Affective and behavioral features of DSM-III borderline personality disorder. Are they valid?

This study was designed to determine if a set of seven clinical features, closely reflecting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III criteria, were individually and collectively more common in borderlines compared to patients with schizophrenia, affective disorders, and anxiety disorders. A 7-item borderline subscale was generated from the expanded Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and administered to 1,762 psychiatric inpatients. Results indicated that scores on the total borderline scale were significantly higher in borderline patients compared to the control groups. Borderline patients manifested significantly more hostility, uncooperativeness, manipulativeness, impulsiveness, emotional lability, and antisocial trends compared to controls.