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Psychophysiological and behavioural characteristics of individuals comorbid for antisocial personality disorder and schizophrenia-spectrum personality disorder

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA

Correspondence: Robert Schug, Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Seeley G. Mudd Building, Room 501, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1061, USA. Tel: +1 213 821 5211; email: schug{at}usc.edu

Declaration of interest None. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

Background Few studies have examined people with comorbid schizophrenia-spectrum personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder, a subgroup who may differ psychophysiologically and behaviourally from those with either condition alone.

Aims To test whether individuals with both types of personality disorder are particularly characterised by reduced orienting and arousal and by increased criminal offending.

Method In a community adult sample, self-reported crime and skin conductance orienting were collected on four diagnostic groups: schizophrenia-spectrum personality disorder only; antisocial personality disorder only; comorbidity of the two disorders; and a control group.

Results The comorbid group showed significantly higher levels of criminal behaviour than the other three groups. They also showed reduced skin conductance orienting to neutral tones compared with the other groups, and significantly reduced arousal and orienting to significant stimuli compared with the control group.

Conclusions Reduced orienting may reflect a neurocognitive attentional risk factor for both antisocial and schizotypal personality disorders that indirectly reflects a common neural substrate to these disorders.

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