Borderline Personality Disorder and Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5): Dimensional personality assessment with...

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) diagnosis has been considered highly controversial. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-5) proposes an alternative hybrid diagnostic model for personality disorders (PD), and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5) has adequate psychometric properties and has been widely used for the assessment of the dimensional component.

Our aim was to analyze the utility of the personality traits presented in Section III of the DSM-5 for BPD diagnosis in an outpatient clinical sample, using the Spanish version of the PID-5. Two clinical samples were studied: BPD sample (n=84) and non-BPD sample (n=45). Between-sample differences in PID-5 scores were analyzed.

The BPD sample obtained significantly higher scores in most PID-5 trait facets and domains. Specifically and after regression logistic analyses, in BPD patients, the domains of Negative Affectivity and Disinhibition, and the trait facets of emotional lability, [lack of] restricted affectivity, and impulsivity were more significantly associated with BPD.

Although our findings are only partially consistent with the algorithm proposed by DSM-5, we consider that the combination of the PID-5 trait domains and facets could be useful for BPD dimensional diagnosis, and could further our understanding of BPD diagnosis complexity.