PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST PROFILES OF PATIENTS WITH BORDERLINE AND SCHIZOTYPAL PERSONALITY-DISORDERS - IMPLICATIONS FOR DSM-IV

In order to examine the symptom characteristics of borderline personal ity disorder (BPD) and schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), 45 male inpatients with DSM-III personality disorder diagnoses, including pat ients with SPD (n = 15), BPD (n = 17), and both SPD and BPD (BPD/SPD) (n = 13), were administered a battery of psychological tests that incl uded measures of traditionally defined schizotypal features such as pe rceptual aberration and anhedonia (the Chapman Psychosis Proneness Sca les) and borderline characteristics such as impulsivity (the Barratt I mpulsivity Scale) and hostility (the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory). All patients also completed the MMPI, which includes scales measuring schizotypal features such as endorsement of quasi-psychotic experienc es in addition to scales measuring impulsivity and aggression. Both BP D and SPD/BPD patients were discriminated from SPD patients by signifi cantly higher levels of impulsivity and aggression but not by the diff erential presence of psychoticlike symptoms or anhedonia. Additionally , patients meeting criteria for both borderline and schizotypal person ality disorders (SPD/BPD) exhibited a consistently more impaired profi le on psychologic measures of both borderline and schizotypal features , as compared to patients with BPD or SPD. The findings are discussed with regard to the proposed DSM-IV symptom criteria and in terms of tr aditional conceptions of both borderline and schizotypal personality d isorders.