Florida Gulf Coast University Borderline Personality Disorder Discussion

Is their discussion and research sound? Why or why not? Use professional literature to validate your judgment.

1. Distel, M., A. et. al. (2008) stated that Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe personality disorder whose features include impulsivity, affective instability, relationship problems, and identity problems. BPD is associated with interpersonal and occupational impairment, increased risk for suicide, and higher rates of treatment in both medical and psychiatric settings (Distel, M., A. et. al., 2008). BPD is frequently co-morbid with Axis I disorders, especially substance use disorders in males, eating disorders in females, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders, and this co-morbidity predicts poorer short – and – long-term outcomes (Distel, M., A. et. al., 2008).
In the article, I found they had collected Dutch, Belgian, and Australian twin cohorts data. In the Netherlands, they sent health and lifestyle surveys to the twin families every 2 – 3 years and they used the data from the seventh survey that was sent between 2004 – 2005. For the Belgium cohorts, the Dutch-speaking twins in Belgium were asked to take part in the Dutch health and lifestyle study and were recruited through the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey (EFPTS) which is a population-based register of multiple births in the Belgium province of East Flanders which was started in 1964. And finally, the Australian subjects were drawn from the Australian Twin Register (ATR) founded in 1978, as well as from a twin group preciously recruited by the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) (Distel, M., A. et. al., 2008).
The mean age of Dutch twins was 34.9 years, of the Belgian twins 28.4 years, and of the Australian twins 23.1 years. The results of the study showed that BPD features decrease with age and that the age effect was significant in the Netherlands and in Belgium but not in Australia (Distel, M., A. et. al., 2008). They also found no indication of sex differences in the heritability of BPD features and that the same genes influence BPD features in males and females (Distel, M., A. et. al., 2008). When looking at different countries, the lowest mean score was found in the Netherlands (Distel, M., A. et. al., 2008). Distel, M., A. et. al., (2008) found that BPD features are genetically influenced and that this genetic influence, similar across the three countries, does not differ between men and women and acts in an additive manner. BPD is more often diagnosed in women than in men but research findings of the sex difference in the prevalence of BPD are inconclusive (Distel, M., A. et. al., 2008). BPD symptoms appear early in adulthood and occur less frequently with increasing age (Distel, M., A. et. al., 2008).
Distel, M., A. et. al., (2008) found that there was no cultural role in BPD features however, it would be important to replicate the findings in other samples with other measures of BPD. Distel, M., A. et. al., (2008) found also that further phenotypic and genetic analyses of PAI-BOR items may be informative as these analyses may point to cohesive genetically influenced, factors that could be used in future aetiological studies. And finally, Distel, M., A. et. al., (2008) results and future studies using the PAI-BOR may aid in the evaluation of endophenotypes that have been proposed for this disorder, including laboratory tasks, neuroimaging findings, and psychophysiological indicators.

2. Borderline personality disorder is a pattern of varying moods, self-image, and behavior. The symptoms usually result in impulsive actions and issues in relationships (NIMH, 2017). Individuals with borderline personality disorder may have intense episodes of anger, depression, and anxiety that can last from a few hours to days (NIMH, 2017). Some individual differences that may be considered to play a role in Borderline Personality Disorder are family history, brain structure, and environmental issues (NIMH, 2017). Family history plays a role in this disorder because individuals who have a close family member, like a parent or sibling who have the disorder may be at higher risk of developing borderline personality disorder (NIMH, 2017). Environmental factors play a role because a lot of individuals who have borderline personality disorder report experiencing traumatic life events, such as abuse, abandonment, or adversity during childhood (NIMH, 2017). While other individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder may have been exposed to unstable, invalidating relationships, and hostile conflicts (NIMH, 2017). Brain structure also can be a factor of Borderline Personality Disorder because Studies show that individuals with borderline personality disorder can have structural and functional changes in the brain mainly in the areas that control impulses and emotional regulation (NIMH, 2017). It is not clear whether these changes are risk factors for the disorder, or caused by the disorder. These things may increase an individual’s risk, but it does not mean that the individual will develop borderline personality disorder (NIMH, 2017). There also may be people without these factors who will develop borderline personality disorder in their lifetime (NIMH, 2017).

Borderline Personality Disorder can be considered a result of environmental adversity (Bornovalova, 2006). Borderline Personality Disorder was also associated with different forms of childhood maltreatment, which included emotional and physical abuse and neglect (Bornovalova, 2006). Only emotional instability or vulnerability, impulsivity, and emotional abuse emerged as unique predictors of Borderline Personality Disorder status (Bornovalova, 2006). A study was done to explore the environmental risk factors that contribute to Borderline Personality Disorder (Bornovalova, 2006). It dealt with the temperamental and environmental factors associated with Borderline Personality Disorder among primarily African American, inner-city substance users (Bornovalova, 2006). Variables included in the study were the temperamental dispositions of emotional instability/vulnerability, impulsivity, and aspects of interpersonal instability, as well as the environmental risk factors of abuse and neglect (Bornovalova, 2006). The study results showed that there was a relationship between Borderline Personality Disorder and several forms of abuse and neglect (Bornovalova, 2006). The study also showed that emotional abuse was distinctively linked with a Borderline Personality Disorder diagnosis amongst the sample of inner-city drug abusers (Bornovalova, 2006). So this supports the fact that environmental differences play a role in Bipolar Personality Disorder.