Personality disorders in a college student population in India

Pages: 1022-1023
Shweta Tandon (Sports Psychologist, Sports Injury Centre Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi)
Kiran Rao (Department of Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS, Bangalore)

In India, a few studies have been conducted on the prevalence of personality disorders. Early identification of individuals who may be vulnerable to developing a personality disorder will help in designing appropriate intervention modules. The aim of the study was to study the prevalence of possible personality disorders in young adults. The sample comprised of 400 male and female postgraduate college students from Bangalore. The study was cross sectional in design. The participants were administered the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire 4+ and the General Health Questionnaire-28. Twenty one percent (N=85) had scores above the cut off on PDQ 4+ indicating the presence of a possible personality disorder. Majority of these individuals (N=73, 86%) did not report significant psychological distress. The study suggests that it may be possible to identify individuals who may be vulnerable to developing personality disorders. This information could be used in designing appropriate campus based intervention modules.