The Borderline Personality Feature Scale for Children (BPFSC) is a widely used instrument and currently the only dimensional measure to investigate Borderline Personality features in children and adolescents. The present study aimed to investigate the factor structure and measurement invariance across age and sex in a community sample of 634 adolescents (mean age = 16.72, standard deviation = 1.31). To test for measurement invariance, we conducted multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA). Analysis showed residual invariance across age and sex. Based on the results, we conclude that BPFSC is a valid and reliable instrument to assess Borderline Personality features in adolescents. Implications for evidence-based assessment of Borderline Personality features in adolescence are discussed.
AchenbachT. M.DumenciL.RescorlaL. A. (2001). Ratings of relations between DSM-IV diagnostic categories and items of the CBCL/6-18, TRF, and YSR (pp. 1–9). University of Vermont.
BandalosD. L.GerstnerJ. J. (2016). Using factor analysis in test construction. In SchweizerK.DiStefanoC. (Eds.), Principles and methods of test construction: Standards and recent advances (pp. 26–51). Hogrefe Publishing.
4.
BergerK. S. (2015). Developing person through childhood and adolescence. Macmillan Learning.
5.
BibiH.KazmiS. F. (2021). Urdu translation and validation of 11-item measure to assess borderline personality features in Pakistani adolescents. Sage Open, 11(1), 2158244020986157. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020986157
6.
BondurantH.GreenfieldB.TseS. M. (2004). Construct validity of the adolescent borderline personality disorder: A review. Canadian Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Review, 13(3), 53–57.
BozzatelloP.BluaC.BrandelleroD.BaldassarriL.BrassoC.RoccaP.BellinoS. (2024). Gender differences in borderline personality disorder: A narrative review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1320546
9.
CalvoN.MarinJ. L.VidalR.SharpC.DuqueJ. D.Ramos-QuirogaJ. A.FerrerM. (2023). Discrimination of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adolescents: Spanish version of the borderline personality features scale for children-11 self-report (BPFSC-11) preliminary results. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 10(1), 11–15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-023-00223-2
10.
CarreirasD.LoureiroM.CunhaM.SharpC.CastilhoP. (2020). Validation of the borderline personality features scale for children (bpfs-c) and for parents (bpfs-p) for the Portuguese population. Journal of Child and Family Studies. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01800-7
11.
ChabrolH.MontovanyA.ChouichaK.CallahanS.MulletE. (2001). Frequency of borderline personality disorder in a sample of French high school students. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 46(9), 847–849. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370104600909
12.
ChanenA.JacksonH.CottonS. M.GleesonJ.DaveyC. G.BettsJ.ReidS.ThompsonK.McCutcheonL.McCutcheonL. (2015). Comparing three forms of early intervention for youth with borderline personality disorder (the MOBY study): Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials, 16(1), 476–510. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-015-1001-x
13.
ChanenA. M.McCutcheonL. (2013). Prevention and early intervention for borderline personality disorder: Current status and recent evidence. British Journal of Psychiatry - Supplement, 54(s54), s24–s29. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.112.119180
14.
ChanenA. M.McCutcheonL. K. (2008). Complex case: Personality disorder in adolescence: The diagnosis that dare not speak its name. Personality and Mental Health, 2(1), 35–41. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmh.28
15.
ChanenA. M.NicolK.BettsJ. K.ThompsonK. N. (2020). Diagnosis and treatment of borderline personality disorder in young people. Current Psychiatry Reports, 22(5), 25–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-020-01144-5
ChangB.SharpC.HaC. (2011). The criterion validity of the Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children in an adolescent inpatient setting. Journal of Personality Disorders, 25(4), 492–503. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2011.25.4.492
18.
ChenF. F. (2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 14(3), 464–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701301834
19.
ChmielewskiM.BagbyR. M.QuiltyL. C.PaxtonR.McGee NgS. A. (2011). A (re)-evaluation of the symptom structure of borderline personality disorder. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 56(9), 530–539. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674371105600904
20.
CicchettiD.CrickN. R. (2009). Precursors and diverse pathways to personality disorder in children and adolescents. Development and Psychopathology, 21(3), 683–685. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579409000388
21.
CliftonA.PilkonisP. A. (2007). Evidence for a single latent class of diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders borderline personality pathology. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 48(1), 70–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2006.07.002
22.
