Recollections of Parental Behavior and Axis II Cluster Diagnosis

A group of psychiatric outpatients was classified according to whether they met criteria for an Axis II DSM-III-R diagnosis in the A, B, or C clusters. The subjects were also administered the Parental Bonding Index (PBI), which measures recollections of parental care and overprotection during childhood. PBI scores were able to differentiate patients in the three clusters and a comparison group of patients without a specific Axis II diagnosis, but were not predictors of GAF scores. GAF scores were lower in the more disturbed personality clusters.