OBJECT RELATIONS AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONING OF SCHIZOPHRENIC AND BORDERLINE PATIENTS - A CROSS-SECTIONAL DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

Using a cross-sectional design, this study compared patients with schi zophrenic and borderline personality disorders on measures of object r elations and social functioning. Although we found that on measures of object relations the borderline group remained less impaired than the schizophrenics, during the course of the lifespan the schizophrenic p atients appeared to surpass the borderlines on social functioning. The se results are integrated with the literature that compares the long-t erm course and outcomes for these disorders and are discussed within t he context of differential adaptive capacities, change mechanisms, and treatment interventions.