CoşkunF.AkçaÖ. F.BılgıçA.SharpC. (2022). Borderline personality features scale for children--short form; Turkish version. Türk Psikiyatri Dergisi. https://doi.org/10.1037/t86725-000
23.
CostelloA. B.OsborneJ. (2005). Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: Four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis. Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, 10(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.7275/jyj1-4868
24.
Courtney-SeidlerE. A.KleinD.MillerA. L. (2013). Borderline personality disorder in adolescents. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 20(4), 425–444. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpsp.12051
25.
CrickN. R.Murray-CloseD.WoodsK. (2005). Borderline personality features in childhood: A short-term longitudinal study. Development and psychopathology, 17(04), 1051–1070. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579405050492
26.
CrowellS. E.BeauchaineT. P.LinehanM. M. (2009). A biosocial developmental model of borderline personality: Elaborating and extending Linehan’s theory. Psychological Bulletin, 135(3), 495–510. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015616
27.
DiStefanoC.MorganG. B. (2014). A comparison of diagonal weighted least squares robust estimation techniques for ordinal data. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 21(3), 425–438. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2014.915373
28.
DlouhyM. (2014). Mental health policy in eastern Europe: A comparative analysis of seven mental health systems. BMC Health Services Research, 14(1), 42–48. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-14-42
29.
EbesutaniC.BernsteinA.MartinezJ. I.ChorpitaB. F.WeiszJ. R. (2011). The youth self report: Applicability and validity across younger and older youths. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 40(2), 338–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2011.546041
30.
EnsinkK.BéginM.KotiugaJ.SharpC.NormandinL. (2020). Psychometric properties of the French version of the borderline personality features scale for children and adolescents. Adolescent Psychiatry, 10(1), 48–58. https://doi.org/10.2174/2210676609666190820145256
31.
EpsteinJ.SantoR. M.GuilleminF. (2015). A review of guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation of questionnaires could not bring out a consensus. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 68(4), 435–441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.11.021
32.
FerrandoP. J.Lorenzo-SevaU. (2014). El análisis factorial exploratorio de los ítems: Algunas consideraciones adicionales. Anales de Psicología, 30(3), 1170–1175. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.30.3.199991
33.
FeskeU.KirisciL.TarterR. E.PilkonisP. A. (2007). An application of item response theory to the DSM-III-R criteria for borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality Disorders, 21(4), 418–433. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2007.21.4.418
34.
FossatiA.SharpC.BorroniS.SommaA. (2016). Psychometric properties of the borderline personality features scale for children-11 (BPFSC-11) in a sample of community dwelling Italian adolescents. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 35(1), 70–77. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000377
35.
GawdaB. (2018). Cross-cultural studies on the prevalence of personality disorders. Current Issues in Personality Psychology, 6(4), 318–329. https://doi.org/10.5114/cipp.2018.80200
36.
GjerdeL. C.EilertsenE. M.McAdamsT. A.CheesmanR.MoffittT. E.CaspiA.YstromE. (2023). The p factor of psychopathology and personality in middle childhood: Genetic and gestational risk factors. Psychological Medicine, 53(9), 4303–4304. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291723000879
37.
GlennC. R.KlonskyE. D. (2009). Social context during non-suicidal self-injury indicates suicide risk. Personality and Individual Differences, 46(1), 25–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.08.020
38.
GriloC. M.SanislowC. A.GundersonJ. G.PaganoM. E.YenS.ZanariniM. C.SheaM. T.SkodolA. E.StoutR. L.MoreyL. C.McGlashanT. H. (2004). Two year stability and change of schizotypal, borderline, avoidant, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72(5), 767–775. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.72.5.767
39.
GuenoleN.BrownA. (2014). The consequences of ignoring measurement invariance for path coefficients in structural equation models. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(980), 980. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00980
HallquistM. N.PilkonisP. A. (2012). Refining the phenotype of borderline personality disorder: Diagnostic criteria and beyond. Personality disorders, 3(3), 228–246. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027953
42.
HaltiganJ. D.VaillancourtT. (2016). Identifying trajectories of borderline personality features in adolescence: Antecedent and interactive risk factors. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 61(3), 166–175. https://doi.org/10.1177/0706743715625953
43.
HeppJ.LaneS. P.WycoffA. M.CarpenterR. W.TrullT. J. (2018). Interpersonal stressors and negative affect in individuals with borderline personality disorder and community adults in daily life: A replication and extension. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 127(2), 183–189. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000318
44.
HuL.BentlerP. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
45.
