Borderline Personality Disorder Features and Risk for Prescription Opioid Misuse in a Chronic Pain Sample: Roles for...

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Pain Medicine
• Addiction Research

Background:

• Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is linked to chronic pain and substance abuse.
• Limited research explores BPD's role in prescription opioid misuse among chronic pain patients.
• Specific BPD components contributing to this risk remain unidentified.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between BPD features and prescription opioid misuse in chronic pain patients.
• To identify specific BPD facets that act as risk factors for opioid misuse.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study design.
• Inclusion of 147 patients undergoing treatment for chronic pain.
• Assessment of BPD features and prescription opioid misuse measures.

Main Results:

• BPD features significantly correlated with various measures of prescription opioid misuse.
• Identity disturbances and self-harmful impulsivity facets of BPD showed the strongest association with opioid misuse.
• Exploratory analyses indicated potential interaction effects between these BPD facets.

Conclusions:

• BPD features, especially unstable identity and self-harmful impulsivity, are significant risk factors for prescription opioid misuse in chronic pain.
• These findings highlight the need for targeted prevention and treatment strategies addressing specific BPD components in chronic pain management.
• Identifying at-risk individuals with BPD is essential for mitigating problematic opioid use.