Gender differences in borderline personality disorder: findings from the collaborative longitudinal personality disorders study☆
Section snippets
Method
The present investigation is part of a larger study of the longitudinal course of PDs, the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study (CLPS). The aims, methods, and sample of CLPS have been extensively described elsewhere.35, 36 Briefly, participants between the ages of 18 and 45 were eligible to participate if they met criteria for schizotypal PD, borderline PD, avoidant PD, obsessive-compulsive PD, or a comparison group of major depressive disorder and no PD. Participants were
Demographics
Of the total CLPS sample of 668 subjects, 240 participants (175 women and 65 men) met DIPD-IV criteria for BPD. No significant difference was found for subjects’ age (mean [SD], = 31.55 [8.14] for women, 32.78 [7.57] for men). A summary of the remaining demographics for each gender is found in Table 1. No significant differences were found between men and women on these demographic variables (P > .05).
Gender differences in co-occurring axis I disorders
The frequencies of co-occurring current axis I disorders for men and women are displayed in
Discussion
Overall, relatively few gender differences emerged in a sample of BPD participants that was sufficiently large to detect meaningful differences. Women with BPD were more likely to have co-occurring diagnoses of PTSD and eating disorders, while men were more likely to have co-occurring diagnoses of substance use disorders, as well as schizotypal, narcissistic, and antisocial PDs. Additionally, proportionally more women then men met the borderline diagnostic criterion for identity disturbance. To
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The CLPS is an ongoing, longitudinal multisite study of personality disorders supported by the National Institute of Mental Health. Award sites are Brown University, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Providence, RI (MH-50837); Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY (MH-50839); Harvard Medical School and Mclean Hospital, Boston (MH-50840); Texas A & M University, College Station, TX (MH-50838); and Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (MH-50850).