JacksonD. L.GillaspyJ. A.Jr.Purc-StephensonR. (2009). Reporting practices in confirmatory factor analysis: An overview and some recommendations. Psychological Methods, 14(1), 6–23. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014694
46.
JohansenM.KarterudS.PedersenG.GudeT.FalkumE. (2004). An investigation of the prototype validity of the borderline DSM-IV construct. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 109(4), 289–298. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1600-0447.2003.00268.x
KimS.LuZ.CohenA. S. (2020). Reliability for tests with items having different numbers of ordered categories. Applied Psychological Measurement, 44(2), 137–149. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146621619835498
LaurenssenE. M. P.HutsebautJ.FeenstraD. J.Van BusschbachJ. J.LuytenP. (2013). Diagnosis of personality disorders in adolescents: A study among psychologists. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 7(1), 3–4. https://doi.org/10.1186/1753-2000-7-3
LeungJ. T. Y.ShekD. T. L. (2020). Theories of adolescent development: Overview. In LeungJ. T. Y.ShekD. T. L. (Eds.), The encyclopedia of child and adolescent development (pp. 1–12). American Cancer Society. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119171492.wecad305
53.
LiC.-H. (2016). The performance of ML, DWLS, and ULS estimation with robust corrections in structural equation models with ordinal variables. Psychological Methods, 21(3), 369–387. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000093
LinehanM. (1993) Skills training manual for treating borderline personality disorder. Guilford Press.
56.
LinehanM. M.HeardH. L. (1999). Borderline personality disorder: Costs, course, and treatment outcomes. In MillerN. E.MagruderK. M. (Eds.), Cost-effectiveness of psychotherapy: A guide for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers (pp. 291–305). Oxford University Press.
57.
LiuP.WangX. (2019). Evaluation of reliability and validity of Chinese-version borderline personality features scale for children. Medical Science Monitor: International Medical Journal of Experimental and Clinical Research, 25, 3476–3484. https://doi.org/10.12659/MSM.912662
58.
MillerA. L.MuehlenkampJ. J.JacobsonC. M. (2008). Fact or fiction: Diagnosing borderline personality disorder in adolescents. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(6), 969–981. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2008.02.004
59.
MoreyL. C. (1991). The personality assessment inventory professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources.
60.
MosigY. D. (2006). Conceptions of the self in western and eastern psychology. Journal of Theoretical & Philosophical Psychology, 26(1–2), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0091266
61.
MundfromD. J.ShawD. G.KeT. L. (2005). Minimum sample size recommendations for conducting factor analyses. International Journal of Testing, 5(2), 159–168. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327574ijt0502_4
62.
MuthénB. (2006). The potential of growth mixture modelling. Infant and Child Development, 15(6), 623–625. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.482
63.
PalmerS.DavidsonK.TyrerP.GumleyA.TataP.NorrieJ.MurrayH.SeivewrightH.SeivewrightH. (2006). The cost-effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy for borderline personality disorder: Results from the BOSCOT trial. Journal of Personality Disorders, 20(5), 466–481. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2006.20.5.466
64.
ParisJ. (2007). The nature of borderline personality disorder: Multiple dimensions, multiple symptoms, but one category. Journal of Personality Disorders, 21(5), 457–473. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2007.21.5.457
65.
ParisJ. (2014). A history of research on borderline personality disorder in childhood and adolescence. In Handbook of borderline personality disorder in children and adolescents (pp. 9–16). Springer.
66.
PaulhusD. L.VazireS. (2007). The self-report method. In RobinsR. W.FraleyR. C.KruegerR. F. (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in personality psychology (pp. 224–239). The Guilford Press.
67.
PetersonR. A. (2000). A meta-analysis of variance accounted for and factor loadings in exploratory factor analysis. Marketing Letters, 11(3), 261–275. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008191211004
68.
PetscherY.SchatschneiderC.ComptonD. L. (2013). Applied quantitative analysis in education and the social sciences. Routledge.
69.
PutnickD. L.BornsteinM. H. (2016). Measurement invariance conventions and reporting: The state of the art and future directions for psychological research. Developmental Review: Developmental Review, 41, 71–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2016.06.004
70.
RevelleW. (2020). psych: Procedures for psychological, psychometric, and personality research [Computer software].
71.
RiceP.DolginK. (2002). Adolescents in theoretical context. In The adolescent: Development, relationships and culture (10th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.
72.
