Gender identity and sexual orientation in women with borderline personality disorder.

INTRODUCTION

In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR) (and earlier editions), a disturbance in "identity" is one of the defining features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Gender identity, a person's sense of self as a male or a female, constitutes an important aspect of identity formation, but this construct has rarely been examined in patients with BPD.

AIMS: In the present study, the presence of gender identity disorder or confusion was examined in women diagnosed with BPD.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We used a validated dimensional measure of gender dysphoria. Recalled gender identity and gender role behavior from childhood was also assessed with a validated dimensional measure, and current sexual orientation was assessed by two self-report measures.

METHODS

A consecutive series of 100 clinic-referred women (mean age, 34 years) with BPD participated in the study. The women were diagnosed with BPD using the International Personality Disorder Exam-BPD Section.

RESULTS

None of the women with BPD met the criterion for caseness on the dimensional measure of gender dysphoria. Women who self-reported either a bisexual or a homosexual sexual orientation had a significantly higher score on the dimensional measure of gender dysphoria than the women who self-reported a heterosexual sexual orientation, and they also recalled significantly more cross-gender behavior during childhood. Results were compared with a previous study on a diagnostically heterogeneous group of women with other clinical problems.

CONCLUSION

The importance of psychosexual assessment in the clinical evaluation of patients with BPD is discussed.