Longitudinal Course and Outcome of Personality Disorders

The notion of personality disorders (PDs) as stable disorders has persisted despite traditional follow-up studies showing that fewer than 50% of patients diagnosed with PDs retained these diagnoses over time. Because these studies had methodological limitations, four more rigorous large-scale studies of the naturalistic course of PDs have been conducted. The results indicate (1) personality psychopathology improves over time at unexpectedly significant rates; (2) maladaptive personality traits are more stable than PD diagnoses; (3) although personality psychopathology improves, residual effects can be seen in the form of persistent functional impairment, continuing behavioral problems, reduced future quality of life, and ongoing Axis I psychopathology; (4) improvement in personality psychopathology may eventually be associated with reduction in ongoing personal and social burden.