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Avoidant Personality Disorder

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Synonyms

Avoidant personality disorder (AVPD), which has been described within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) nomenclature (see below), is similar – although not identical – to anxious personality disorder within the International Classification of Diseases system (World Health Organization [WHO] 1992).

Short Description or Definition

In the most recent DSM revision, the DSM, Fifth Edition (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA] 2013), AVPD is classified as a personality disorder and is described as “a pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation that begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts” (p. 673). As for all personality disorders, “this pattern of inner experience and behavior… deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture, is pervasive and inflexible,… is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment” (p. 645).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, 100 S. San Mateo Dr., San Francisco, USA

    Daniel F. Becker

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  1. Daniel F. Becker
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Correspondence to Daniel F. Becker .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Fred R. Volkmar

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Becker, D.F. (2018). Avoidant Personality Disorder. In: Volkmar, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_1374-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_1374-3

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6435-8

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