[Effectiveness of outpatient treatment for alcoholism - impact of personality disorders on course of treatment].

Personality disorders (PS) frequently exist as comorbid disorder in alcoholism. However, the impact of comorbid personality disorder on the treatment and course of alcoholism still remains unclear. On that background, the present study on the efficacy of an intensive out-patient therapy for alcohol-dependents investigated the influence of comorbid personality disorder on the relapse and dropout rate during the treatment phase in 102 patients. Personality disorders were assessed with the SCID-II (DSM-IV). On a descriptive level results indicate that comorbidity with negativistic personality disorder and Cluster B PS may adversely affect the course of treatment. Statistical analyses, however, revealed that the observed differences in the type or number of personality disorders between patients with or without relapse resp. between patients with or without dropout failed to reach statistical significance. Thus, we conclude that the relevance of comorbid personality disorder on the course of alcoholism may be overestimated. The present results indicate that patients with comorbid personality disorder can be successfully integrated into a high-structured outpatient therapy.