The relationship between borderline personality disorder criteria and dysthymia symptoms

Several authors have proposed that the comorbidity of borderline personality disorder is, in part, due to the overlap between the criterion sets. To test this proposition, the relationship between BPD criteria and dysthymia symptoms was assessed in a large sample of psychiatric inpatients. Substantial covariation was observed between individual BPD items and dysthymia symptoms. In addition, results indicated that four BPD items (affective instability, suicidal threats/gestures/behavior/self-mutilating behavior, chronic feelings of emptiness/boredom, and frantic attempts to avoid real/imagined abandonment) were significantly associated with both the number of 11 dysthymia symptoms rated as present and a diagnosis of dysthymia. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.