Age comparative study in a community sample of women with borderline personality disorder: beyond the diagnosis

Abstract

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a highly complex mental health condition characterised by unstable emotions, relationships, sense of self, and impulsive and self-damaging behaviours. It is also considered a disorder of emotion regulation, is difficult to treat and has a completed suicide rate that is 50 times higher than the general population. It is associated with a high lifetime comorbidity with other conditions and significant impairments in interpersonal, social, and occupational functioning. Changes have also been reported in personality traits and levels of social and occupational functioning, with increasing age associated with decreased neuroticism, fluctuating social functioning, but chronically impaired occupational functioning. However, most studies on BPD have had limited representation of the relatively older age groups (Mage < 50 years) and even lesser focus on community-based individuals. Therefore, the broad aim of this research project was to generate an overarching profile and compare the profiles of community-based women with BPD in two age groups, 30-45 and 50-65 years. The first study (N = 191) focussed on assessing and comparing symptoms and pathological personality traits between the two groups. The second study (N = 104) was designed to assess levels of functioning (personality, social, and occupational), difficulty in emotion regulation, and compare the two groups for potential differences. The third study (N = 89) assessed and compared the two groups' experiences of emptiness, loneliness, aggression, and overall quality of life. The data collection comprised three phases, with relevant measurement tools distributed across the studies consistent with the specific research questions each study addresses. The data was collected online and the participants were from a heterogenous geographical background. The results of the first study were consistent with previous findings, indicating a significant difference in the overall severity of BPD and presentation of specific symptoms and traits. The younger group experienced greater levels of fear of abandonment, impulsivity, self-harm, affective instability, anger, negative affect, disinhibition, and antagonism, but lower levels of detachment compared to the older group. The results of the second study did not indicate any significant differences between the two groups on levels of personality, social, or occupational functioning. The two groups were found to experience mild levels of personality dysfunction, and normative levels of social and occupational functioning, with only reduced social engagement in both age groups which may be why those findings differed from previous studies. Further, both age groups were observed to experience significant levels of difficulty in emotion regulation with no significant differences between them. The results of the third study indicated a significant difference between the groups only on emptiness, being higher in the younger group, however no differences were observed on loneliness, aggression, and overall quality of life. Both groups were observed to experience significant levels of emptiness, moderately high levels of loneliness, and only marginally higher levels of aggression than the norms. Mild dissatisfaction was observed in both age groups on the overall quality of life.

Date of Award	2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Western Sydney University
Supervisor	Tanya Meade (Supervisor)