title: Taxometric analyses of borderline personality features in a large-scale male and female offender sample.
abstract: Few studies to date have examined the extent to which borderline personality features are best construed as representing an underlying dimension or a discrete class or taxon. The authors conducted taxometric analyses using a large-scale sample of male (n=787) and female (n=368) prison inmates who had completed the Personality Assessment Inventory (L. C. Morey, 2007). Analyses based on the 4 subscales of the Borderline Features Scale offered compelling support for a dimensional structure in both the full sample and the female subsample--even after controlling for the potentially confounding effects of negative response distortion. Theoretical and pragmatic implications of these findings are reviewed.
authors: Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA. jedens@psych.tamu.edu
authors: John F
authors: JF
authors: Edens
authors: David K
authors: DK
authors: Marcus
authors: Mark A
authors: MA
authors: Ruiz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*