Borderline Personality Disorder in Four Different Age Groups: A Cross-Sectional Study of Community Residents in Germany

Abstract

Studies examining the natural course of borderline personality disorder (BPD) over the life span have yielded declining prevalence rates in older age groups. However, there is evidence that different BPD symptoms have different longitudinal patterns, with impulsivity decreasing with advancing age and negative affect remaining stable into late adulthood. However, since all studies dealt with treated, clinical samples of BPD patients, it is not yet known whether this represents the natural course of BPD symptoms or just mirrors difference in treatability of these symptoms. The authors addressed this issue by investigating a nonclinical population and compared prevalence of BPD, impulsivity, and depressivity in various age groups from adolescence to late adulthood (N = 2,488); all individuals were assessed by standardized clinical interviews. Syndromal and subsyndromal BPD rates sharply decreased between adolescents and young adults and remained stable thereafter. Whereas the same course was found for impulsivity, depressivity increased between young, middle-aged, and older adults. The present results support the hypothesis that age-related decreases in BPD diagnosis might be attributable to declining levels of impulsivity, whereas the persistence of a subsyndromal BPD might be attributable to an enduring negative affect.

Testing the diathesis‐stress model: 5‐HTTLPR, childhood emotional maltreatment, and vulnerability to social anxiety disorder

“…Moreover, we found a significant influence of age. This is in line with former results where younger age was associated with SAD [Grant et al, 2005] and leads to the consideration that SAD decreases during the course of life as it has already been found within other psychopathology [e.g., Arens et al, 2013]. However, it was unexpected that we found an increased susceptibility for SAD within carriers of the l/l genotype.…”

Examining the Discriminant Validity of Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms: Results From a United Kingdom Population Sample

“…In addition to the associations with trauma exposure, younger age was associated with higher levels of PTSD, DSO, and BPD; this is a result consistent with an extensive literature demonstrating that younger individuals are more likely to experience multiple forms of psychopathology, including PTSD (Frueh, Grubaugh, Acierno, Elhai, Cain, & Magruder, 2007) and BPD (Arens et al, 2013). We also found that women had higher levels of PTSD than men, which is consistent with what has been reported in much of the trauma literature (Tolin & Foa, 2006).…”

Practitioner Review: Borderline personality disorder in adolescence – recent conceptualization, intervention, and implications for clinical practice

“…Dimensional stability demonstrated moderate stability (Bornovalova et al, 2009;Chanen et al, 2004;Cohen et al, 2008). On average, BPD symptoms appear in adolescence, peak in early adulthood, and then decline (Arens et al, 2013;Chanen & Kaess, 2012). The balance of evidence suggests that while impulsive-type symptoms do reduce over time, affective-type symptoms, which include negative affect and feelings of emptiness, are more likely to persist (Meares, Gerull, Stevenson, & Korner, 2011).…”