What Should Become of Depressive Personality Disorder in DSM-V?

Abstract

Depressive personality disorder (DPD) has been under consideration for inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders for many years. The wealth of empirical studies on the validity of DPD has raised many questions about the validity of the DPD construct and its measures. This article specifically reviews studies on the validity of that construct and how it is measured. Although the evidence supports the idea that DPD is a viable diagnostic category, there remain significant challenges to its assessment. These findings are discussed in the context of some potential changes that may occur in the classification and diagnosis of personality disorders in DSM-V.

Keywords:

• clinical utility
• depressive personality
• diagnostic classification

Notes

*The TCI and NEO-PI-R are measures that assess for personality traits and features believed to represent DPD, but not for DPD per se

*Spectrum disorders have been articulated for other PDs. For instance, social phobia and avoidant PD could be considered variants of a spectrum of interpersonal anxiety;⁶⁶ bipolar disorder and borderline PD as variants of a spectrum of affective instability;⁶⁷, ⁶⁸ and schizotypal PD as part of a spectrum of schizophrenic pathology.⁶⁹