Antisocial traits in psychiatrically ill veterans without antisocial personality disorder: relationship to Axis I disorders and effects on functioning

Abstract

The prevalence of antisocial traits was investigated in a group of veterans who were in treatment at an out-patient psychiatric clinic and who did not meet diagnostic criteria for an antisocial personality disorder. Standardized DSM-III-R interviews were used to diagnose Axis I disorders and antisocial personality disorders and traits. Frequencies of antisocial traits were compared between patients and controls as well as between diagnostic subgroups in the clinical population. Odds ratios were used to assess the effect of antisocial traits on several standardized measures of functioning. There was no overall difference in the dimensional measure of antisocial traits between the clinical and normal groups. There were trends for the frequency of individual traits to vary by Axis I diagnosis. The amount of antisocial traits (measured dimensionally) negatively affected measures of functioning for the overall clinical population. Different specific antisocial traits were associated with trends towards poorer functioning in the alcohol, major depression and post-traumatic stress syndrome subgroups. It is recommended that future research in the area of antisocial traits pay careful attention to the possible negative effects on functioning of subthreshold antisocial traits and also to Axis I comorbidity. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.