SchmittN.GolubovichJ.LeongF. T. (2011). Impact of measurement invariance on construct correlations, mean differences, and relations with external correlates: An illustrative example using Big Five and RIASEC measures. Assessment, 18(4), 412–427. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191110373223
73.
SharpC.FonagyP. (2015). Practitioner Review: Borderline personality disorder in adolescence–recent conceptualization, intervention, and implications for clinical practice. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 56(12), 1266–1288. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12449
74.
SharpC.MoskoO.ChangB.HaC. (2011). The cross-informant concordance and concurrent validity of the Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children in a community sample of boys. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 16(3), 335–349. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104510366279
75.
SharpC.RomeroC. (2007). Borderline personality disorder: A comparison between children and adults. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 71(2), 85–114. https://doi.org/10.1521/bumc.2007.71.2.85
76.
SharpC.SteinbergL.TempleJ.NewlinE. (2014). An 11-item measure to assess borderline traits in adolescents: Refinement of the BPFSC using IRT. Personality disorders, 5(1), 70–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/per0000057
77.
SouthS. C.JarneckeA. M. (2017). Structural equation modeling of personality disorders and pathological personality traits. Personality disorders, 8(2), 113–129. https://doi.org/10.1037/per0000215
78.
SteppS. D.KeenanK.HipwellA. E.KruegerR. F. (2014). The impact of childhood temperament on the development of borderline personality disorder symptoms over the course of adolescence. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 1(1), 10–18. https://doi.org/10.1186/2051-6673-1-18
79.
StevanovicD.JafariP.KnezR.FranicT.AtilolaO.DavidovicN.BagheriZ.LakicA.LakicA. (2017). Can we really use available scales for child and adolescent psychopathology across cultures? A systematic review of cross-cultural measurement invariance data. Transcultural Psychiatry, 54(1), 125–152. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461516689215
80.
StreinerD. L.NormanG. R.CairneyJ. (2015). Health measurement scales: A practical guide to their development and use. Oxford University Press.
81.
TabachnickB. G.FidellL. S.UllmanJ. B. (2013) Using multivariate statistics (6, pp. 497–516). Pearson.
82.
TomkoR. L.TrullT. J.WoodP. K.SherK. J. (2014). Characteristics of borderline personality disorder in a community sample: Comorbidity, treatment utilization, and general functioning. Journal of Personality Disorders, 28(5), 734–750. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi_2012_26_093
83.
Van AsseltA. D. I.DirksenC. D.ArntzA.SeverensJ. L. (2007). The cost of borderline personality disorder: Societal cost of illness in BPD-patients. European Psychiatry: The Journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists, 22(6), 354–361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2007.04.001
84.
VarnumM. E.GrossmannI.KitayamaS.NisbettR. E. (2010). The origin of cultural differences in cognition: Evidence for the social orientation hypothesis. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19(1), 9–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721409359301
85.
WagnerT.AssmannN.KöhneS.SchaichA.Alvarez-FischerD.BorgwardtS.ArntzA.SchweigerU.FassbinderE.FassbinderE. (2021). The societal cost of treatment-seeking patients with borderline personality disorder in Germany. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 272(4), 741–752. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-021-01332-1
86.
WagnerT.FydrichT.StiglmayrC.MarschallP.SalizeH. J.RennebergB.FleßaS.RoepkeS.RoepkeS. (2014). Societal cost-of-illness in patients with borderline personality disorder one year before, during and after dialectical behavior therapy in routine outpatient care. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 61, 12–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2014.07.004
87.
World Health Organization (2019). International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems (11th ed.). World Health Organization.
88.
ZanariniM. C. (2003). Childhood Interview for DSM-IV borderline personality disorder (CI-BPD). McLean Hospital.
89.
ZanariniM. C.FrankenburgF. R.HennenJ.ReichD. B.SilkK. R. (2006). Prediction of the 10-year course of borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(5), 827–832. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.2006.163.5.827
90.
ZanariniM. C.FrankenburgF. R.HennenJ.SilkK. R. (2003). The longitudinal course of borderline psychopathology: 6-year prospective follow-up of the phenomenology of borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(2), 274–283. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.160.2.274
ZhuoC.ChenG.LinC.JiaF.YangL.ZhangQ.ChenJ.TianH.JiangD.JiangD. (2022). A borderline personality assessment for adolescents: Validity and reliability of the Chinese languages borderline personality features scale (short form version) for adolescents/children. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1050559
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
