title: Confirmatory factor analysis of DSM-IV criteria for borderline personality disorder: findings from the collaborative longitudinal personality disorders study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study tested the factor structure of the DSM-IV criteria for borderline personality disorder by using confirmatory methods for the analysis of covariance structures in a large group from a multisite study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 668 primarily treatment-seeking subjects were reliably assessed for personality disorders by using the Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders. Associations among criteria for borderline personality disorder were examined. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test diagnosis as a unitary construct and to test an earlier-reported three-factor model comprising disturbed relatedness, behavioral dysregulation, and affective dysregulation. The three-factor model was subsequently tested by using a subset (N=498) of the study group that was reassessed 2 years later by independent evaluators who were blind to original diagnoses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Internal consistency of the borderline personality disorder diagnosis was adequate for both baseline and follow-up assessments. A confirmatory factor analysis model testing the borderline personality disorder diagnosis as a unitary construct provided good fit, and the three-factor model offered a significantly better fit for the baseline assessment. The three-factor model was replicated with the 2-year follow-up data.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The diagnostic criteria for borderline personality disorder appear to reflect a statistically coherent construct. Three homogeneous components were supported empirically, lending conceptual clarity to different classes of the criteria for borderline personality disorder.
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study. charles.sanislow@yale.edu
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Sanislow
authors.forename: Carlos M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Grilo
authors.forename: Leslie C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Morey
authors.forename: Donna S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Bender
authors.forename: Andrew E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Skodol
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Gunderson
authors.forename: M Tracie
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Shea
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Stout
authors.forename: Mary C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Zanarini
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: McGlashan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results