Abstract
Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe disorder decreasing the functional ability of the patient and places an extensive burden on the healthcare system. There is a need for a reliable and valid instrument with which unstable recent BPD symptoms can be assessed in a short-term perspective, and which is applicable for clinical evaluations and treatment-outcome research. Aims: We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index IV (BPDSI-IV) interview in a sample of Finnish BPD patients. Our study is a part of the randomized, monocentre Oulu-BPD trial, which compares the effectiveness of treatment by experts with treatment as usual. Methods. Patients (n = 71) were enrolled in a 2-year randomized controlled trial. The BPDSI-IV was used to assess recent manifestations of BPD. The internal consistency of the BPDSI-IV in the Finnish patient sample was analysed with Cronbach's alpha coefficient and mean item-total correlation. Discriminant validity was examined by comparing the Finnish BPD patient sample with the Dutch BPD patient and non-patient samples. Results. The Cronbach's alphas ranged from 0.58 to 0.79 being highest in Dissociation and lowest in Relationships. A total of five subscales out of nine exceeded the acceptable limit (>= 0.70). With respect to mean item-total correlation, seven out of nine subscales had an acceptable correlation >= 0.30. Conclusions. The BPDSI-IV interview was applied for the first time in a Finnish sample of BPD patients. It appears to be a useful instrument for measuring and following the severity and the change of symptoms of patients with BPD.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 312-319 |
Journal | Nordic Journal of Psychiatry |
Volume | 67 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2013 |
Keywords
- Mental healthcare services
- psychometrics
- reliability
- validity