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Seven-Year Course of Borderline Personality Disorder Features: Borderline Pathology Is as Unstable as Depression during Adolescence.

ABSTRACT: Borderline personality disorder (PD) historically is construed as an unremitting condition with poor prognosis. The present study takes a new approach to examining stability and change in borderline PD by explaining symptom expression in terms of an unchanging foundation-termed borderline proneness-on one hand, and transitory influences on the other. We monitored borderline PD symptoms annually in a large sample of high-risk adolescent girls (N = 2,450) from ages 14 to 20. Trait-state-occasion modeling revealed that just over half (52-57%) of borderline PD symptom variation was attributable to fixed borderline proneness, whereas the remainder was subject to change across yearly measurement occasions. This degree of stability was no larger than the corresponding estimate for depression, a condition known for its variable course. Our results indicate that, contrary to its reputation, borderline pathology is not set in stone, and it fluctuates in response to situational influences.

SUBMITTER: Conway CC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5597057 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Seven-Year Course of Borderline Personality Disorder Features: Borderline Pathology Is as Unstable as Depression during Adolescence.

Conway Christopher C CC Hipwell Alison E AE Stepp Stephanie D SD

Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science 20170524 4

Borderline personality disorder (PD) historically is construed as an unremitting condition with poor prognosis. The present study takes a new approach to examining stability and change in borderline PD by explaining symptom expression in terms of an unchanging foundation-termed borderline proneness-on one hand, and transitory influences on the other. We monitored borderline PD symptoms annually in a large sample of high-risk adolescent girls (<i>N</i> = 2,450) from ages 14 to 20. Trait-state-occ ...[more]

PMID: 28920008

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Project description:BackgroundStudies on adults suggest that the presence of comorbid depression and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is associated with an elevated risk of self-harming behaviours and that self-harming behaviours, when present, will have higher severity. This comorbidity, furthermore, complicates clinical assessments, which may be an obstacle to early identification and proper intervention. Adolescents who self-harm frequently report high levels of depressive symptoms, but this is often not reflected in the clinicians' assessment. BPD is still a controversial diagnosis in young people, and less is known about the clinical significance of comorbid BPD in adolescent populations.The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of BPD on the assessment and course of self-reported and clinician-rated depression in self-harming adolescents before and after a treatment period of 19 weeks. We hypothesized that, compared to adolescents without BPD, adolescents with BPD would self-report higher levels of depression at baseline, and that they would have less reduction in depressive symptoms.MethodsA total of 39 adolescents with depressive disorders and BPD-traits participating in a randomised controlled trial on treatment of self-harm with Dialectical Behaviour Therapy adapted for Adolescents or enhanced usual care were included. Adolescents with full-syndrome BPD (n = 10) were compared with adolescents with sub-threshold BPD (n = 29) with respect to their self-reported and clinician-rated depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation and global level of functioning at baseline, and after 19 weeks of treatment (end of trial period).ResultsAt baseline, adolescents with full-syndrome BPD self-reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation compared to adolescents with sub-threshold BPD, whereas the two groups were rated as equally depressed by the clinicians. At trial completion, all participants had a significant reduction in suicidal ideation, however, adolescents with BPD had a poorer treatment outcome in terms of significantly higher levels of clinician-rated and self-reported depressive symptoms and significantly lower levels of global functioning. At baseline as well as at trial completion, self-reported and clinician-rated levels of depressive symptoms were not significantly correlated in adolescents with BPD. In a multiple linear regression analysis, a diagnosis of BPD and a high baseline level of clinician-rated depressive symptoms predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms at trial completion, whereas receiving Dialectical Behaviour Therapy predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms.ConclusionOur findings suggest that a diagnosis of BPD may have a strong impact on the assessment and course of depressive symptoms in self-harming adolescents. Although rated as equally depressed, adolescents with BPD self-reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation at baseline, and showed a poorer outcome in terms of higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower levels of global functioning at trial completion compared to adolescents with sub-threshold BPD. Our findings suggest that receiving Dialectical Behaviour Therapy could lead to a greater reduction in depressive symptoms, although firm conclusions cannot be drawn given the limited sample size.Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of underestimating the severity of depression in the context of emotional and behavioral dysregulation. Providing BPD specific treatments seems to be important to achieve sufficient treatment response with regard to depressive symptoms in adolescents with BPD-traits.Trial registrationTreatment for Adolescents With Deliberate Self Harm; NCT00675129, registered May 2008.

Project description:Sleep disorders, such as insomnia and nightmares, are commonly associated with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) in adulthood. Whether nightmares and sleep-onset and maintenance problems predate BPD symptoms earlier in development is unknown. We addressed this gap in the literature using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Participants included 6050 adolescents (51.4 % female) who completed the UK Childhood Interview for DSM-IV BPD at 11 to 12 years of age. Nightmares and sleep onset and maintenance problems were prospectively assessed via mother report when children were 2.5, 3.5, 4.8 and 6.8 years of age. Psychopathological (i.e., emotional temperament; psychiatric diagnoses; and emotional and behavioural problems) and psychosocial (i.e., abuse, maladaptive parenting, and family adversity) confounders were assessed via mother report. In logistic regressions, persistent nightmares (i.e., regular nightmares at 3 or more time-points) were significantly associated with BPD symptoms following adjustment for sleep onset and maintenance problems and all confounders (Adjusted Odds Ratio = 1.62; 95 % Confidence Interval = 1.12 to 2.32). Persistent sleep onset and maintenance problems were not significantly associated with BPD symptoms. In path analysis controlling for all associations between confounders, persistent nightmares independently predicted BPD symptoms (Probit co-efficient [β] = 0.08, p = 0.013). Emotional and behavioural problems significantly mediated the association between nightmares and BPD (β =0.016, p < 0.001), while nightmares significantly mediated associations between emotional temperament (β = 0.001, p = 0.018), abuse (β = 0.015, p = 0.018), maladaptive parenting (β = 0.002, p = 0.021) and subsequent BPD. These findings tentatively support that childhood nightmares may potentially increase the risk of BPD symptoms in early adolescence via a number of aetiological pathways. If replicated, the current findings could have important implications for early intervention, and assist clinicians in the identification of children at risk of developing BPD.

Dataset Information

Seven-Year Course of Borderline Personality Disorder Features: Borderline Pathology Is as Unstable as Depression during Adolescence.

Publications

Seven-Year Course of Borderline Personality Disorder Features: Borderline Pathology Is as Unstable as Depression during Adolescence.

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