Table 1.
Descriptive statistics of the three groups: borderline personality disorder (BPD), non-patient comparison individuals (NPC), and cluster-C personality disorder (CPD)
| BPD (n = 48) |
NPC (n = 39) |
CPD (n = 21) |
Test statistics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | F | p | |
| Age (years) | 30.79 | 9.21 | 28.67 | 10.70 | 31.48 | 11.80 | 0.67 | 0.512 |
| Estimated IQa | 96.88 | 10.08 | 100.73 | 11.38 | 98.45 | 9.26 | 1.45 | 0.239b |
| Brief symptom inventory | 1.68 | 0.55 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 1.11 | 0.43 | 142.19 | <0.001c |
| BPD checklist | 118.44 | 25.58 | 50.68 | 5.21 | 74.80 | 17.31 | 135.21 | <0.001c |
| Interview traumatic events childhood | 8.85 | <0.001d | ||||||
| Sexual abuse | 9.44 | 8.85 | 0.13 | 0.42 | 2.26 | 5.43 | 21.21 | <0.001 |
| Physical abuse | 17.15 | 12.40 | 1.69 | 3.61 | 7.00 | 10.95 | 23.68 | <0.001 |
| Emotional abuse | 20.35 | 8.93 | 2.47 | 3.32 | 13.06 | 8.49 | 54.52 | <0.001 |
| Emotional neglect | 11.28 | 6.99 | 0.82 | 2.07 | 6.14 | 6.55 | 31.66 | <0.001 |
| Physical neglect | 10.68 | 9.42 | 0.88 | 2.82 | 4.35 | 6.90 | 17.67 | <0.001 |
| Dissociatione | 5.00 | <0.01f | ||||||
| Prior scanning | 19.81 | 19.41 | 5.18 | 6.60 | 6.37 | 6.98 | 13.55 | <0.001g |
| Post scanning | 31.87 | 26.85 | 6.40 | 7.81 | 15.36 | 20.60 | 16.02 | <0.001g |
| % | n | % | n | % | n | χ2 | p | |
| Education levelh | 7.70 | 0.02i | ||||||
| Level 1 | 22.9 | 11 | 17.9 | 7 | 14.3 | 3 | ||
| Level 2 | 14.6 | 7 | 5.1 | 2 | 19.0 | 4 | ||
| Level 3 | 27.1 | 13 | 10.3 | 4 | 28.6 | 6 | ||
| Level 4 | 4.2 | 2 | 5.1 | 2 | 14.3 | 3 | ||
| Level 5 | 25.0 | 12 | 43.6 | 17 | 14.3 | 3 | ||
| Level 6 | 6.3 | 3 | 17.9 | 7 | 9.5 | 2 | ||
| Handedness | 6.00 | 0.20j | ||||||
| Left | 8 | 4 | 5 | 2 | – | – | ||
| Right | 86 | 41 | 95 | 37 | 100 | 21 | ||
| Mixed | 6 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Axis I disorders | ||||||||
| Major depressive disorder | 87.5 | 42 | 61.9 | 13 | 5.92 | 0.02 | ||
| Dysthymic | 8.3 | 4 | 4.8 | 1 | 0.28 | 0.60 | ||
| Bipolar type II | 2.1 | 1 | – | – | 0.44 | 0.51 | ||
| Generalized anxiety disorder | 4.2 | 2 | 4.8 | 1 | 0.12 | 0.91 | ||
| Panic disorder with agoraphobia | 12.5 | 6 | – | – | 2.88 | 0.09 | ||
| Panic disorder | 12.5 | 6 | 14.3 | 3 | 0.41 | 0.84 | ||
| Agoraphobia | 8.3 | 4 | – | – | 1.86 | 0.17 | ||
| Specific phobia | 18.8 | 9 | 4.8 | 1 | 2.31 | 0.13 | ||
| Social phobia | 31.2 | 15 | 23.8 | 5 | 0.39 | 0.53 | ||
| Obsessive compulsive disorder | 14.6 | 7 | 9.5 | 2 | 0.33 | 0.57 | ||
| Posttraumatic stress disorder | 35.4 | 17 | 14.3 | 3 | 3.17 | 0.08 | ||
| Somatoform disorder | 10.4 | 5 | 19.0 | 4 | 0.96 | 0.33 | ||
| Eating disorders | 35.4 | 17 | 33.3 | 7 | 0.03 | 0.87 | ||
| Substance abuse | 43.8 | 21 | 4.8 | 1 | 10.23 | 0.001 | ||
| Intermitted explosive disorder | 2.1 | 1 | – | – | 0.44 | 0.51 | ||
| Axis II disorders | ||||||||
| Avoidant PD | 43.8 | 21 | 71.4 | 15 | 4.49 | 0.03 | ||
| Dependent PD | 14.6 | 7 | 9.5 | 2 | 0.33 | 0.57 | ||
| Obsessive compulsive PD | 20.8 | 10 | 33.3 | 7 | 1.23 | 0.27 | ||
| Passive aggressive PD | 6.2 | 3 | – | – | 1.37 | 0.24 | ||
| Depressive PD | 25.0 | 12 | 9.5 | 2 | 2.16 | 0.14 | ||
| Paranoid PD | 29.2 | 14 | – | – | 7.68 | <0.01 | ||
| Schizotypal PD | 2.1 | 1 | – | – | 0.44 | 0.51 | ||
| Schizoid PD | 2.1 | 1 | – | – | 0.44 | 0.51 | ||
| Medication | ||||||||
| Antidepressants | 64.6 | 31 | 36.4 | 8 | 4.17 | 0.04 | ||
| Antipsychotics | 10.4 | 5 | – | – | 2.36 | 0.13 | ||
| Hypnotics | 4.2 | 2 | – | – | 0.90 | 0.34 | ||
| Mood stabilizers | 2.1 | 1 | – | – | 0.44 | 0.51 | ||
aAssessed with four subtasks of the WAIS (i.e., vocabulary, similarities, block design, and matrix reasoning)
bData of one NPC was not available
cAll three groups significantly differed from each other (p < 0.001). Data of two NPC and one CPD patient were not available
dMANOVA and ANOVAs showed significant group differences over the childhood traumatic events. BPD patients reported more traumatic events than either CPD patients or NPC with respect to sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect (all ps < 0.01). CPD patients reported more traumatic events than NPC with respect to emotional abuse and emotional neglect (all ps < 0.01). Data from seven NPC and one CPD patient were not available
eMeasured with the four somatic dissociation items of the Dissociation-Tension-Scale (i.e., derealization and change in perception of one’s body, hearing, and pain)
fTwo-way mixed-design ANOVA showed a significant group × time interaction. In BPD patients, the increase in reported dissociative states was significantly larger than in NPC (p = 0.001). Data from five BPD patients, two NPC, and one CPD patient were not available
gANOVA showed a significant group effect over dissociation. BPD patients showed increased level of dissociation as compared to NPC (p < 0.001) as well as to CPD group (p < 0.001)
hLevel of education of both the Dutch and German educational systems was translated into the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), and in the current study, six levels of education were divided ranging from lower secondary school to Master’s degree
iValue is based on the Kruskal–Wallis test. Data of one NPC was not available
jValue is based on the Chi-square goodness-of-fit test