Objective: People with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are at high risk for attempting suicide. There are some data to suggest that risk factors for suicide attempts change over time. We conducted a prospective cohort study to examine risk factors for suicide attempts in a treated sample of patients with BPD. Method: One hundred eighty participants with BPD were followed over a year-long course of dialectical behaviour therapy or general psychiatric management and then for 2 more years in naturalistic follow-up. Participants were assessed for suicidal and self-injurious behaviours at baseline, every 4 months over the 1-year treatment phase, and every 6 months over a 2-year follow-up period. Participants were classified as suicide or nonsuicide attempters based on their behaviour at the end of the 1-year treatment phase and after the 2-year follow-up period. Groups were then compared on baseline clinical and demographic variables. Results: Nearly 26% of participants made a suicide attempt during the 1-year treatment phase, while 16.7% reported a suicide attempt over the 2-year follow-up period. Baseline number of suicide attempts during the 4 months prior to study and severity of childhood sexual abuse predicted suicide attempts during the treatment year. Similarly, baseline suicide attempts, severity of childhood sexual abuse, and number of hospitalizations in the 4 months prior to study entry predicted suicide attempts during the 2-year follow-up. Conclusions: Risk factors for suicide attempts in this treated sample of patients with BPD were fairly stable, largely nonmodifiable, and unrelated to psychopathology or psychosocial functioning at baseline.

The purpose of this review is (a) to study and systematically review the recent literature examining the co-occurrence and relationships between Axis I psychiatric disorders and Axis II personality disorders, specifically the six originally proposed for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5, and (b) to consider the clinical utility of the current Axis I and Axis II approach in the DSM-IV-TR and apply findings to state a position on the issue of collapsing together Axis I and Axis II. Community surveys or prospective cohort studies were reviewed as a priority. Our review indicates that the associations between clinical disorders and personality disorders clearly varied within each disorder and across the six personality disorders. Our understanding has advanced, particularly related to the clinical utility of comorbidity, and there may be sufficient evidence to support moving borderline personality disorder to Axis I. However, it seems premature to conclude that comorbidity is best conceptualized by having all disorders in a single category or by deleting disorders so that comorbidity is reduced. Our review suggests some priorities for future research into comorbidity, such as including personality disorders in future multivariate comorbidity models.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) significantly impairs functioning. Fortunately, effective treatments are available for borderline symptoms but their effect on functioning should be assessed. The objective of this meta-analysis is to assess the effect of specifically-designed versus non-specifically designed psychotherapies on function in adult patients with BPD. The reference list of Cristea et al. 2017 was used to identify the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the BPD-specifically-designed psychotherapy versus non-specific psychotherapies in adult BPD patients. Among those, RCTs assessing post-treatment functioning using the Global Assessment of Functioning, Social Adjustment Scale–Self-Report and Inventory of Interpersonal Problems were included. Ten trials (880 participants) were included. Summary effect size was calculated using the measured Hedge’s g. The results indicate the BPD patients in the intervention group had a significantly higher (g = 0.41; 95% CI, 0.09–0.73) level of psychosocial functioning after receiving the specifically-designed psychotherapies in comparison with BPD patients in control groups after receiving non-specific psychotherapies. Specifically-designed psychotherapies can improve psychosocial functioning although improvement in measurement of function (i.e., more objective and universal tools) and improvement in psychotherapies (i.e., more focused on general functioning) will be helpful.