Reliability and validity of the borderline personality disorder severity index.

Abstract

The psychometric properties and validity of the Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index (BPDSI), a semistructured interview assessing the frequency and severity of manifestations of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) during a circumscribed period, were investigated in two studies. In study 1, patients with BPD (n = 15), with other personality disorders (PD; n = 18), and without Axis II disorders (but with Axis I disorders; n = 10) assessed with the SCID were interviewed with the BPDSI (1-yr. version). Patients also filled out a number of questionnaires. A second rater judged taped BPDSI interviews. The BPDSI appeared to yield highly reliable (ICC = .93) and internally consistent (Cronbach's alpha = .85) scores. The BPDSI strongly discriminated BPD patients from other patients, and was not related to other Axis II pathology. Concurrent and construct validity was excellent. In study 2, a version of the BPDSI suitable for use in treatment outcome research was investigated (3-month version) in a sample of 64 BPD patients, 23 Cluster C PD patients, and 20 nonpsychiatric controls. Again, reliability coefficients were excellent (ICC = 0.97; Cronbach's alpha = 0.93), and validity indices were good. Clinical norms were also derived. In a sample of 28 BPD patients, the instrument detected improvement during 6 months of psychotherapy.

• Authors: Arnoud Arntz, Marije van den Hoorn, Jurgen Cornelis, Roel Verheul, Wies M C van den Bosch, Arthur J H T de Bie
• Journal: Journal of personality disorders (J Pers Disord) Vol. 17 Issue 1 Pg. 45-59 (Feb 2003) ISSN: 0885-579X [Print] United States
• PMID: 12659546 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Validation Study)

Topics

• Adult
• Discriminant Analysis
• Female
• Humans
• Interview, Psychological
• Male
• Observer Variation
• Personality Disorders (diagnosis, epidemiology)
• Reproducibility of Results
• Severity of Illness Index
• Surveys and Questionnaires