Scaled ratings of DSM-III personality disorders

The authors describe the use of a 4-point rating scale for DSM-III axis II categories in a hospital-based outpatient clinic. Fifty-one percent of the sample met the criteria for one or more DSM-III personality disorders. This increased to 88% when the sample also included patients rated as having "some traits" or "almost meets DSM-III criteria." Frequency distributions were obtained for each of the 11 personality disorders, and a factor analysis was derived that was similar to the groupings described in DSM-III.