Co-occurrence of Personality Disorders in Persons With Kleptomania: A Preliminary Investigation

This study was conducted to examine the co-occurrence of personality disorders in a group of persons with kleptomania. Twenty-eight subjects with DSM-IV kleptomania were administered the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Personality Disorders and a semistructured interview to assess demographics and clinical characteristics. Twelve subjects with kleptomania (42.9%) met criteria for at least one personality disorder. The most common were: paranoid (n 5; 17.9%), schizoid (n 3; 10.7%), and borderline (n 3; 10.7%). Subjects with kleptomania combined with personality disorders had an earlier age of onset of stealing behavior (13.4 5.6 years compared with 27.4 14.2 years in those who had kleptomania only; t 3.225; df 26; p .006). Severity of kleptomania symptoms did not differ among the Axis II comorbidities. Persons with kleptomania appear to have a high prevalence of personality disorders. Further studies are needed to understand the relationship of kleptomania to personality.