Kleptomania: clinical characteristics and associated psychopathology.

A review of research on kleptomania--the syndrome of compulsive stealing--suggests that kleptomania may be a common disorder, especially among women, and that it may frequently be associated with other forms of psychopathology, such as mood, anxiety, and eating disorders. There appears to be a range of abnormal or non-antisocial stealing behaviours, all with impulsive and/or compulsive features. Kleptomania, as defined by modern criteria, may represent the most compulsive variant. Kleptomania may be related to mood disorder, and might be a form of 'affective spectrum disorder'.