Intermittent explosive disorder and other psychiatric co-morbidity among court-referred and self-referred aggressive drivers

We assessed possible Axis I and Axis II disorders in two groups of aggressive drivers (n=20, court-referred; n=10, self-referred) and 30 non-aggressive driver controls, using the SCID and SCID-II. Aggressive drivers were more likely than controls to be positive for any Axis I and Axis II disorders. They were also more likely to meet the criteria for Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), current or past alcohol or substance abuse or dependence and Antisocial PD and Borderline PD. The self-referred aggressive drivers were more likely than court-referred aggressive drivers to meet the criteria for a current or past Anxiety Disorder. Re-analysis of aggressive driver data on the basis of presence or absence of IED revealed differences only in Axis II disorders: those with IED were more likely to meet the criteria for any Axis II disorder and Antisocial PD.