While some believe the borderline personality disorder cuts across a variety of diagnoses, others feel it is a discrete clinical entity. The present study was designed to assess retrospectively the degree of borderline psychopathology in a group of 4800 psychiatric inpatients with a variety of primary diagnoses (i.e., major affective disorder, dementia, etc.) and to measure the relationship of schizophrenia and depression scales with borderline traits. Patients with schizophrenia or personality disorder had the most marked borderline traits. Borderline psychopathology was closer to the schizophrenic spectrum than had been anticipated. Objective rating scales for depression were more powerful discriminators of depression in borderline patients compared to the subjective rating scales. Findings are discussed in light of the theoretical literature and recent empirical studies.
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