Cognitive and perceptual distortions in borderline personality disorder and schizotypal personality disorder in a vignette sample.

Clinical vignettes of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and schizotypal personality disorder (STPD) were evaluated and rated for evidence of cognitive and perceptual distortions. The differences in the distortions of each group were then compared. The findings show that while STPD patients have significantly more cognitive and perceptual distortions than borderlines, there is an abundance of such distortions in the borderline group. The borderline group may differ, moreover, in that their cognitive and perceptual distortions were found to be significantly more object-related than those of the schizotypal group.