The aim of this study was to evaluate the structure of DSM-IV borderline pe
rsonality disorder (BPD) criteria. The study group consisted of 564 consecu
tively admitted inpatients and outpatients. BPD criteria discriminatory pow
er was tested by using corrected item-to-total and item-to-diagnosis correl
ations. Weighted least-squares (WLS) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was
used to assess the fit of DSM-IV BPD unidimensional model, The categorial
model of BPD was tested by exploratory latent class analysis (LCA). item an
alysis suggested a hierarchy in BPD criteria discriminatory power, even if
with different rank order with respect to the DSM-IV model. CFA showed a un
ifactorial structure with congeneric items as the best fitting model for DS
M-IV BPD criteria (chi(2) = 18,89, df= 27, P>.87). LCA showed evidence for
three latent classes; heterogeneity was observed only among subjects fallin
g below DSM-IV diagnostic threshold for BPD. These results support the cate
gorial model of BPD, even if with several differences with respect to DSM-I
V. Copyright (C) 1999 by W.B. Saunders Company.