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13.2: Personality Disorders - Epidemiology

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    161490

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    Learning Objectives
    • Describe the epidemiology of Cluster A personality disorders.
    • Describe the epidemiology of Cluster B personality disorders.
    • Describe the epidemiology of Cluster C personality disorders.

    Cluster A

    Disorders within Cluster A have a prevalence rate of around 2-5%. More specifically, according to Part II of the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, the estimated prevalence of paranoid personality disorder was 2.3%, schizoid personality disorder was 4.9%, and schizotypal personality disorder was 3.3%. Schizotypal personality disorder has been found to be more common in men while research on schizoid personality disorder leans to no gender difference in prevalence. As for paranoid personality disorder, it appears to be more common in men though the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related conditions found it to be more common in women (APA, 2022).

    Cluster B

    Using Part II of the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, it was found that for Cluster B personality disorders prevalence rates were: 0.6% for antisocial, 1.4% for borderline, 0.0% for histrionic, and 0.0% for narcissistic. It should be noted that the prevalence of histrionic personality disorder was 1.8% and narcissistic was 6.2% in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

    As for sex-and gender-related differences, antisocial personality disorder is three times more common in men and they present with irritability/aggression and reckless disregard for the safety of others more often than women. Borderline personality disorder is more common among women in clinical samples while community samples show no difference in prevalence, likely due to the tendency of women to seek help leading them to clinical settings. Histrionic personality disorder is more predominant in females in clinical settings, though some studies using structured assessments point to no difference in prevalence rates across the genders. Narcissistic personality disorder occurs more in men than women.

    Cluster C

    Using Part II of the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, it was found that for Cluster C personality disorders prevalence rates were: 5.2% for avoidant, 0.6% for dependent, and 2.4% for OCPD. Women are more likely to be diagnosed with avoidant and dependent personality disorders while OCPD appears to be equally prevalent in women and men.

    For expanded information on the prevalence of the various personality disorders from the DSM-5-TR, please see Table 13. 1 below.

    Table-13.1.jpg

    Key Takeaways

    You should have learned the following in this section:

    • Prevalence rates of Cluster A personality disorders range from 2% to 5% with schizotypal being more common in men and there being no difference in schizoid and conflicting evidence for paranoid.
    • Prevalence rates of Cluster B personality disorders range from 0.0% to 1.4% and antisocial and narcissistic are more common in men with borderline and histrionic being more common in women, in general.
    • Prevalence rates of Cluster C personality disorders range from 0.6% to 5.2% with women being more likely to be diagnosed with avoidant and dependent personality disorders and OCPD appearing to be equally prevalent in women and men.
    Review Questions
    1. What is the difference in prevalence rates across the three clusters? Are there any trends among gender?
    2. Identify the most commonly occurring personality disorder. Which is the least common?

    This page titled 13.2: Personality Disorders - Epidemiology is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Alexis Bridley and Lee W. Daffin Jr. via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.