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A Longitudinal Study of the 10-Year Course of Interpersonal Features in Borderline Personality Disorder

Year: 2010

Type: article

Abstract: The literature on borderline personality disorder (BPD) describes interpersonal disturbances as a core sector of psychopathology. The longitudinal course of these features remains poorly understood. Our aim is to describe the course of interpersonal features of BPD in a more detailed way than has been done previously. Twenty interpersonal aspects of borderline psychopathology were assessed using two reliable semi-structured diagnostic interviews at baseline and at five successive two-year follow-up waves in the ongoing McLean Study for Adult Development. Behaviorally-oriented features, such as recurrent breakups, sadism, demandingness, entitlement, regression in treatment, and boundary violations, remitted quickly and were rare at the end of follow-up. The interpersonal features slowest to remit were affective responses to being alone, active caretaking, discomfort with care, and dependency. The behavioral interpersonal features of BPD remit rapidly, while core affectively-oriented features related to intolerance of aloneness and conflicts over dependency are more persistent.

Source: Journal of Personality Disorders

DOI: 10.1521/pedi.2010.24.3.365

Authors: Lois W. Choi-Kain, Mary C. Zanarini, Frances R. Frankenburg, Garrett M. Fitzmaurice, D. Bradford Reich

Institutions: McLean Hospital, Harvard University

Language: English

Topic: Personality Disorders and Psychopathology

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education, National Institute of Mental Health