA promoter with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, ASP disorder (ASPD) traits in a community sample of 435 participants from the Hopkins Epidemiology of Personality Disorders Study., Results: We did not find an association between the activity of the MAOA allele and ASPD traits; however, among whites, when subjects with a history of childhood physical abuse were excluded, the remaining subjects with low-activity alleles had ASPD trait counts that were 41% greater than those with high-activity alleles (P < .05)., Conclusion: The high-activity MAOA allele is protective against ASP among whites with no history of physical abuse, lending support to a link between MAOA expression and antisocial behavior., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Determining how personality disorder traits and panic disorder and/or agoraphobia relate longitudinally is an important step in developing a comprehensive understanding of the etiology of panic/agoraphobia. In 1981, a probabilistic sample of adult (> or =18 years old) residents of east Baltimore were assessed for Axis I symptoms and disorders using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS); psychiatrists reevaluated a subsample of these participants and made Axis I diagnoses, as well as ratings of individual Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition personality disorder traits. Of the participants psychiatrists examined in 1981, 432 were assessed again in 1993 to 1996 using the DIS. Excluding participants who had baseline panic attacks or panic-like spells from the risk groups, baseline timidity (avoidant, dependent, and related traits) predicted first-onset DIS panic disorder or agoraphobia over the follow-up period. These results suggest that avoidant and dependent personality traits are predisposing factors, or at least markers of risk, for panic disorder and agoraphobia-not simply epiphenomena.

This study compared the latent structure of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition personality disorders (PDs) with the 5-factor model (FFM) of general personality dimensions. The subjects in the study were 742 community-residing individuals who participated in the Hopkins Epidemiology of Personality Disorders Study. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition PD traits were assessed by psychologists using the International Personality Disorder Examination, and PD dimensions were derived previously using dichotomous factor analysis. The Revised NEO Personality Inventory, a measure of the FFM, was administered to all subjects. The relationship between the 2 sets of personality-related constructs was examined using a construct validity framework and also using Pearson correlation coefficients, multiple linear regression models, and spline regression models. The 5 PD factors each exhibited small to moderate correlations with several NEO dimensions; together, the NEO domain and facet scores explained a fifth to a third of the variance in PD dimensions. Examples of nonlinear relationships between the personality dimensions were identified. There is a modest correspondence between the PD dimensions and FFM traits, and the traits of FFM only partially explain the variance of the PDs. Dimensional measures of general personality may be a suitable alternative to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Whether additional maladaptive traits would better define the domain of PDs remains an important objective for future research.

Aims: This study investigated the internal construct validity of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) personality disorders and explored alternative models to characterize the personality disorder traits. The relationship between the obtained personality disorder dimensions and measures of functioning and disability was examined., Methods: The subjects in the study were 742 community-residing individuals who participated in the Hopkins Epidemiology of Personality Disorders Study. The presence of DSM-IV personality disorder traits was assessed by psychologists using the International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE). Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on all the IPDE criteria for each of the 10 personality disorders using the Mplus program. Exploratory factor analysis of all personality disorder traits was completed using the same program. Factor scores were correlated with subjects' GAF ratings and number of missed days from work for physical and psychological reasons., Results: A single underlying factor was found for the IPDE item criteria of avoidant and dependent personality disorder, with less evidence for the other 8 personality disorders. Five factors were retained as the dimensional accounting for the personality disorder criteria. These factors were named compulsive, neurotic avoidant, aloof, impulsive callous, and egocentric. Of the five factors, 4 were associated with evidence of diminished functioning., Conclusions: The IPDE pathological personality traits did not empirically cluster according to the current DSM-IV axis II diagnostic system but instead defined 5 relatively independent PD symptom dimensions that were related to functional impairments.

Previous studies have implicated antisocial personality disorder in criminal behavior, but little is known about the association between "normal" personality dimensions and arrest. We investigated the relationships between these personality dimensions and prior arrest in a sample of adults participating in a longitudinal epidemiological study. Between 1993 and 1999, psychiatrists re-examined subjects who were originally interviewed in Baltimore in 1981 as part of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area study; the psychiatrists diagnosed axis I and axis II disorders according to DSM-IV criteria. A total of 611 subjects also completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R), which assesses five broad factors and 30 facets of normal personality. History of criminal arrest in Maryland in the period 1981 to 1993 was determined from the state criminal justice database. Student's t test and logistic regression were used to evaluate relationships between NEO personality scores and prior arrest. Controlling for demographic characteristics, alcohol or drug use disorders, and DSM-IV personality disorder scores, the odds of prior arrest increased with scores on angry hostility, impulsiveness, and excitement-seeking dimensions. Prior arrest was inversely related to scores on trust, straightforwardness, compliance, modesty, dutifulness, and deliberation dimensions. The results suggest that specific dimensions of normal personality are related to criminal arrest in the community.