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Current Psychiatry Reports
Published in: Current Psychiatry Reports 12/2018

01-12-2018 | Personality Disorders (K Bertsch, Section Editor)

Sex Differences in Personality Disorders

Authors: Barbara Schulte Holthausen, Ute Habel

Published in: Current Psychiatry Reports | Issue 12/2018

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This review aims to give an overview on the current literature on sex differences in personality disorders and to highlight the potential of dimensional approaches.

Recent Findings

Empirical findings on sex differences in personality disorders are inconsistent and appear to be highly dependent on study settings. Current studies have mainly focused on borderline and antisocial personality disorder and the question whether these are sex-specific representations of a common substrate. In general, sexes differ in the manifestation of personality disorders as well as in comorbidities. Criticism of the established categorical model led to an additional dimensional model of personality disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.

Summary

Investigations on sex differences in personality disorders are sparse and mainly limited to antisocial and borderline personality disorder. The introduction of a dimensional model offers the chance to re-think the construct of “personality disorder” and thereby also opens the possibility for a better understanding of sex differences.
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Metadata
Title
Sex Differences in Personality Disorders
Authors
Barbara Schulte Holthausen
Ute Habel
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Current Psychiatry Reports / Issue 12/2018
Print ISSN: 1523-3812
Electronic ISSN: 1535-1645
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-018-0975-y

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