Borderline personality disorder and mental healthcare service use among adolescents

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is believed to be frequent among adolescents. While several prospective studies have assessed the use of mental health services among adults who suffer from BPD, few studies have provided adolescent data. This paper presents findings from the first assessment point of the European Research Network on Borderline Personality Disorder (EURNET BPD) study. In this study, we describe lifetime treatment utilization for 85 adolescents with BPD (Mean age: 16.3 years old). In line with adult findings, adolescents with BPD reported greater mental healthcare service use (outpatient: 98%; inpatient: 79%) compared to controls. Phenothiazine, a sedative neuroleptic, was the most frequently prescribed treatment. 47% of patients had received psychotherapy; in one our of three cases this was psychodynamic therapy. Patients who had received psychotherapy did not differ on any psychopathological variables from those who did not receive psychotherapy; however, psychotherapy was more frequent among females.