Individual symptoms or categorical diagnoses? An epidemiological examination of the association between alcohol use, personality disorders, and psychological symptoms.

Given the high comorbidity among psychological disorders, and in particular, personality disorders (PDs) and alcohol use disorder, screening and intervention efforts may benefit from the inclusion of transdiagnostic symptoms. Extant symptoms can improve the ability to efficiently gather important information about an individual that relates to a number of conditions, behaviors, and potential problems. Further, less time is needed to assess these symptoms, as compared with full diagnostic criteria sets, which have limitations of their own. This study examined the utility of two PD symptoms, affective instability and impulsivity, as compared with relevant categorical diagnoses (antisocial and borderline PDs), to provide useful information about alcohol use disorder and heaviness of alcohol consumption. Individual symptoms were comparable to the categorical diagnoses in predicting important treatment targets. In an effort to identify and treat comorbidities in a more efficient way, future research should investigate the applicability of these individual symptoms, and other transdiagnostic targets, to screening and brief intervention protocols. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).