The Role of Borderline Personality Symptoms for Psychosocial and Health Related Functioning among Adolescents in a Community Sample

Background Borderline personality symptoms include emotional dysregulation, high levels of impulsivity leading to self-harm and suicidality, an unstable sense of self, fears of abandonment, extremely turbulent relationships, and psychic pain. They are considered to disrupt normative adolescent development however their unique contribution to different domains of functioning is important to understand among community adolescents. Objective This study aimed to analyze the specificity of the relationship between borderline personality symptoms and psychosocial and health-related functioning during adolescence in a community sample. Method A community sample consisted of 379 adolescents aged 11–18. Borderline personality questionnaire, Youth self-report, Satisfaction with life scale, questions addressing academic performance, and social relationships were used to assess the different domains of functioning. Results Data from the present study revealed that there is a substantial part of adolescents from a community sample (19.71%) who endorse significant levels of borderline personality symptoms. Adolescents from this group as compared to peers face more difficulties in all spheres of functioning. Furthermore, borderline personality symptoms uniquely predicted social problems, academic achievement, health concerns, and life satisfaction of adolescents above and beyond internalizing and externalizing difficulties. Conclusion Higher levels of borderline personality symptoms were associated with poorer psychosocial and health-related functioning among adolescents at the community level. Considering that adolescence is a sensitive period for the development of personality disorder, findings of this study add up to the empirical evidence that borderline personality pathology should be integrated as a target for prevention and early intervention.