title: Cognitive characteristics of patients with borderline personality disorder: development and validation of a self-report inventory.
abstract: Based on cognitive concepts of personality disorders as well as on the bio-social model of borderline personality disorder (BPD), a 34-item instrument, the questionnaire of thoughts and feelings (QTF) was developed for the assessment of feelings, strategic cognitions, and assumptions characteristic for BPD. In different studies, item- and factor analyses were conducted with a dataset of N=646 clinical and non-clinical participants. Cross-sectional data as well as longitudinal data are available including several other measures on personality and personality disorders: DSM-IV SCID II dimensional score, a personality inventory (PSSI), the German version of the personality disorder beliefs questionnaire (PBQ), as well as overall severity of symptoms (GSI) of the SCL-90-R. Internal consistency of the scale is excellent, Cronbach's alpha=0.91. One-week test-retest reliability was also high r(tt)=0.81. Good convergent and discriminant validity was obtained for correlation with SCID dimensional scores and discrimination of BDP patients and other clinical and non-clinical groups. A comparison of scores in a sample of 26 patients with BPD during crisis intervention and 8 months later indicated the sensitivity of the QTF to measure change over time. Overall, the questionnaire appears to be a methodologically sound measure, valuable for research purposes as well as in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Germany. renneber@zedat.fu-berlin.de
authors.forename: Babette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Renneberg
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Rathjens
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hippin
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Backenstrass
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fydrich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires