Psychotic symptoms in adolescents with borderline personality disorder features

Abstract

Psychotic symptoms have been found to be relatively common among adults with borderline personality disorder (BPD), and to be a marker of BPD severity, but are not recognised in daily clinical practice in these patients. This study is the first to examine the prevalence of psychotic symptoms in 15-18-year olds with BPD features. It was hypothesised that adolescents with full-threshold BPD would have significantly more psychotic symptoms than adolescents with sub-threshold BPD features, and that both these groups would have significantly more psychotic symptoms than adolescents with no BPD features. A total of 171 psychiatric outpatients, aged 15-18 years, were assessed using a structured interview for DSM-IV personality disorder and categorised into three groups: no BPD features (n = 48), sub-threshold BPD features (n = 80), and full-threshold BPD (n = 43). The groups were compared on measures of psychopathology and functioning (e.g. Youth Self Report, Symptom Check List-90-R, SOFAS). Adolescents with full-threshold BPD reported more psychotic symptoms than the sub-threshold BPD group (p < .001), and both these groups reported more psychotic symptoms than those with no BPD features (p < .001). Adolescents with full-threshold BPD reported more confusion (p < .01), paranoia (p < .001), visual hallucinations (p < .001) and strange thoughts (p < .01), than the other two groups. Psychotic symptoms predicted group membership, determined by BPD severity, after adjusting for other psychopathology and functional impairment (p < .01). Assessment of unusual perceptual experiences, paranoia or odd thoughts is highly clinically relevant in adolescents with BPD features, as these symptoms are associated with a more severe clinical presentation of BPD.

Keywords: Adolescence; Borderline personality disorder; Hallucinations; Paranoia; Psychosis.