Dissociative phenomena in a sample of Borderline patients: Dissociative pathology as a nuclear pathogenetic process of Borderline Personality Disorder

Abstract

 This study aims to investigate the relationship between dissociative phenomena and the Borderline Personality Disorder (BDP), in order to identify which one of dissociative symptoms factor has a stronger tie with BDP. Moreover, this study aims to find out if the presence of dissociative symptoms is linked to the number of BDP traits (symptoms), or the BDP diagnosis itself. Methods. A representative sample (n = 1033) was selected from patients visiting a private mental health clinical centre in Naples. Inclusion criteria provided both BDP and non-BDP patients. The Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV Axis II Disorders (SCID II) were used in order to collect data. Statistical Analysis involved the Student’s T-test, logistic regression and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Continuous variables were standardized before the regression test. In addition, collected data were analysed by the software SPSS. Results. The mean of DES-T scores in BDP patients (μ = 17,38) was significantly higher (t = -3,11) than in non-BDP patients (μ = 10,72). Logistic regression showed a strong link between dissociative phenomena and BDP respect to DES Factor III (depersonalization/derealization). Furthermore, it shows how increasing one standard point in DES Factor III increases by 50% the chance to detect a BDP. Lastly, the ANOVA highlighted that more the number of BDP traits increase, the higher average are shown on DES-T scores. Discussion and conclusions. The study has shown that Dissociative  phenomena are more frequent in BDP patients rather than non-BDP patients. Moreover, it shows that the link between dissociative phenomena and BDP is stronger in relation to symptom factor depersonalization/derealisation. Finally, results show that DES-T mean scores increase as BDP traits number increases, with higher scores when four specific traits are detected. This evidence confirms that the relationship between dissociative phenomena and BDP depends on the number of BDP traits detected, but not necessarily on the BDP diagnosis.